After a couple of nice days visiting family in S. Ontario it was time to really start our adventure.
10:00am and we’re on the road heading towards Sarnia and the Bluewater bridge as our entry point into Michigan.
Bluewater bridge, Sarnia, ON
My brother had suggested that I try jumping the small gap that remains on the Gordie Howe bridge currently under construction in Windsor. I gave that a pass and instead we find ourselves lined up at the end of the Bluewater bridge waiting for a US customs agent.
Trucks lined up for US Customs, our lane is empty
The traffic moved fairly well and the agent had no issues with letting us into his country. The journey was now really underway.
We headed towards Lansing, MI and witnessed too many outcomes of deer vs. truck. We lost count of how many deer lost their battles in the short 75 mile stretch we drove. 😞
We stopped at a restaurant stop for a quick lunch in the van and then returned to the highway heading towards Kalamazoo, MI. We turned South and made a detour into Elkhart, IN the home of most of the largest RV builders in North America. 🚐
Downtown Elkhart, IN
We missed seeing the biggest of the factories because of how we entered the town, but did see one of the Thor assembly plants and Forest River facilities as we headed South out of town.
Driving the back roads allowed us to slow down and enjoy our surroundings, but it did add more than an hour to our overall drive time for the day. It was worth it. I mean, did you know that “Tippecanoe” is a real town in Indiana? Well it is & we’ve been there!
Tippecanoe, IN
Our back roads drive resulted in us meandering along US25 towards Logansport which is part of the Historic Michigan Road that was built in the 1830’s to connect the Ohio valley to Lake Michigan.
Purple Deadnettle
Our day ended with a Westward jaunt along I-74 towards Urbana, IL where we stopped for the night at a Cracker Barrel restaurant (Yes, they allow overnight stays for RVs).
Arriving in Illinois at sunset. Apologies for the bugs on the windshield.
Our day tomorrow will be much shorter than today and will include a special place to visit and a meetup to conclude the day.
6:00am and thousands of sleeping campers are awakened by one fool who thinks it’s cute to fire off an enormous thundering firework to announce the start of Race Day. Thanks buddy.
So, we’re awake and enjoying a light breakfast when we realize that we are now being entertained by Christmas music. Yep, someone is blasting ‘Rudolph the red nosed reindeer’ just for something to do we guess.
As the morning progresses more people emerge from their tents and trailers, most looking a little worse for wear after possibly over-indulging last night. ‘The hair of the dog that bit you’ seems to be the remedy of choice as many are enjoying what I’m sure will be the first of many beers consumed this day. It’s now 8:30am.
We prepare our lunch and pack a cooler bag with wraps, snacks, water & pop that we will take into the speedway. Last year we found that getting food during the event from on-site vendors was just too challenging with some running out of items so this year we’re going prepared to take care of ourselves.
10:00am and we leave our campsite for the track. It’s about a 10min walk to the gate where we pass through metal detectors and then have our tickets scanned. Voila, we’re in.
We’ve arrived at the infield of the IMS!
We stop by an official merchandise shop to pickup this years program and commemorative pin for display in the van. We briefly stopped by the ‘Fan Zone’ behind the main stands but it was incredibly overcrowded and so we proceeded directly to our seats. In all it took about an 45min of maneuvering through the crowds to get to our seats. These are the same ones as last year thanks to Dean Lawrence who goes above and beyond ordering and acquiring everything for our group. Cheers again Bud.
An idea of the crowds near the infield Fan-Zone
It’s now 11:00am and the official pre-race ceremonies are underway. It being Memorial Day weekend, the military are front and center with walkbys, drivebys, and flybys being the order of the day. Lots of pomp and circumstance. At 11:45am the driver introductions occur with the fan favorites receiving the loudest appreciation from the fans. The singing of ‘God Bless America’ and the national anthem takes place ahead of those famous words “Drivers, start your engines”. The grid roars to life and becomes much less crowded as unnecessary personnel leave the track. The cars pull away for a few parade laps followed by the pace lap and then we’re underway!
