September 28, 2012
Luckily, when we got up in the morning at the Akron hotel, the rain had stopped, although it was overcast and chilly. Not much to say about driving through Ohio, except that we welcomed the flat terrain after all the up and down of the mountains from day 2.
However, Indiana is another story. Oh, it was uneventful enough at first, just lots of flat terrain, Amish buggy crossing warning signs, and cornfields. Towards the end of the 200-mile stretch we had planned for the day, when looking for the turnoff that would take us to Auburn, our scheduled stop for the day, we encountered a closed road. Of course it was the one we needed.
While there were detour signs, we decided to listen to the GPS first. That was a bad idea … once it tried taking us down a gravel road we changed strategy. Among more signs warning of Amish buggies and rows of cornfields without any traffic or other signs of civilization (except for 3 lone big rocks on the side of the road at one point), Tom finally backtracked and decided to follow the detour signs, hoping they were actually right. Finally, we got back on the route we needed and the GPS agreed.
When we arrived in Auburn, our scheduled stop for Day 3, we were relieved to find that the hotel was on a civilized strip of highway with gas stations and restaurants, and even a Tom’s Donuts. I love nature and all, but that little stint in the backwoods of Indiana had me worried. After all, who would we have called on for help in case of being stranded, the Children of the Corn?