August 23 & 24: Going Home

     Ron simply would not let me drive away from the Marriot until he had our destination programmed into the GPS.  He actually yelled at me for trying to exit the city on my own.  He claimed I could not possibly drive out of here by following a map without getting lost.  I tried to explain that I always drive everywhere using only maps, but Ron insisted on GPS.  So I had to listen to Minnie's irritating monotone telling me how to drive the very same route I had already plotted.
     Onward we drove.  Looking for a change of scenery, we took a more northerly route home--Hagerstown, The Pennsylvania Turnpike, Pittsburgh, The Ohio Turnpike, Youngstown, Cleveland, Toledo, The Indiana Toll Road--finishing up for the day at a Best Western in Elkhart, Indiana.  Elkhart is the self-proclaimed RV Capitol of the World.  Somewhere around ten RV companies exist within the vicinity of Elkhart.  The city, with a population of only 51,000, even houses the Recreational Vehicle and Manufactured Housing Hall of Fame.  We did not go to the Hall of Fame because we have a disdain for RV's.  We have referred to them as "eyesores" for many years.  They have overtaken and uglified campgrounds all across the nation, making it difficult for tenters--REAL campers--to get sites in State Parks, County Parks, National Parks and National Forests.  RV-ing is NOT camping.  I'm not saying there is no place in the world for RVs.  That place is RV parks, not campgrounds.  Dan told me that he knows some RV-ers who are too embarrassed to call sleeping in a hard-sided vehicle on wheels "camping," so they refer to it as "weekending."  Good for them. 
     The three of us had dinner together at the Cracker Barrel across the street from the motel.  It was the first time I had ever eaten at a Cracker Barrel and I liked it.  Better yet was the conversation, the family togetherness, and our recap of the week.

     On Sunday morning, we packed up the car and again proceeded westward through South Bend, Gary, Chicago, and Dubuque, stopping in Oelwein just long enough to relate some highlights of the vacation to my mom, Ann, and then Dan did some impressive speeding back to the Twin Cities.