Pre-race activities. A reported 300,000 in attendance.
The cars lap the 2.5mile track in about 40seconds at speeds averaging over 210mph. The race settles into a rhythm and before we know it 100laps are complete. The clouds are clearing and the day is heating up. There’s no shade over our seats so the water that we brought becomes really important. 150laps, three-quarters race distance and the race has been mostly uneventful. Cars we expected to do well are running near the front and those that struggled to qualify are hanging on at the rear of the pack, some now lapped once or twice.
Our view of the track, the pits in the foreground and the closest digital info board. I see the race is 100laps in and under a yellow flag condition.
We’re nearing the end of the race now and there are a few accidents as drivers start taking a few more chances looking for ways to pass that might or might not work. Officials decide to red flag the race causing racing to stop while each of two accidents are cleared from the track. This is to allow for a racing finish as opposed to a parade finish behind a pace car. These delay our leaving the stands and the heat, it’s becoming quite unbearable and we’ve finished our water supplies. The last red flag incidents means that the race will be settled in a one lap sprint around the track, the green flag drops and the cars tear down the front straight and into turn1 and turn2. The car running 2nd gets a great run out of turn2 and passes for the lead before turn3. The two cars leading the pack go through turn4 and the lead car weaves crazily trying to break the aerodynamic tow. They weave into and out of the pit lane entrance before returning to the track for the sprint to the line. Exciting stuff as the 2nd place car pulls out to attempt the pass but is out of time and distance, Josef Newgarden, driving for Team Penske wins!
Panoramic view from our seats of the front straight.
We collect our cooler bag and start the walk out of the stands. Behind us the winner is celebrating and will shortly be drinking the celebratory milk that is tradition for this race.
We say our goodbyes to our friends, Dean & Cathy and J-P & Lisa as they head towards the shuttles that will return them to their hotel while we join the thousands that are exiting the speedway toward Georgetown Rd. We make good time and in only about 30min we are back at our van. Time for a cold beer!
The van interior is 36C, I start the onboard generator and turn on the rooftop a/c. Argh! I’m being pelted with small black bits of plastic! I shutoff the a/c and the generator knowing the cause of the plastic rain. It has been reported by others that own the same type and model of a/c that 2 motor mounting bolts can vibrate loose causing the squirrel cage fans to rub on the housing causing them to shred. I had checked for this loosening last year and found it not to be an issue; however, after traveling another 15000km or so, I guess I should have checked again. Hmmm. The good news is that the fix is simple and I will take care of it when we get home before heading to the Maritimes.
For now, we get to relax in a very hot van with the doors and windows all open. Traffic is horrifically bad immediately after the race and so sitting still for an hour or so allows the traffic to improve before we head out.
Yep, we’ve decided not to stay a 2nd night but instead head East cutting some of the driving down from tomorrows itinerary. At 6:45pm we pull out of the camping field and join the still steady stream of traffic. Our drive in the traffic jam lasts only about 45min before we get into I-65 heading across the city and the drive out of the city is uneventful.
We continue on I-65 for an hour or so and pull off the highway in Richmond, IN just before the Ohio state line. We get fuel and will spend the night parked in a Cracker Barrel. Good night all, hopefully no loud fireworks to awaken us tomorrow.
After enjoying a beverage and slice of pizza at our hosts last evening, we enjoyed a long and silent night.
The views across the farmland this morning were serene. Windmills on the horizon quietly turning about their business whilst a few early farming types were up and running about getting a jump on the days chores.
We get going at about 8:45am and head back towards highway 401. The border crossing at Windsor is only about 45 min away and so we are hoping to beat the Saturday rush. Not quite.
Crossing into Detroit
US Customs is busy with many lanes open for traffic each having between 6 and 9 vehicles waiting. We join a line of 6 cars and 1 minibus. Mistake #1. The minibus takes a while for all passengers to be processed and then the lane is closed temporarily while there is a shift change of agents.
