In close proximity to a bathroom...
Living in water a-plenty-Scotland for over 40 years, I've taken good drinking water for granted. But not all water is equal. It’s something I’ve learned the hard way
since RVing across the USA. It’s not
necessarily bad to drink, it’s just bad tasting. I do generally use it for cooking
though. However, the well water in the Stars
in Your Eyes RV Resort Park we have been staying in for nearly a month, has
made it necessary for me to keep within easy access of a toilet pretty much the
whole time we have been here. Despite
switching to bottled water for cooking and teeth brushing, I still have to plan
any excursions to include restroom facilities. I should say that Richard
remains unaffected by the water. I do wish they had warned us on our arrival
that the water is not drinkable. I
wondered about the strange metallic swampy smell when I took my first
shower.
Don’t get me wrong, the park is OK, though a little
aged. WiFi is pretty awful, unless you
go and sit outside the Park office, but it has a good sized pool with loungers and
tables with umbrellas – much enjoyed by us as the temperatures have climbed
since we arrived at the end of May. The
sites are big and we have a lot of space – a whole field of empty lots surrounded by cornfields, during
the week.
At weekends this park attracts family groups from the local
area. The pool has a lifeguard, and is a
big draw. On Friday afternoon the
trailers roll in, and during Friday and Saturday evenings the air is filled
smoke from bonfires, barbecues and children squealing with happiness. People do love to sit beside a fire, even when
the outside temperature is 85F (29C)! We
have met some lovely people here, and enjoyed their banter during games of
Mexican Train, cards, and bingo. After
complaining that he didn’t much care for the lack of skill required, Richard changed
his attitude about Bingo when he won the jackpot of $65.
For the first week, I pretty much stayed around the park,
working on an article which was published in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, which you
can read here. No positive responses as yet. Whilst I finished Herman Wouk's Winds Of War, and started on Cold Mountain, Richard discovered
that Springfield, about 5 miles west on route 40 – known as National Road, (the
first road built this far west), had a pretty good library and we then spent a
lot of time using their air-conditioning, bathroom, internet access and, yes... bathroom.
Springfield is rather a nice town, with interesting
buildings hinting at a faded glory. The
local Heritage Center Museum housed in what was once a rather spectacular city
hall, (I felt brave enough to visit it), confirmed my first impression. Springfield was once the metal manufacturing
capital of Ohio’s heartland, famous for agricultural equipment, Buffalo
Springfield steam rollers, (doesn’t that name sound so much like a ‘70’s
band?), sewing machines, metal caskets (you know – steel lined shipping cases –
not just funerary caskets!), Champion farm machinery, including the first ever
grass mowers. Here is a photograph of
President Harrison trying out the improved model of this most modern invention
in the garden of the White House.
From 1910 to 1916, ten different automobile manufacturers
were based here, including the Westcott Motor Car Company. Known as the car built to last, the Westcott
was a luxurious six cylinder four door sedan.
However, the product devised by Burton J Westcott that outlasted his
cars, was the house he had designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Indeed, fortunes were made in Springfield
during the 19th and the early part of the 20th centuries,
and it was once home to millionaires. It
has not retained its once glorious manufacturing stature, but it still boasts a
Performing Arts Center, a University, a Symphony Orchestra, and a Museum of
Art, and of course, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Westcott House.
Most impressive for us in modern day Springfield, however,
was the Springfield Arts Council, which puts on an annual summer festival. With volunteers providing the hard work of staging
some 24 free shows for the public over a 6 week period, this festival is pretty
unusual. The line up is eclectic -
nationally acclaimed and local artists, including 6 tribute bands, an Emmy
Award winning Broadway singer, political satirists, a comedy show, a jazz band,
gospel choir, Russian folk musicians and dancers, a play and a musical take
over a fully lit open air stage facing a natural grass amphitheatre. You can even claim the best view possible by
putting up your own folding chair for the evening performance of your choice
from 6 am onwards. And no one will move
it! For me, it was really impressive to
encounter that level of trust and community spirit.
The Imodium must have made me feel somewhat braver, for we
decided to scope out the location of the festival. As I checked out the bathroom facilities, I
came across a group of ladies who were setting up one of the two concession
stands (that’s a wee snack bar to those Scots reading this). Emboldened by the fact that the stand was right
next door to the Ladies, I volunteered ourselves to help out on the second
night of the festival. Our experience at volunteering for the beer tent and
other stalls at Scottish Highland Games would come to good use, though I made
it clear I wouldn’t be handling food, just to be on the safe side! The evening was fairly quiet (according to
the regulars) so there was plenty of time for banter with the other volunteers,
and it gave us a chance to feel a part of the community. We returned three times to enjoy the evening
sunshine and soak up family entertainment and some musical nostalgia.
One other place we visited was the National Air-force Museum
in Dayton, a 30 minute car trip away, with plenty of bathrooms in the massive 4
hangar complex covering 10 acres, and housing 300 aircraft and missiles,
including three of the planes used by US Presidents. Dayton was the birthplace of Orville Wright,
and in 1904 the patent for the Wright Brothers’ invention of a system of
aerodynamic controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible was lodged in
Springfield.
Richard loved the Museum, and though I am not an airplane or
rocket aficionado, I really enjoyed learning about the early development of
both, and seeing some of the more famous and infamous planes I have heard
of, old:
and modern:
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| bathroom facility on the Space Shuttle |
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| a prototype that flew but never made it into production |
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| Pres Roosevelt's personal plane, with special lift installed for wheelchair access |
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| The original in-flight galley with fridge! |
Oh, I almost forgot. One
other activity we pursued while we were spending time at the park, was working
on our 5th wheel, the Jet.
The poop tank issue has reappeared (too much use maybe?), and we have
done some more refurbishing inside. I
found some colorful fabric on sale, and worked on my previously non-existent
upholstery skills! I am very much
delighted with the result. Gone are the
awful brown valances (aka pelmets) and chair covers I hated, and the blinds and
otherwise unremarkable wallpaper suddenly appear more attractive!
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| Before |
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| After |
This RV re-upholstering was done as the Brexit fiasco was
being played out in the UK, money markets plummeted and our pensions are
looking to be in jeopardy. We have been
watching in dismay as England and Europe seems to be going mad. It has made me wonder if RV make-overs might just
turn out to be a means to earn some money to keep us leading this RVing
lifestyle.
So our month here has run out and we are packing up to head
further west. We have enjoyed the look
and feel of Ohio, and now that Tornado season is supposed to be pretty much
over, we are heading to Wichita, Kansas for July 4th celebrations
with friends.
And hopefully my tummy will get back to normal.
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