Stephen H. Long Trail 1819 — 1820

Day 8: August 31st, 2008 Pittsburgh — Terre Haute

Map Pittsburgh to Terre Haute

Today I am awake early. And today of all days I have again headaches. At 8am we have an appointment with Virginia and another friend of Helen at Eat’n Park. Before, I still have time to collect my stuff together. Then I take an Ibuprofen.

When we want to leave I realize, that the key for my car door is lost. The hanger opened and somewhere I have lost the key. I search everywhere, but I am not able to find it. Then I get the idea that the key might already have been dropped inside my car. I open with my spare key the passenger side door (it won’t unlock the drivers door anymore) and indeed, there it is! Seems like I had luck!

We set off and arrive at Eat’n Park exactly on time. Virginia gives me a real warm welcome. We have a real nice breakfast all together and as a finish I invite them all. They are really pleased about this and give me a warm thank you.

Then I drive over to Wal–Mart to buy the 15A fuses, which were out of stock at Pep Boys. Also I take a tie–down strap and some 30A fuses with me. That is to say, it suddenly crossed my mind that I have made a second ground connection with my wiring up to the roof rack. If for some reason the main ground connection at the battery would become loose (which already happened with the positive treminal before) then the whole starter current would flow on this AWG8 — which could lead to a cable fire!

Thus, I drive again to Pep Boys to get a fuse holder for the new ground wiring. And because I am also out of my crimp contacts and Wal–Mart was out of them, I also take some of them here with me. Finally, I drive over to Kuhn’s to get some apples. The ones at Wal–Mart didn’t looked this great. And because I still have one hand free I also take some Pepsi with me. This saves Helen from buying some when I return. Gatorade and granola bar I already took with me at Wal–Mart before.

88 S10 Blazer Front, Pennsylvania

Fitted with all this stuff I drive back to Helen. After my arrival I first install the fuse. Then I start to repack everything in my little truck and pack my stuff together. This takes me until noon and Helen receives a call from Johnna, if she wants to join her for lunch. We say good–bye and I do my last preparation work for departure.

88 S10 Blazer Side, Pennsylvania

Around half past twelve I am finished and I quickly make a sandwich. Then I let Sam (the dog) outside for a short time, because she has to do her business. In the meantime I prepare my Laptop and check how the display will work out in the truck. As already suspected, I am not able to see a thing. I need some cover from the side to have a shadow on the display. Then I remember the carton from Amazon, which I already folded together for the trash bin. Half of it is a perfect shadowing for my Laptop.

Now I have really finished everything. Only Sam must be back in the house. But to my surprise she follows willingly. Then I pick up my last stuff and set off. First I drive over to the Sunoco for gas. This one is still the cheapest around for 3.599 Dollar. Only my pump is not working and does not accept my credit card. So I take the next one, which works. The only annoying thing was that I have to get my gas cans back in.

I–79, PA

After loosing around 80 Dollars I am ready to hit the road. In the meantime it is already a quarter past one. I am really wondering when I will arrive at my destination. While having plenty of sunshine I make good progress. Also my CB antenna is working again. But the reception is still as bad as before. The best reception had been with the old Radio Shack antenna and the magnet mount. But that doesn’t help now, this one is already disposed because it was broken. And unfortunately, this one is no longer available.

I–70, State Line PA and WV

On I–70 I cross the state line to West Virginia. Then I change to I–470 to avoid driving through Wheeling.

I–470, State Line WV and OH

On this one I cross the state line to Ohio.

I–70, Columbus, OH

Back on I–70, I drive through Columbus, Ohio.

I–70, State Line OH and IN

I–70, State Line OH and IN

At Springfield I have a stopover to gas up. The price of 3.639 Dollars is also not too bad. Around 5pm I am able to continue. Slowly the traffic decreases. You can tell that most of the people have already arrived at their destination. With my new camera I am now able to just take pictures and try all kind of things without being afraid of my financial situation. Then I cross the state line to Indiana.

I–70, Indianapolis, IN

I–70, Indianapolis, IN

The last big city of today is Indianapolis, which I must cross.

I–70, IN

Sunset, I–70, IN

Sunset, I–70, IN

Sunset, I–70, IN

On the last leg I have a fantastic sunset. The only downside is that I don’t have the time for a stop to take real pictures. So I have to quickly take pictures while driving. They are not costing a thing…

Around half past eight I arrive at the Super 8. Just when I want to enter the motel, a black guy starts talking to me out of a real ran down car. He is interested in what my camera setup is for. We start a nice chat and he is absolutely excited about my trail. He originally comes from New York and he has married his wife here. When saying good‐bye he shakes my hand and say his name is Noel, because he was born on Christmas Eve. He wishes me all the best before I enter the building.

I receive my reserved room, even when I don’t really need the reservation this time. It seems like a lot of rooms are still available. It seems like not this many people are able to travel with this high gas prices. I put my stuff into the room. Then I check on my Laptop where I can find the Lone Star Steakhouse. It must be really close. Therefore I decide not to take the Laptop with me. Instead I take just my small GPS with me.

After a little bit of searching around I find it on the other side of the road. However, this steakhouse does not really convince me. There are no peanuts and the service is extremely slow. Maybe I should change back to my Outback Steakhouse.

Around a quarter to ten I pay and drive back. There I first boot my Laptop and try the wireless Internet. This works without any issues. You just confirm an agreement, then you can access everything on the Internet. First I do all the Windows updates. My G–Data Antivirus refuses to update, but only because I still have added the proxy server from back home. After removing this entry the update works without any issues!

Now it’s time to quickly register my DeLorme Software and I am able to also install these updates. Then I continue with my diary. Around half past eleven I have finished this task and can take care of the video taping. After a little bit of testing around I decide to check my movies with the remote control. When I want to turn off the camera sound I realize, that this remote control is still laying on my couch back home — perfect…

Around half past twelve I have finished all my video taping. Now it is time for the pictures on my photo. There I am just checking if the transfer works. Then I am eventually able to get ready for my bed around a quarter to one.