We decided to leave early since we had a long day of driving and we were losing an hour, changing to Eastern time zone. Mom, Dad, Derek, Abby, Cade, and I piled in the car and pulled out of the driveway at 6:05am, just 5 minutes behind schedule. We headed east on I80. After one short stop mid-morning, we stopped for lunch at a junky little service center right off the interstate in Ohio. Nothing exciting, we just ate to fill our stomachs and we were on our way again. We made it to our first night’s stop at the Travelodge Erie by 4:00. We had made great time and were glad to stop and be able to move around and stretch.

All of our hotels were lined up ahead of time, and this one made me the most nervous. On hotels.com, it came in at a whopping 1 star and $44 + tax per night. I did hear the desk clerk selling rooms for $54 or so, but still… Well, let’s just say I was glad we were only staying 1 night. It wasn’t terrible. I’ve stayed in worse. But, it wasn’t good either. Back in 1970, it was probably an awesome hotel. We walked around and looked at the concrete hole in the courtyard, that used to be an outdoor pool.) Then we ate in the hotel restaurant. It was very good and the kids (and adults) were hungry after our less than spectacular lunch. Abby had a big pile of spaghetti with a giant meatball on top. Cade had mac and cheese. After supper, we walked around some more and then the adults tried to play some 500 (cards) while the kids played, but that didn’t work out so well. So, we walked around the old pool some more and then it was time for bed.