OHIO here I come

I always liked Ohio. The people are friendly there, I think. It is July 15, We just got into Ohio and the service Engine light comes on..Mike is driving his car, I panically call him on the walkie talkie. No problem he says....no problem he is not driving a 16 ton bus...I go up a hill, Agatha deBusse, is sputtering...I am sweating bullets, but I make up the hill to a flat spot and DEAD...she is DEAD right in the middle of I-80

"OH SHIT" was my thought. She coasted to the shoulder. Now I am screaming at Mike....no problem....!!!!!!!

I waited a minute and she started. The exit for Hubbard Ohio was right there. Truck stops, truck repair places...nope we can't help..the chevy place doesn't work on chevy trucks. and Good Sam RV help line wants to send us to Dayton....It is hot, no one is happy. Mike goes across the street to a 2 bay garage repair shop. They will look at it.

We drive to the back/side lot of Morrow's Auto Repair.A real nice 30ish man says he grew up in an RV and he would look. He finds the shark plug wires are burnt. Too late to order and get part, so we stay there. Across the street is an ice cream place...a great place for our emotions to cool down...ice cream was good, but Dakota and I got chiggers.. yep one great day. I figured there was some zen reason for it all.

July 16 the wires come, but the old wires caused the computer board to fry as well. Another day waiting for that. Now even though it sounds pretty frustrating, it actually was nice. Hubbard is a cute little town, almost a suburb of Youngstown, but everyone knows each other. The newspaper is more gossip news that bad things, and the biggest crime was some kid went for a joy ride in someones car. We ate at the Emerald Diner, which still had a juke box. I had an outrageous hot dog.

Mike liked hanging out with the 2 young guys there, Nate and Brien. The one thing that left me purturbed is something Brien said. He said it was amazing how many RV's break down right at the same place Agatha did...as if the RV didn't want to leave PA...or maybe Hubbard has some kind of special magic which causes RV's to break down and people to stay in their town....

OK finally, Agatha DeBusse is fixed and ready to go, so Sat July 18 we bid goodbye to Hubbard, and hello to $600 repair bill. We finally get on the road. I was not in the mood to stick around Ohio any more, so back on I 80 we go and drive right throught the Buckeye state and into Indiana. I said a prayer as I passed Kent State.

Ohio's and Indiana I-80 is a toll road. The service centers are MUCH nicer in OHIO than Indiana. Indiana is a funny state. I don't think they really like tourists, but they don't mind if you drop some money. Whoppers are $6. We decided to stay at the service statin at Elkhart IN, home of many RV's manufacturers. The RV museum is there. I wonder if they have Desi and Lucy's Airstream??

so we inch up to where all the big boys-trucks are sleeping. Everything was good until a truck parked next to us running the generator, with the exhaust pipes going right in our window. Thank God all the windows were opened. The good part is it got us up early so hopefully we could get through Chicago early Sunday Morning.