So what'd you do today? I drove to Wisconsin.

I have the best dad ever. Seriously. Tomorrow is Father’s Day and his birthday is Monday and he’s driving the rig while I attempt to start today’s blog on a really bumpy Ohio interstate.

Yesterday was a bittersweet day at HVS. I had a fun lesson from Sally with Lauren and Cindy. Then there was lots of packing and last minute prep. I fell asleep around 10:30 and was up at 2:30am. Thankfully Tyler came in for breakfast without a fight and we were on the road by 3:45am.

It is wonderfully peaceful in the back pasture at the farm so early in the morning. I called for the boys and the response was many footfalls and soft snorts of interest. It was a good way to start the day.

Dad drove the first leg so I could sleep. Not long after the Ohio border, I took over driving so Dad could nap. Mom loaded her iTunes playlist on my iPod last night so we would have tunes when the radio was unreliable.

 Interstate 80 in Eastern Indiana

Interstate 80, which runs along the north border by Lake Erie, is a crappy road. However, the drive is flat and straight. We are a little behind schedule because we took some smaller stops to let Tyler cool off. Even with the great airflow in the trailer, it is 90 degrees and humid. Tyler keeps eating his hay and has devoured many apples. He’s also made several friends at the fuel stops.

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Ok, skip to Sunday night and I’m trying to catch up.

My plan to miss Chicago failed. Tyler has driven through quite a few big cities now. I drove the last 4 or 5 hours to the barn and totally missed I-294. We won’t do that on the way home. Luck was on our side, thankfully, and we never sat for more than a minute. It was a slow go, but we moved with traffic and only added 20-30 minutes.

Finally, we arrived at Pigeon Creek! Tyler popped off the trailer in search of grass. He’s a champ. Dad moved him around the farm while I set up his stall. Dad and I stayed long enough to survey Tyler and settle him in. We ate a quick dinner at Applebee’s and crashed after arriving at the hotel. The trip took us 15.5 hours which is not bad with several small stops to let Tyler relax and air out during the humid trip.

Random thoughts:

For anybody who’s going to drive like this, get EZPass and IPass! Drivers in Ohio and Indiana could not handle the directions PUSH BUTTON FOR TICKET. Also, I-80 is a very long, very boring two lane highway from State College, PA to Gary, Indiana. Dad drove most of it because it made me a little stir crazy. Being able to recline my seat in the truck was worth every penny I’ve shelled out for that thing.

That pretty much sums up the big trip. Nothing exciting – just what I hoped for.