August 8, 2015, Saturday, Tampa, FL
Day 100

After 275 miles we arrived home about 4 pm to an unpleasant surprise. The air handler in our attic had both drain lines clogged and the switch which is supposed to shut the a/c off apparently failed.  The water was left with no place to drain except through our ceiling which collapsed onto our living room furniture, the damage from which including the loss of irreplaceable framed photos of Rosemary’s parents. We spent 3 hours cleaning up the mess.  At 9:30 pm, the insurance restoration crew arrived to find water in other rooms as well. Our marble floor was damaged and may need replacing. The industrial fans and dehumidifier make our downstairs sound like an airport. What a downer after an incredible 100 day trip.  That is the longest I have ever been out of the State of Florida. Here are the trip stats:
Total miles: 8844 miles
Total states visited: 24
Total new states (never had the coach (and us) been there before) added to our coach map: 17
Total hours engine running: 190
Total gallons of diesel used: 892.8
Total mpg: 9.9
Next year’s big trip: Canada’s Atlantic Provinces

August 7, 2015, Friday, Tifton, GA
Day 99

Travel day, 335 miles from Hendersonville, NC, to the Georgia Museum of Agriculture in Tifton, GA, where we spent the night in its parking lot.

August 4-6, 2015, Tuesday-Thursday, Hendersonville, NC
Day 96-98

260 miles from Beckley, WV, to visit Staci and Jon. Both Rosemary and I came down with colds. Just chilling and got some much needed rest. Visited our favorite spots, Umi (Asian) and Flat Rock BBQ.

August 3, 2015, Monday, Beckley, WV
Day 95

Purchased 2 new chassis batteries at Interstate All Batteries in New Versailles (Pittsburgh).  Old batteries were 6 years old and one failed. Replaced both given the age of batteries. Travel day. Overnight at Walmart in Beckley (approx. 275 miles from Fox Den).

July 31 through August 2, 2015, Friday through Sunday, Pittsburgh, PA
Day 92-94

A must stop according to Rosemary. An enjoyable visit with kids and grandkids including trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Grandkids are getting bigger every time we visit. Adam loved our gift of his very own motorhome with moveable interior arrangements. Ari loved the stuffed bat we gave him. Stayed at the Fox Den Acres Campground.

July 30, 2015, Thursday, Columbus, OH
Day 91

Morning found us at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Special exhibits included a Chihuly Collection and “Big Bugs” sculptures. The butterfly garden was loaded with many varieties of butterflies and many that I had never seen before. For lunch we went to the Smokehouse Brewing Co, a microbrew and bbq. The mixed greens were fantastic which is not what I should be writing about. Unfortunately, the bbq was only so-so but the Scottish Ale was good. Next up was a visit to the North Market. This is how to do a market! Just about every ethnic food you could want plus many different dessert places and all indoors and air conditioned. We regretted coming here when we were stuffed with bbq. Anyway, bubble teas for two. Next stop, Land-Grant Brewing Co. After 3 samples, ordered a “Hellion” which was a black saison (French style beer). Not bad but the French should stick to wine making. Hustled back to the Visitor Center before it closes to pick up my trophy, a Columbus Ale Trail glass. I shall always treasure it. Next, we headed to the German Village for a walk around the area.  Included was a stop at The Book Loft, 32 rooms of books, a stop at Jeurgen’s German Bakery to purchase a cheese strudel. We headed back to the coach for supper. We were still so stuffed, we had a salad and some cheese (Maytag Blue) and crackers followed, of course, by strudel and rugalach. Tough life!

July 29, 2015, Wednesday, Columbus, OH
Day 90

Departed Cincinnati for about 2 hour drive to Columbus and checked into the Alton RV Park. At the Columbus visitor center we learned of the Columbus Ale Trail and the 20 breweries in town. Visit all 20 and you get a t-shirt and your photo added to the Brew Book Hall of Fame. Visit 4 and your get a free pint glass. So many breweries and so little time. We catch the free C Bus and head to the Short North area. First stop is bubble tea. But second stop is the North High Brewing Co. for a stout, with nitro. Bartender suggests another brewery close by as he stamps my passport. To my surprise, Rosemary is game to go for four. What a great gal! Next is the Seventh Son Brewing Co. for a Soothsayer Stout and a second stamp on my passport. Suppertime finds us at Katzinger’s Deli. We share a “deli-size” Reuben, 2 cheese blintzes and a huge piece of apricot kugel. All were excellent and the Reuben may be the best I have ever had. And another thing, 2 barrels, one of dill pickles and one of garlic pickles is all you can eat. I had one of each, could have eaten more but I have to watch my figure. But not so much that I couldn’t take home some rugalach.

July 28, 2015, Tuesday, Cincinnati, OH
Day 89

Began the day at the Mount Adams shopping area supposedly a San Francisco like hipster area. Not much doing in the morning so we move on to the Krohn Conservatory. The palm room made us feel like we’re home, especially the heat and humidity. Next was the Findlay Market which was billed as an open air market. Surprisingly and fortunately, it was mostly indoors and air conditioned. Rosemary had Vietnamese for lunch.  I had a falafel sandwich from Dean’s Mediterranean Imports. Dean’s is run by a friendly Lebanese fellow who reminded me of my Lebanese “brother” Robert. We bought some almonds, dates and halvah from him all after a generous sampling of each. After some Coconut and some Vietnamese Coffee gelato at Dojo, we headed to the Cincinnati Museum of Art. We finally finished a museum before closing time and we returned to the coach about 4 pm. Supper in the coach followed by dates and halvah, yum!

