Date: 5 May 2001 (Saturday)

Start: Manassas VA

End: Buckeye Lake OH

Yesterday reminded me of the day before a submarine gets underway. Lots going on and you wonder if it’s all going to come together or not. It always does.

So we’re off.

Today was strictly a travel day. We’ve done this route so frequently in the past couple of years that there wasn’t much new to observe. Manassas to Winchester VA, then to Hancock MD and I-70, then I-70 the rest of the day (386 miles).

The truck tows better with the new transmission and cooler. No high temperatures, good response, and the perception of improved mileage. We didn’t adequately record mileage last year so we can’t document the improvement.

The spreadsheet so far shows mileage snapshots of 12.0 when doing 60/65 in hills, and 14.1 doing 55 mainly on flatter roads.

We saw our first wild animal of the trip – a groundhog. The silly thing was making its way across our side of I-70. We missed it, and so did the truck behind us.

We were going to have dinner in, but an advertisement for "all-you-can-eat-perch" dragged us into a local place across from the campground (KOA). The perch, rice and cole slaw were a nice re-introduction to mid-west life.