Well, the night was warm and the nearby I-65 was at times a bit noisy. Evidently there is also a railroad close to this Cracker Barrel which a few times overnight woke me. So, we are at 7:00am awake and getting ready for breakfast. The restaurant is open and based on the number of cars already in the lot, a popular place to start the day. We enjoy eggs & bacon and a cup of coffee before heading back out onto the I-65 East.
We immediately enter the state of Ohio and for the next couple of hours enjoy its pastoral landscape. We get off the interstate and take some smaller backroads to head NorthEast towards Cleveland. At one point in a small town we have to turn around and take an alternate route as the town had closed its Main Street for a Memorial Day running event.
We bypass Cleveland and head toward Erie, PA. We bypass Erie and head into the state of New York along I-90. We hop off the interstate before it becomes a toll road to get fuel. Our destination is a short drive along US-5 past a number of vineyards that line the coast of Lake Erie in this area.
We arrive at Lake Erie State Park without a reservation. We had checked online and it appeared that most campers had departed after the long weekend and thus there should be plenty of room for us. We were right!!! In fact, even better was that the computer system was offline resulting in the park attendant granting us a free night!
The park is quiet and has lots of hardwood trees scattered about for shade. The park is also right on the shore of the lake with wonderful views of the sunset. We arrived mid-afternoon and so we’re able to relax and enjoy the view and lakeside breezes before having roast beef sandwiches and salads for dinner in the van. A little TV to relax by during the evening and then a walk to the beach to enjoy that stunning sunset.
Sunset across Lake Erie
Good night one and all, I hope you to have recently enjoyed a glowing sunset. see you tomorrow!
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.
