Day 2 – Cleveland, OH!

We awoke in beautiful Mogadore, Ohio to weather that was just right. Couldn’t ask for anything better. Dry, clear, and crisp. A great way to start the day.

Before we could make our trek to Cleveland, we had a few things to take care of at the campsite. First, Katie had to take another shower to shave her other leg. Good news though, my idea about there not being enough water in the tank to go to the hot water heater seems to have been correct. Hopefully this will address the need to take multiple showers to get everything taken care of. Time will tell!

Our breakfast this morning was healthier than the previous. I had a grapefruit, and Katie had an orange and a yogurt. And to round it out, we had some more of the Wegman’s brownies. I think they go in the basement of the food pyramid or something like that. We’ve got a third of it left. After that, we won’t have many more of the comforts of home.

We drove to Cleveland and made it there in fifty minutes. It was so much easier to drive without the trailer behind us, made me appreciate how solid the truck is. Our GPS that was supposedly built specially for trailers and motorhomes sent us down the wrong way of a one-way street. That scares me a little bit. May have Google Maps run simultaneously as a fail-safe for a bit.

Our first stop was the house and museum from the movie “A Christmas Story”. One of Katie’s friend’s parents had given us tickets as a wedding present since they knew she was a huge fan (and it’s growing on me, too). As we pulled up to the house, Katie began getting giddy with excitement. We parked the truck nearby, and headed into the gift shop where the tour began.

The tour and guide were fantastic. Very knowledgeable on his subject, and he had a great sense of humor about it. When they asked if anyone wanted to wear a bunny suit that resembled the “pink nightmare” suit that Ralphie wears in the movie, Katie’s eyes lit up and he knew right away there was at least one taker. She left it on for the next hour (OK, maybe ten minutes) and was in her element. She checked out the Red Rider BB gun, Little Orphan Annie comic with decoder, Leg Lamp, and all the other movie artifacts. I got into the spirit too, biting into the Lifebuoy soap much to Katie’s surprise.

I liked the whole setup a lot. You could tell that the people behind it and working there were really into it and happy to be there. I liked the movie, but it was never an annual tradition for me as it is for Katie. What really impressed me was the hard work, effort, and determination that went into rehabbing the house, tracking down the artifacts, and putting it all together into an attraction that draws thousands of people a year. Sounded like the owner didn’t know what he was getting himself into, but went in and found a way to make it work regardless of the obstacles. Very cool stuff.

After purchasing a set of bunny slippers for Katie, we headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My expectations weren’t all that high, but they were certainly exceeded. A little too much video stuff for my taste, but the overall presentation was really cool. The layout was more thematic than chronological, which I liked a lot. Not as much Springsteen as we would have liked, but lots of cool stuff from a solid variety of artists and music figures.

After a quick walk out to see Lake Erie, we headed back to the campground. Traffic was a lot more congested as it was rush hour, but it was great to get back and relax. Katie decided to check out the common shower facilities to take a shower with a little more water pressure and heat. While there, she encountered a frog she thought was cute, but didn’t really want to share a shower with.

With a long day ahead of us driving to Indy tomorrow, it was good to take it easy again tonight and enjoy the beautiful weather we have been so fortunate to have.