Our turn comes and it isn’t long before we realize that we have inherited the badass agent out to prove something to someone. We’re grilled. We’re boarded. We’re released. Phew. 25 minutes in all to clear US Customs. Argh.
Detroit driving is actually very good and the I-75 South towards Toledo flows smoothly. Potholes, lots. Construction, also lots but as it’s Saturday we pass right through without any delays.
Before we know it we’re driving around Toledo and onto US-24 towards Fort Wayne, IN. This is a beautiful road. Quiet, smooth, relatively flat.
When we arrive in Fort Wayne we head towards town and stop for fuel and groceries at a WalMart. Whilst stopped we made ourselves lunch in the van.
Back on the road we head now towards Indianapolis. Traffic builds as we get into the city as there are lots of construction zones we need to slow down for. We head around the city on I-465 and then take I-65 towards the Speedway. A few more turns and we’re driving down Georgetown Road towards IMS Lot 1-A where we are camping whilst in town.
A friendly campground host sets us up in a really nice spot at the edge of the camping field away from the rowdiest of campers. Excellent!
IMS Lot 1-A campsite
We’re meeting friends while here and they pick us up in their truck shortly after we arrive. We go back to their hotel which is next to the Indianapolis Colts football stadium and enjoy a couple of drinks while catching up on everyone’s travels from Ottawa to Indy.
We take an Uber downtown to Fogo de Chāo a Brazilian Steakhouse where all enjoyed a wonderful meal while telling tales and laughing at ourselves and the escapades enjoyed throughout our long term friendships.
Barb and I took an Uber back to the campsite to end the day and fell asleep to the thrum of generators, music and fireworks.
Tomorrow, the Indy 500. That’s it, that’s all, a motor race. Sleep tight everyone! Vroom, vroom.
So this is it, our last day of this trip in the USA and it starts with another beautiful morning. We enjoy a quick breakfast and pack up the van for the drive.
We head out and immediately have a small issue, our phones (used for GPS mapping functions while on the road) are not connecting to a network. Luckily as this is the last US leg and we’re somewhat familiar with where we are going we can push on. We figure out over the next few hours that it’s only an issue with AT&T, if we change our phones to use Verizon they work fine.
We head towards Fort Wayne, IN and have to decide which route to take. Detroit or Lansing. I’d prefer to avoid Detroit because of traffic and construction, but Lansing will add about an hour to our drive time. We’re tired of driving and so Detroit it is. At Fort Wayne we head NE towards Toledo, OH and hope that we don’t get caught up in any major delays.
We’ve already noticed the lack of leaves on the trees when compared to our drive of yesterday. Spring is only just beginning in the Northern states.
Toledo, OH is under construction, or at least the I-75N is. It gets better as we cross into Michigan, but then in Detroit it feels as if they’ve decided to completely redo the entire highway system. We muddle on and emerge the other side of the city unscathed. Yay!
A quick lunch stop at McD’s and then a stop at one last US gas station. It seems like just a few minutes later and we’re paying the bridge toll (Debit/Credit only, cash no longer accepted). Over the Bluewater bridge and into Ontario.
Canada Border Protection Services happily allow us to re-enter Canada with a minimal delay (less than 5min total from bridge to Hwy 402). Yay, we’re home, Eh!
Our last hour for the day takes us along the shore of Lake Huron to Grand Bend where we stop at Tim Horton’s for a coffee (Mmm, Timmies) before heading to Exeter, ON where we are spending a couple of days with Barb’s parents.
This marks the end of daily posts for this, our 2023 Southwestern US tour. I will put up a post in the upcoming days about our drive across Ontario towards home as well as one or two posts summarizing the trip in the next week or so. Whether you’ve followed us regularly or just found our blog, thanks for reading. I hope that you’ve enjoyed our view from the road.
Thanks for coming along with us!
BTW, we are planning a tour of the Maritime provinces in just a few weeks, so watch out for another series of posts starting soon. Cheers.
A nice quiet night at the Walmart parking lot in Russellville, KY. We’re up early with the sun again and soon all set to get back on the road.
