Sunday November 26th 2023 - Thanksgiving road trip to Oregon - Days 11 and 12 - Kansas City MO to home, 1 small walk

My Dad's flight out of KC was at 6:05 am. So we did our best to get to bed before 8 pm on Friday night.  We were awake slightly before our 3 am alarm time.  We got to the airport before 4 am so my Dad certainly had plenty of time to navigate through it.  I headed East on I-435 from the airport then south on MO-291 and South on I-470 until I got to US-50.  I then stayed on US-50 all the way through Missouri until it dumps onto I-44 in the far Western suburbs of Saint Louis.  To get around STL I took I-44 East to I-270 and eventually I-255 and finally a few miles on I-64 until that road crossed US-50.  Then I drove all of IL and IN on US-50 East.

I had hoped to make it as far as Cincinatti OH before calling it a night Saturday but as it started to get dark, my 13 hours of being awake with a short night of sleep the night before suddenly seemed like plenty even though I still had a few dozen miles of Indiana left before entering Ohio.  I stayed in the small city of North Vernon Indiana at a Quality Inn, the only regular (not extended stay) hotel in town. Normally I stay at Best Western, Hilton or Hyatt brand properties or occasionally someplace funky and unique.  I was actually really happy with the Quality Inn.  It was really quiet (there were maybe 3 rooms in use at all) and very clean.  They also did a nice job mounting the TV on the wall and everything looked good and worked well.  The front desk guy also gave me a recommendation for the Mexican restaurant, Chalupas, which was right next door and was very good.

I had prepared for my trip to potentially to last (if necessary) until the end of Tuesday the 28th.  But really, by the time my Dad flew home and I was on my own, weather had grown colder and whatever hopes I had of doing substantial hikes in the areas I would be passing through alone quickly dissipated and I just wanted to get home.  So I pounded out the last 600 miles on Sunday night.  I did stop at a historic suspension bridge (now a pedestrian bridge) along US 50 in Illinois.







 Illinois overall treats US-50 like a back road. There were almost no signs of building bypasses around small towns along the way and only a few miles of 4 lane.  Also, it was the only state were it was almost all 55 MPH.  The lack of traffic helped make up for it though.

Towards the end of the day I saw a sign for Martin State Forest in Indiana and stopped there for a mini hike and also to explore around their day use facilities which were interesting to look around.  The whole area along US-50 in Southern Indiana was scenic and a little hilly and curvy.  I'd like to go back and explore that area someday.  Martin State Forest was my last stop before arriving in North Vernon at dusk where I had dinner and stayed the night.







It wasn't far from North Vernon until I was in Ohio early Sunday morning.  The beltway around Cincinnatti (I-275) actually goes into Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.  I picked it up in Indiana and wrapped around the NW Cincinnati metro until I got to I-71.  It don't think it was even 9 am yet but I could feel the traffic building for the big go home day after Thanksgiving. By the time I got to the I-71/I-271 split some 210 miles later near Cleveland, traffic was pretty intense.  I-271 provided a bumpy but less traffic filled break for a bit and then I-90 was really truly packed to the gills with cars.  I kept telling myself to make it another 15 miles or to the next major junction where I could bail off and take other roads if I couldn't take it any longer. I made it across the PA border to within about 20 miles of Erie and finally had enough and took PA-5 around Erie and other local roads until I could get on I-90 right at the I-86 junction.  I-86 runs just a few miles in PA and otherwise is all in NY and runs through the sparsely populated Southern Tier of NY and it's never truly crowded.

It was good to get home and still be able to take Monday off as a transition day.  We unloaded the 2 hope chests right away and I tried to calm down before bed time, finally at home.

It was a very successful trip.  Long and covering lots of new ground and with good traveling conditions and a great travel companion.  But I was really glad to be home also.

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