Our night in Dayton was a bit different than planned. We had originally thought to camp at Walmart, but there was a part of us that wasn’t thrilled to be solo in their parking lot for the night. Not uncomfortable, but not comfy, I did a quick search and saw there was a Flying J only 15 minutes away. They’re a well-loved travel plaza chain, so we headed there, found a spot for the night and settled in. The next morning we had breakfast and hit the road after much discussion of interstate vs. not. We settled on interstate to allow time to visit the Luthy Botanical Garden in Peoria, IL. All went well on the drive, although the wind was often intense. We ate lunch at a beautiful rest stop in Indiana (our first time there) and we’re making great time. But when we arrived at the BP Google had suggested, it was tiny, so we retraced our steps to the Cracker Barrel in the outside of town. Once the night’s lodging was acquired, we booked it back to downtown, which gave us a half hour inside and all the time we wished outside to explore the beautiful garden. Ross gets credit for finding this and it was really wonderful! Tons of art and sculptures, birds and squirrels and a bunny, nooks and crannies and seating and the setting sun. Such a wonderful way to spend an hour or two. And it’s free!
Peoria didn’t WOW us like Cleveland, but it was nice enough and we loved the area with the garden, which had other things including a playhouse. Some of the residential areas were really fancy too – and some seemed to have two houses but one driveway. Old homes perhaps? Only negative was both children and adults crossing busy streets without crosswalks!

After a quick snack on our drive, we were back at Cracker Barrel. After some debate we decided to sit down for dinner. Unfortunately they aren’t very good at taking to people with allergies but we had a good meal (and I got my coveted cinnamon sugar baked potato) and Ross has more than enough food for a meal or two today. We’re hoping for a midday adventure before meeting our friends tonight! 

Besides seeing two new to us states yesterday, Ross described how much he enjoys seeing things that are different from what we know in New England. Big farms and open fields, wind turbines and even the steel architecture (including some reminiscent of Dayton’s plane history) excited him. To me, they weren’t that much different from North Dakota, but I do love realizing we aren’t in NH anymore. The adventure has definitely begun!