July 28, 2015, Tuesday, Cincinnati, OH
Day 89

Began the day at the Mount Adams shopping area supposedly a San Francisco like hipster area. Not much doing in the morning so we move on to the Krohn Conservatory. The palm room made us feel like we’re home, especially the heat and humidity. Next was the Findlay Market which was billed as an open air market. Surprisingly and fortunately, it was mostly indoors and air conditioned. Rosemary had Vietnamese for lunch.  I had a falafel sandwich from Dean’s Mediterranean Imports. Dean’s is run by a friendly Lebanese fellow who reminded me of my Lebanese “brother” Robert. We bought some almonds, dates and halvah from him all after a generous sampling of each. After some Coconut and some Vietnamese Coffee gelato at Dojo, we headed to the Cincinnati Museum of Art. We finally finished a museum before closing time and we returned to the coach about 4 pm. Supper in followed by dates and halvah, yum!

July 27, 2015, Monday, Cincinnati, OH
Day 88

Before departing Indianapolis I just had to call the Speedway to see if there might be any tours on the day after the Brickyard 400 race. What luck, tours beginning at 11 am. We head over in the coach and find lots of parking lots and all virtually empty so plenty of room for the coach. We visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and Hall of Fame and get our bus tour tickets. The museum has a racing car that one can enter and take photos. Next to the car is a sign warning that it is easier to get in the car than to get out. The sign wasn’t kidding but I managed it on my own. When seated, one is almost lying down. I imagine if I had to drive hundreds of miles in that position, I would probably never be able to get out.  Old age, rats! Once on the bus we are delayed by some VIP’s racing around the track in the pace car. After a ½ hour we are off, running around the track and stopping at the finish line to take photos and for some crazies, to kiss the bricks (see photo). After lunch, we depart for Cincinnati and arrive at the Family Motor Coach Association campground. The campground is well kept and quiet with full hookups.  FMCA has its headquarters in Cincinnati and members can stay 2 nights at its campground for free.  What a deal!

July 26, 2015, Sunday, Indianapolis, IN
Day 87

Not much open before noon on Sunday so we slept in.  Began our day at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument and took a ride up 330 feet to the observation deck. Elevator was even smaller than the minuteman missile site but fortunately only one other couple with a small child and no fatties this time. Great 360 degree view of the city. Next was a visit to the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library. Interesting to say the least, with much correspondence to and from Vonnegut concerning his various writings and the making of movies based on his books. Also included was some of his artwork including the “Sphincter”. We then spent the rest of the day at the Indianapolis Art Museum until the 5 pm closing. After 3-1/2 hours, we did not get a chance to see everything but we did see what the museum claims is the largest collection of Neo-Impressionist paintings which we enjoyed. There was also a special exhibit on “Dream Cars” which included concept cars from the 1930's to the present.  Very neat.   I would love to have any one of these cars but I think once I got into one, I would have a tough time getting out. Rats on getting old.

July 25, 2015, Saturday, Indianapolis, IN
Day 86

Our last morning in Springfield was spent on a guided tour of the State Capitol Building. Built in 1868-1888. It is so ornate it took 20 years to build. Having visited several State Capitol Buildings, it seems as though each state was trying to outdo every other state. Except Florida that is, with its modern boring office building it calls a Capitol. We also visited the Old Capitol Building, utilized from 1839-1869. This is the building where Lincoln gave his famous “House Divided” speech. We departed Springfield and arrived in Indianapolis after a 215 mile drive and we are finally back in the eastern time zone. Checked into the Lake Haven Retreat campground for 2 nights and got the last vacant spot. This was our fourth option as unbeknownst to us, tomorrow happens to be the Brickyard 400.  Well, there goes my tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, one of the main things I wanted to visit here.

July 24, 2015, Friday, Springfield, IL
Day 85

We began the day with a tour of the Dana-Thomas House State Historic Site.  The house (and its interior including the furniture) was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1902-1904. The house is a 12,000 square foot prairie home and is magnificent. I have been to several other Wright houses and this is my favorite. A must see. Next was Lincoln’s Tomb, also a magnificent structure and one fitting of its occupant. Another must see. After lunch we visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. We spent the rest of the day there until the 5 pm closing when they kicked us out. A fantastic place. Included was a live two man play featuring the actor, Harry Hawk, who was on the stage when John Wilkes Booth jumped down after the shot, and the theater manager, John T. Ford. Each of the two played many roles in flashbacks questioning if either could have done something different to avoid the tragic outcome. Very informative as to the events leading up to the assassination and thought provoking as to whether Booth left enough clues to foretell his plan. Supper at Galina’s Pizza consisted of eggplant parm and chicken parm dinners. The place was not fancy but the food was good and the bill was only $15.

July 23, 2015, Thursday, Springfield, IL
Day 84

Began the day at the Caterpillar Visitors Center in Peoria. An introductory film was presented in the bed of a 797F, the giant mining dump truck that Caterpillar makes.  The theater seats vibrated when ever the 797F appeared on the screen. The truck has 4000 hp, weighs almost 1.4 million lbs. (each tire alone weighs 12,000 lbs.), top speed 40 mph and can carry a load of 400 tons (that’s 800,000 lbs.). There are several other vehicle types that you get to climb into and also several simulators to test your skills. The cabs of these “tractors” have the feel of a luxury car, including leather seats! There was also an extensive museum concerning the company’s history, design processes, engine making among other things. You can have any color machine you want as long as it is Cat yellow, a trademarked color. Next was a 70 mile drive to Springfield, IL.  Checked into the RV park at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Visited the Lincoln Home National Historic Sight and even got to meet Mr. Lincoln himself. That’s him standing in front of his Springfield home (see photo). After a Mother Road Pale Ale at Obed & Isaac’s Brew Pub, supper was at the Magic Kitchen, Asian food of course (the price for one beer!).