Road trip to Vermont days 2 and 3

Yesterday was a long day. I drove from Stroud Oklahoma to Terre Haute Indiana. I got a late start to the day. I was planning to Geocache, so I looked up some caches along the way. But the day got off to a rainy start. No wonder they have problems with flooding in this part of the country, it really pours! In fact I got held up in Springfield MO due to 4" of water on the interstate and a truck that hydroplaned off the road into the median into a few feet of water. I stopped and ate lunch at a truck stop and by the time I got back on the road the water had gone down enough for my little car to pass through. Because I got a late start in the morning I just kept driving. I did not want to stay in a big city because I have so much stuff in and on my car. so I kept driving, past St. Louis until I could not drive anymore. I pulled in to an Econolodge. The place was packed there was even a FEMA truck parked there, I guess to deal with the Flooding along the Mississippi. I was exhausted and I was worried about my car. I did not sleep well. All night I had the feeling like something was crawling on my skin and bitting me. Was it bed bugs? When I did finally fall asleep I was awakened by a loud down pour. More rain, and boy was it coming down.

Five hours later I dragged myself out of bed to check out and get back on the road. When I went to check out they asked how my stay was, I mentioned how it felt like something was bitting me... she did not charge me for the room. A free nights stay in a crapy Motel. I am making up for it tonight, after another long day of driving I am staying at the Ramada on Seneca Lake in Geneva New York. I did not quite make it all the way to Syracuse today. Nothing too eventful today. I was expecting rain all day... but mostly I had nice weather, only a few sprinkles when I got to New York. The highlight of the day was eating black raspberries growing at a reststop in Pennsyvania. Zoey watched me pick and eat them, then she decided she could help herself to some of the berries lower on the bush. It is funny they way pets learn from thier owners.

I have been keeping an eye out for road kill and wildlife. In OK there were many armadillos and porcupine along the sides of the road. In Ohio there were a lot of deer. In New York the road medians are home to Woodchuck and deer. A woodchuck is like a very fat lonely prairie dog. they are in the same family, but woodchucks are HUGE, and they do not live in colonies. In the evening the deer like to sneak out at you... which is one reason I do not like to drive after dark on long road trips like this.

I ended the day looking for a place to stay as the sun was setting and light rain was falling giving rise to a rainbow.