Interstate Eats and Adventures

It was a four state day, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio where we spent the night at a rest area on the highway, something we never thought we would ever do. Many states allow vehicles to park overnight at rest stops. This is in an effort to combat fatigue while driving, definitely not as a camping destination. 

When I thought about staying in a rest area I was fearful. First, I wondered, are we really allowed to do this? Will we get the dreaded 1AM knock on our window? Then I shifted my worries toward stranger danger, loud trucks and cars, and being up all night with highway noise. I thought about the many people I saw driving 18-wheelers while on this trip. If they could have the courage to park in a spot along the highway to rest, it can’t be that bad. Besides, I was not traveling solo this time. There were two of us on high alert for even the slightest unusual activity around the van. We were wise to be cautious but we were among several others on route toward somewhere else.

We parked at a renovated welcome center just over the border from Pennsylvania. It had clean bathrooms and warm welcomes from large colorful photographs of Mike and Francis DeWine, the governor and First Lady of Ohio, as well as pictures of state parks, Cuyahoga National Park, and many beaches along Lake Erie. The welcome center was between us and the highway. The 18-wheelers had their own area for parking. We were in a regular visitor parking spot between a large field and the welcome center. 

Before we stopped we were going to grab dinner but there were no restaurants that looked worthwhile so we went to Orlando Brothers Golden Dawn Grocery Store in Conneaut, OH and searched the place for something reasonable to cook and eat in the van at the rest stop. We settled on Bell & Evans chicken tenders with frozen mixed vegetables all for a total of $11. Sometimes dinner is what it is and not what you want it to be. While we nuked the veggies and cooked up the chicken on our conduction stove we watched 13 people pour out of a passenger van to use the facilities. Most of them were children of all ages who ran all over the pathways and grass surrounding us. Another person in a small white cargo truck pulled up a couple spots away. He got out for a prayer facing east at sunset and spent the night in his truck. Another pick up truck appeared and two people set up a tent on top where they spent the evening. 

We were not alone and it was surprisingly quiet all night. In the morning while I was making cappuccinos, three burly guys pulled up in a BMW. As they got out of the car, one of them commented on our nice rig and said he thought about ordering a coffee from me. I told him the van turns into a wine and beer truck in the evenings. We were his kind of people, he said. We continued our journey toward Indianapolis feeling fairly fresh because we spent the night at a rest stop.