“Every major city should have a route around the city,” Nina told me as we were making our way on I-270 around the west side of Columbus, Ohio. It has been raining most of the morning and the temperatures are very cool. The heat in the cab feels good and being outside in a short-sleeved shirt is uncomfortable. There has been a lot of construction on I-70 between the Indiana border and Columbus. We’ve just made the turn north on I-71 towards Cleveland are, once again, in a construction zone. Construction in thse northern states can only really be done in the late spring through early fall, when the traffic volume is also the highest. I’m sure that highway planners would like some other option but so far no one has thought of it.

We have a little less than four hours to go before arriving in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. It will be good to get there and park the motorhome for a week or so. It will be good to not be bouncing around in the vehicle as we maneuver through construction zones!

This is Mother’s Day in the United States. I expect that in thousands of Mormon wards throughout the U.S., the closing song in Sacrament meeting was “There Is Beauty All Around, When There’s Love At Home“. Instead, we listened to a Tabernacle Choir CD this morning. We did Mothers Day a week early last week in Soda Springs, but we also called this morning to wish my mother a Happy Mother’s Day. I’m happy that she’s my mother. We have really enjoyed the past couple of years getting to know both mother and dad once again when we could be much more involved in their lives. Nina and mother talk at least once a day and sometimes more often. When I’m back from Manila in mid-June we’ll start going to the temple once a month with them. I’m looking forward to that time as well. So, Happy Mother’s Day, mother!

There sure is a lot of traffic on the roads today — particularly big truck traffic. With fuel prices as high as they are, most of the trucks are driving about 60 mph to save on fuel. That often makes for long lines of trucks to be passed. We’ve been driving about 65 where the speed limit allows that speed or higher. It does make a difference in the gas mileage. The highest price we’ve paid was the last gas stop where 87 octane was $2.899 a gallon. Previously the highest price was in Limon, Colorado at a price of $2.799 for 85 octane. So, we’re still moving towards New Wilmington. We’ll continue up I-71 to I-76 to Akron and Youngstown, which will merge with I-80 in Pennsylvania. We’ll take Route 60 south to New Wilmington right after we cross into Pennsylvania and the trip will come to an end.