A short drive to Bowling Green, KY where we stop at the Crumbl cookie store. We’ve been hearing good things about their cookies so thought we’d give them a try.
Crumbl cookies
We joined the I-65N and headed toward Louisville, KY. Lots of trucks again and the terrain means I’m passing them uphill & then they’re passing me downhill. A couple of hours in and we cross the Ohio River into Indiana.
Louisville,KY
From here the road is flatter and the driving easier. We stop for a quick break and bite to eat at a rest stop and then head onwards toward Indianapolis, IN. We take the I-465 around the city and veer off on the I-69N towards our stop for today in Anderson, IN at Mounds State Park.
The park is tranquil and fairly quiet with most sites being empty. We back in, have something to eat (Chick-fil-a chicken) and then both enjoy a late afternoon nap.
Mounds State Park, Anderson, INGoogle tells me this is Cercis
Tomorrow we plan on completing our Northward trek back to Canada and should be crossing the border back into Ontario in the afternoon. check back again to see how we get along!
A quiet night. I awake early in the hopes of having the shower to myself, Yay! It works. It’s also COLD … freezing actually. It takes almost my entire shower before any warmth is felt. The shower gets a 6 / 10. It loses points for lack of immediate hot water, no shower curtain and standing water inside and outside of shower pan. It is however clean and there are hooks and a bench.
We enjoyed a light breakfast of yogurt, banana, hard boiled egg, coffee and a danish before topping off the water tank, packing up and heading out.
Our view from the road
Today was a day of driving westward. We’d bypass St. Louis and head towards a winery just short of Kansas City. This takes us across both the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and onto the great central plains.
Crossing the Mississippi River
We came across one traffic backup (unknown cause) which happened to be just as we came upon a rest stop. So being in an RV, we simply pulled in, parked up, and laid down for a short nap while the traffic sorted itself out. When we rejoined the highway, traffic was moving slowly but we felt refreshed and ready for the remainder of our trip.
Pulling off of I-70 in Higginsville, MO we managed to get gasoline for $4.169 / gallon ($1.394 CAD / litre) the best price we’ve seen.
We are staying tonight at the Arcadian Winery & Brewery, a Harvest Hosts location for which the only cost is that you purchase something from their business. If you’re a camper and have not heard of Harvest Hosts or Boondockers Welcome, check them out as there are thousands of places to stay across North America for almost no cost.
Arcadian Winery & Brewery.
Lastly, here is our map with stickers added for the Provinces and States through which we have driven our campervan. Look for an update further along the road.
The 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 was today, May 29th, 2022 and 30years after attending my first Indy500, I’m back and this time Barb and I will both enjoy the race and the spectacle that this event is.
A light breakfast and we’re off to the track at 8:30am. The crowds are already building and the organizers are expecting 330,000 people here for the race (plus those that come just to camp and party).
Our seats are on the inside of the oval immediately behind the pits on the front straight. This puts them in the shade until noon when the racing starts. Just by complete coincidence, our seats this year are within 50 feet of the seats where Dean and I sat in 1992.
Indy500 a view from our seats
This is a classic US of A spectacle. All major sponsors get time at the microphone, including the folks that supply the milk to the winner on the podium. Lots of speeches and a flyby later and we’re ready to start a race.
As races go, the 2022 Indy500 was a good one with no major incidents or injuries. It appeared that Scott Dixon had the fastest car all day, but a speeding infraction while entering the pits caused him to be penalized by dropping him to the back of the lead lap and that essentially put him out of contention. Each in our group had picked a driver to win, and as the afternoon wore on all had either crashed or dropped back in the field. Only J-P, who had picked Pato O’Ward, had a driver that could win this race. Pato had run strong all afternoon and was running 2nd near the end; however, better tyre and fuel conservation meant that the race near the end was being led by Marcus Erickson of Sweden (ex F1 driver). Marcus was able to hold off a late push by Pato to win the race! It was an exciting conclusion to the afternoon and not one that most expected, but that is the nature of such a long race.
