It should have taken 9 hours to drive from Lamar, Pennsylvania to Terre Haute, Indiana. It took 12. The first problem happened a half hour into the drive with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation decided to close the turnpike. The car’s nav saw the red-lined highway and suggested an alternate route. Off the highway and through the Pennsylvania countryside.
It was early and I was rested. No problem. Windows down, sunroof open and I drive 30 minutes through beautiful Pennsylvania farm country. Seemed like a bonus, not an omen. Back on to the highway in a couple of hours I was at the Ohio border. I buzzed through Ohio: Youngstown, Canton, Columbus and Dayton. Then I got to Indiana.
On 70, in an area called Spiceland the two-lane highway came to a complete stop. There were signs warning of construction, but there have been a lot of areas of construction on the entire trip. There was no sign that said they were going to close the highway for about an hour. There I sat, me and hundreds of big rigs. I checked the car’s nav. It gave the error message “There are no alternative routes.” That is Kia’s way of saying you are “f’d.” It was that kind of stop on highway where people got out of their trucks and cars. The next off ramp was AFTER the stoppage eight miles ahead and the previous off-ramp (presuming you could 4-wheel drive over the marshy looking meridian) was 5 miles back. After an hour it started to move. But, a wagon train of big rigs moves glacial rate. Finally, I hit the open road about 200 miles from tonight’s stop.
As I approached Indianapolis, the nav said to take the 65 south. As I approached the transition, I could see signs that said the 65 was closed, but usually the nav compensates. When I got up to transition, I could see that the 65 was not only closed, it was gone. There was nothing but concrete columns and debris. It wasn’t under construction, it was under destruction. The nav was still saying take the 65 south. The Kia Nav hates me. I had two options: North to Chicago or follow the train of cars and trucks off the freeway into downtown Indianapolis. I was already in the downtown lane.
Down the ramp and into truck driver hell on Ohio Street in downtown Indianapolis. The nav adjusted and wanted to follow the line of trucks. Like 50 of them, all waiting to make a left turn onto some street that paralleled the highway that wasn’t there. One truck at a time, they made the left turn. Slowly they turned, truck by truck.
That’s it. I turned off the nav. Time to go old school. As I sat there I looked at the map. I could see that if I went 12 blocks west and then south on Capital Street I could pick up the highway. But how do I get around 50 trucks? There was no lane, but there was space. I drove in the gutter between the wall of massive big rigs and the sidewalk filled with pedestrians. I crept forward and made the first block. One more to go. The light turned green and I kept to gutter. I looked in the rear-view mirror and I was now leading a parade of a dozen passenger cars. We got through.
West to Capital Street and about 8 blocks south and I was back on the highway. I made it to Terre Haute, Indiana.
Six-hour drive tomorrow to Kansas City, Missouri. That is the staging stop for the visit to the Truman Library. I have tickets for Friday Morning. The short drive to Wichita for overnight.
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