Eastward I go

INDEPENDENCE, OHIO: The eastward drive continued today, amid a little rain but mostly just clouds. It's a problem of moving east instead of west that I have less time to make stops while still traveling a reasonable distance. When I was traveling with the sun, I had time for three or four stops a day. Now, crossing the time zones the wrong way, I travel the same distance with only a few delusory pit stops. Stupid time zones.

Such was my trip to Battle Creek, Michigan. I had thought to see the Kellogg museum, Cereal City USA, but by the time I got there it was already getting late. So, I took a brief look around the city and went on my way. The picture at right is actually a Methodist church, not the cool old-time train station or city hall it appeared to me to be.

So, back on the road, I sped through the rest of Michigan and into Ohio. On the turnpike I got really hungry and had to resort to a Hardee's, a chain I had considered only one step above a Sbarro. Apparently, they've updated their menu, and now it's not half bad. They're pushing this "Philly Cheesesteak Thickburger" which is apparently a burger topped with cheesesteak meat. It seemed interesting, but like so many non-Philadelphians, they felt the need to add green peppers and Swiss cheese. I stuck with a regular burger, and it was pretty good. By the time I got here (a suburb of Cleveland,) it was too late for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so I'll try to get there tomorrow. On the other hand, the Football Hall of Fame is just over in Canton. Hmmm...I'll make that a game-time call.

Not much else to tell, so I'll crib a little quotation from Thoreau to round it out:

"Eastward I go only by force; but westward I go free. It is hard for me to believe that I shall find fair landscapes or sufficient wildness and freedom behind the eastern horizon. I am not excited by the prospect of a walk thither; but I believe that the forest which I see in the western horizon stretches uninterruptedly toward the setting sun, and there are no towns nor cities in it of enough consequence to disturb me. Let me live where I will, on this side is the city, on that the wilderness, and ever I am leaving the city more and more, and withdrawing into the wilderness.... I must walk toward Oregon, and not toward Europe."