Indy500 formation lap
Leaving the track after the race is not an experience for the claustrophobic, the worst being the limited tunnels that lead from the track infield out to Georgetown Road. However, after 30 minutes of shuffling we were out! Another 30 minutes and we were back at the campground sitting in the shade of the van and enjoying yet another bottle of water all while recounting the racing event that just occurred.
Barb and I sat around for about an hour before saying our goodbyes and heading out at about 5:30pm towards a campground in Terre Haute, IN that we had booked. It was a chance to get away from the crowds and to dump our tanks and replenish our onboard water supply.
The campground is nice and very quiet compared to the racetrack camping field. I’m sure the shower in the morning will be equally as welcome. A long day, a fun day, a tiring day. Good night.
Saturday at the Indy500 is generally quiet from an ‘on-track activities’ perspective as drivers completed their last practice yesterday. Today there is a parade in downtown Indianapolis but as we’re in RVs there’s no way for us to easily get there to watch. As such, today is a day to relax and finally soak up some sunshine.
Yes, it has stopped raining. The camping field is sodden and squelch’s with every step. We can only hope that the predicted 2 days of sunshine will dry the ground enough to allow us to drive out when ready.
Camping field is filling up!
Our newest arrivals, Dean took Brian and Aiden for a walk along Georgetown Road past the track to look around as it’s their first time in Indy. The rest of us relaxed and did some cleaning and organizing…. Camp day.
USAF Thunderbirds practicing for tomorrow
In the afternoon, we played some ‘Cornhole’ while enjoying a few beverages. Cornhole is almost a national sport in these parts with many many sites having setup boards and bags.
Cornhole, fun or competitive?
We ended the afternoon with a steak dinner accompanied with some very nice red wine all followed by strawberry shortcake. Hey, I never said we wouldn’t be enjoying ourselves on this trip. It’s not all about rain and mud. 😎
It’s Friday, it’s rained most of the night and today we expect to see many campers in all varieties of vehicles arrive for the weekend of festivities.
After a great egg, bacon & hash brown breakfast prepared by J-P & myself, the gang decided to go for a walk down Georgetown Road towards the IMS museum. Much has changed in the 30 years that have passed since Dean & I first visited the Indy500 in 1992. Gone are the bikers, the Christian cross carriers and the masses of beer-can throwing goons of the early Nineties… Instead the atmosphere seems relaxed but ready for a party. Maybe we’re a day early.
The walk along Georgetown Road brings back many memories and it’s carburetion day so the cars are on track…. The noise outside as we’re walking past while the drivers are practicing make the hairs on my arms stand on end…. We’re back! It’s not just a race, it’s an experience that one never forgets and even years later the sights, smells and sounds take me back to that first visit. No wonder people come back year after year trying to relive the memories of their first visit.
We arrive at the main gate and follow the sidewalk around the track outside of Turn-1. BANG! The sound is unforgettable, a car has just hit the outside wall in Turn-1 just through the fence and under the grandstand from where we were walking. Colton Herta lost the rear of his car, contacted the wall at about 200 mph and the car flipped upside down with him in it. We walked further along the sidewalk to where we could see a large screen within the track and saw that the medics extract him from the wrecked car. He walked away waving at the fans. Amazing.
Arriving at the tunnel to the museum we purchased tickets into the track and then walked through the tunnel to the IMS museum.
In front of the IMS Museum
The IMS museum has all of the winning Indy500 cars back to the first race in 1911. Not all are on display, but a great selection from the past 111 years is available to view at any given time. A few are shown below.
1911 Marion Wasp – the winning car from 19111964 Lotus Ford driven by Jim Clark1995 Reynard Ford driven by Jacques Villeneuve
After touring the IMS museum, we headed over towards the grandstand to locate our seats that we will be in for the race on Sunday. As there are 235,000 seats at this track, it’s good to know where yours are before the morning of the race.
