Pearson 4 Road Trip - 06/08 Rockville, IN to Dover, OH

June 8 - Aunt Carole's Journal:

Outside of motel watching cars and trucks go by.  Nice morning.  Had smaller beds last night, so Deb and Delma got "friendly".  Ha, Ha!  Our plans for today are to take scenic route through Indiana to Cincinnati, OH, then on to Amish country for a couple of nights.  Sounds like a fun time.  We are seeing lots of sights. 

9:21am  Here we go.  Breakfast at the Old Jail Coffee House.  Toured the Old Jail Bed and Breakfast.  Really fascinating.  I wouldn't want to stay there, but it was nice. 

On to see more covered bridges.  The first was "Neet Bridge" (that's the real name)!  The second was the Bridgeton Bridge 2006.  We also saw the Bridgeton Mill which was established in 1823 and rebuilt in 1870. Delma tried to help get camera for Deb, but she pulled out the telephoto lense instead.  Debbie and Delma taking some pictures of some pretty sights.  The river at this bridge is really rolling.

On the main road again.  Oh, that pickup is on our side of the road....he moved over (good thing; Delma wasn't budging).  Delma is driving; Debbie is playing with Garmin.  I'm sure glad they are in the front seat.  Jean and I are relaxing and enjoying the trip.  Some times Jean hollers like when something falls or when Delma tried to miss a chug hole.  Delma driving and is trying to take pills; Debbie is trying to help, but Delma said "Hell, no!  I have everything under control."  JUST KIDDING!!

In middle of some place.  Debbie has no reception on phone; Delma says gas is too high, so we are going to buy horse and wagon.  See you about Christmas.  Found gas station; so guess no horse and buggy.  Delma is happy.

Debbie is checking map and trying to find way out of nowhere.  Bloomington, IN, for lunch at Sonic (after we found it)! We have laughed about a lot of things and remarks.  Just passed the University of Indiana football stadium.  Wasn't expecting to see it; but glad of it.  That's what happens when you get off of interstate. 

We have made it through half of Ohio on the way to Dover, OH, for 2 nights.  This has been our longest traveling day so far.  Know we will all be ready for bed.  Made it to the motel; it's real nice.  Going to see the Amish sights tomorrow.  Looking forward to it.  I will say good night and let Debbie finish.

Debbie's comments:

When I checked out of the Park Bridge Motel this morning, I asked the ower for a recommendation on where to grab something quick for breakfast.  She suggested stopping by the Old Jail Coffee House for danish and coffee.  It was a great suggestion.  Delma and I went in  and while in there, the owner of the place started visiting with us.  We mentioned we were on a family trip with our Mother and Aunt and she found that just wonderful.  She went outside to visit with Mom and Aunt Carole while we finished getting things for breakfast. 

While visiting with us she mentioned she had recently opened up the Old Jail House Bed and Breakfast next door and wanted to show us all around.  We all found that concept fascinating so had to take a look.  She has completely rennovated the old Jail house.  The bedrooms are in the old cells.  It is a really fascinating place.  Of course....we had to take pictures.

Obviously none of us have much experience being behind bars; we didn't think about putting our heads through the bars for a better picture.  I included both pictures so you could see us all.

Here's an example of one of the bedrooms:

Then we were off to see 2 more of the 31 covered bridges in Parke County.  The last bridge (Bridgeton) was by far the best.  It was completely burned down a few years ago (arsonist) and rebuilt.  Who can believe someone would destroy such a beautiful bridge.  It was completely rebuilt in 2006.  Recently it was damaged by a storm....you will see the damage in the below picture.  Still a beautiful sight.

After the last bridge, we went on our "scenic" route through Indiana.  It takes a bit of time to travel across the state doing 40-55 miles an hour.  But we did see some beautiful sights.  I've been using my Garmin, AAA app, Map Buddy app and a regular map for navigating.  Sometimes it took all of them to keep us on the right track.  LOL.  Mom and and I are Sonic fans, so I found a Sonic in Bloomington, IN.  I didn't realize it was 3 miles off of Hwy 46.  Mom and I thought it was worth it; not sure Aunt Carole and Delma did.  Hey, we didn't realize the University of Indiana is in Bloomington.  We would never have seen that if we weren't traveling the "back roads".

We did decide from Bloomington we would skip the second "scenic" route and get to Amish counry in Ohio before nightfall.  That made for a long day, but we made it.  We checked into the Comfort Inn in Dover, OH, at 8:00pm this evening.  We have a room with 2 queen beds.  Woo-hoo!  We're here for 2 nights and are really looking forward to visiting the Amish communities.  I've already decided what I can't get in the car; I'll ship home!!  LOL

We are settling in for the night.  I just had to threaten Mom and Aunt Carole to quit bickering or I would "blog" about them.  That seemed to work....I'll remember that for next time. 

Well, that's about it for today.  I'll blog more tomorrow (if I can afford it!).