I was up at 6 AM and on the road at 7 AM, which is about 2 hours later than my normal Dayton departure.
As I approached Columbus, I decided to take the southern route through Pennsylvania and avoid the construction delays I ran into on I-80 in Western Pennsylvania on Wednesday. In addition, it would be nice to see some new scenery for a change; not exactly new, I’ve been this way before, but it has probably been about 15 years since I did the southern route, so I was up for it.
I was a little surprised by the amount of toll on the Pennsylvania Turnpike ($10.95 to get from the Pittsburgh suburbs to the I-81 exit near Harrisburg), but it was worth it because there were no construction delays.
On I-81 between Harrisburg and Hazleton, the interstate passes up close to a wind power “farm” and I was very impressed with the size of the windmills; they are huge! The scene of a dozen of these huge spinning beasts in the middle of a Pennsylvania forest reminded me of those Martian tripods lumbering through the Hudson Valley in the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds.
Coincidentally, a few minutes after recalling that scary scene, my sister, Gigi, phoned me to tell me about an episode of UFO Hunters that she had just finished watching! (Thanks, Sis, for keeping me company on the long ride home.)
I arrived home 12 hours and 20 minutes after leaving the Dayton Airport Hotel. APRS coverage was good, but seemed spottier on the Pennsylvania Turnpike vs. I-80.
Traffic was heavy in some spots and almost non-existent in other spots. My gas mileage for the 1600-mile roadtrip averaged 32 mile per gallon; not bad for an all-wheel-drive vehicle with 35,000 miles under its belt.
Every year, after I return home exhausted from the Hamvention roadtrip, I swear that I will never do it again, but time will tell.