Arriving at our seats we found that the PitStop challenge was underway immediately in front of our section and so stayed to watch the event. Amazing to watch the teams perform a timed 4 wheel tyre change and fueling in just a few seconds.
Returning to the campground we arrived during yet another rain shower during which two more people joined us from Ottawa. Brian and Aiden who are both friends of Dean and Cathy and are visiting the Indy500 for the first time.
As the evening wore on, the party intensified as groups all around us relaxed and began the celebration of the US Memorial Day weekend. We are confident that the rain of the past few days will be replaced by sunshine for the weekend, so here’s the hoping for warmer and dryer weather!
The alarm woke us at 6:00am. Ugh. We wanted to arrive at the camping field mid morning so as to hopefully get a site closer to the track than those that would arrive later in the day. This means an early start in an effort to avoid traffic. And so. after walking 5 laps of the Walmart parking lot and having a quick snack while preparing for departure, we headed out for a Cracker Barrel breakfast in Greenfield, IN. Mmm.
The remaining drive to the Indy500 camping field was good; however, the sky’s were threatening. Arriving at Lot 1-C the rain had begun and all of the staff were dressed in full rain gear. We got parked up OK and have put boards under all wheels in the hopes that this will prevent getting stuck should it get really wet and muddy (something we’ve witnessed here in the 1990’s).
We were able to park facing in opposite directions so that our awnings could be extended and thus form one large covered area between our RV’s. We enjoyed this a lot today as the rains continued until mid-afternoon.
Part of the fun of arriving at a campsite for an event such as this is watching the arrivals of others. Camping vehicles of all sizes are brought to these events, and some probably shouldn’t be really considered ‘campers’. Due to the continued rain, we witnessed several campers get stuck and then towed out of the mud and onto their campsite. The staff here are well prepared and have a tracked bobcat they use to extract stuck vehicles.
As the day wore on the “show” changed from vehicle watching to people watching. Now parked up and settled, the campers enjoy a beverage or two and prepared their sites with tables, chairs, bbq’s, flags, and other paraphernalia. Some seem to go to some length trying to outdo their neighbors. Our neighbor actually brought a lawnmower to cut the field grass to better suit their personal tastes.
Late afternoon was dry as we prepared and enjoyed a BBQ chicken dinner, the sun even made an appearance. Looking ahead the forecast for Saturday and Sunday (Race Day!) look to also be dry and sunny.
This next paragraph is blank….. as I retired to the van and slept for a couple of hours. Evidently the conversation and drinks continued, but I missed it all. I understand that there were a few ‘unusual’ campground sightings.
I’ve got nothing for this….Getting into the race spirit
At around 9:30pm the rains returned and we all agreed that this would mark the end of a long couple of days for us and so we cleaned up our site and retired to bed. Good night one and all!
After two relaxing and enjoyable days visiting Barb’s parents, it’s time to head out. We spent the morning preparing for the longer road trip we would have that afternoon and at about 11:00am pulled out of their driveway. Thanks again Jack & Mary.
Our route took us to Sarnia, ON where we would cross into the US and drive South towards Detroit and then onto Dayton, OH before turning West on I-70 towards Indianapolis, IN.
The driving today was how everyone hopes it might always be when they travel, uneventful. The border crossing was very quiet and the process was quick. Detroit through to Toledo, the traffic was moderate and the roads not as rough as we’d expected. We stopped for gas shortly after Toledo and met up with Dean, Cathy & J-P who we were joining for our weekend in Indy.
After turning West onto the I-70 is where the weather changed. The warm and grey conditions became warm and wet with a few heavy rain downpours along the route. Luckily the heaviest of the rain was gone when we pulled into our overnight destination, the Walmart in New Castle, IN.
We’d chosen this particular Walmart as it’s about an hour away from Indy and therefore would be a good point from which to drive tomorrow into the Indy campground. It also allowed us to stock up on groceries.
After the re-provisioning was complete, we all enjoyed a drink and an hour or so of conversation catching up with each other before heading off to sleep. Good night to all.
