Road Trip to Springfield

The Friday before Thanksgiving I started my drive to Springfield MO. The route was familiar from the trips last summer – with scenery changes with the colder season. I was also driving on my own. I took pictures at every stop. The first was at the South Mountain rest stop on I70 – western Maryland. The stones and signs encourage more exploration off the highway, but I had a long driver ahead, so I simply took my pictures and continued on.

I stopped at the Sidling Hill rest stop on I68. I hadn’t remembered the building looking like something in the southwest! It was too cold and damp to walk for a better shot of the large road cut.

By the afternoon I was in Ohio

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And then Indiana. The sun was getting low on the horizon during the last hour of my drive. I saw sundogs and then contrails from flights in-out of Indianapolis turn pink with the sunset. I didn’t stop for a picture. I was anxious for the drive to be over.

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I stopped for the night in Cloverdale, Indiana – just off I70. The hotel room had a US map made of license plates.

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The second day of the trek to Springfield MO started shortly after 7 AM. I had taken in the plants I was taking into the hotel (to avoid them getting too cold). I was glad I could park close to the room since it took more than one trip to get everything into the room.

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It took 2.5 tanks of gas to get to Springfield. The day was gray and damp.

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Illinois had signs about wildflowers in one rest stop…but none bloom in the cold.

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In Missouri, I stopped at the Route 66 rest stop less than an hour from Springfield. I was glad to be near the end of the trip.

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Eight days later I reversed the trek…driving back to Maryland.