East of Toledo, US Hwy 20 is an excellent four-lane road, smooth and wide open while traversing gently rolling hills. About half way to Cleveland, it changes back to a decent two-lane that passes through a number of old rural towns.
I kept looking for a reason to stop, but there didn't seem to be much going on. Like so many of the towns I pass through, they're trying to hold onto their viability -- and dignity -- but slowly losing ground to the larger highways and malls. I happily settled for a very nice countryside drive.
Unlike my premeditated decision to avoid dragging my rig through downtown Chicago last week, I intended to stay faithful to US Hwy 20 through Cleveland. My plan fell apart almost immediately, as I somehow got shunted onto a very confusing set of interstates. At least I got a nice shot of the stadium and major buildings!
Just east of the city, I regained US Hwy 20, but almost wish I hadn't. For many miles, I slogged along a rough road through even rougher neighborhoods. For the record, I may make it a policy on future road trips to avoid any city larger than 100,000 people!
Eventually the vast urban sprawl thinned out and I was running nicely near the shore of Lake Erie. I've stopped in Geneva-on-the-Lake, which hails itself as the first summer resort in Ohio. The famous lakefront "strip" looked like a ghost town when I drove through it, but I plan to check it out better tomorrow.
The RV park I'm in is huge, and considered one of the best in the country. As you can see, I'm in a nice spot that backs up to a lake. At this point you probably won't be surprised that hardly anyone else is here, so Happy and I have the place pretty much to ourselves!
Hopefully the weather will hold tomorrow and we can have a nice day on the lake… Stay tuned!
Click here to see exactly where I am posting this from on Google Maps.
