COLD AS ICE!

Going where the weather suits my clothes

Sorry, folks, but this week’s blog has been preempted by yet another dreaded polar vortex, which covered half the country and chased me out of the Midwest on Saturday morning. A snowstorm forced me to flee south in search of much warmer weather.

I spent many frozen hours on Saturday and Sunday finishing the last two legs of my drive along the Ohio River in Indiana and Illinois, then drove all day long on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to reach Austin, Texas, where it’s not freezing at night.

All the driving deprived me of the time needed to write a full blog. Depending on whether you enjoy reading my blogs or find them endless and dreary, this may be good news or bad news. If you think a shorter post is good news, please don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I cling to the idea that someone, somewhere, likes my writing.

Some days, that’s what keeps me going. Don’t take my fond delusion away from me.

So, today, instead of a full post, you will just get some pictures from my week spent driving along the Ohio River from Wheeling, West Virginia, to Paducah, Illinois.

You can get there faster if you take the Interstate, but where’s the fun in that?

I had made it to Indianapolis to spend Thanksgiving with my siblings, but the damn polar vortex arrived on the same day I did.

Like a rude house guest, it refused to leave. Overnight temperatures were below freezing, making it too cold for us to sleep in the campervan comfortably. So we moved indoors temporarily and took refuge at my sister’s house for a few days.

Saturday morning, however, things got worse. The forecast was for heavy snow, which would have trapped us in the Midwest for days, and for colder temperatures, sinking into the teens overnight. Truly unbearable weather for us in our tiny van.

As in the 1977 hit song by Foreigner, it was as ‘Cold as Ice.” We had to make a sacrifice. We quickly rounded up our few belongings and drove south to avoid the snow. The goal was to drive far enough south to find warmer weather.

Easier said than done. Due to the polar vortex, nighttime temperatures dropped to freezing all the way down to Texas. A thousand miles of frigid weather.

As in another popular song from the 60s, we were heading “where the weather suits our clothes.” Everybody’s talkin’ at me. Wah, wah, wah, wah. Destination: Mexico.

Due to the massive size of the polar vortex, we had to drive 1,100 miles to Austin, Texas, to find weather warm enough to be comfortable in the van at night.

So, for today, I’m just posting a few pictures from the trip with some captions, and letting you off the hook. Almost no reading required. Skim away.

Enjoy the photos.

Our first stop on the Ohio was the former West Virginia penitentiary

At our first overnight stop in West Virginia, we woke to frost on the ground

Slow-moving barges full of coal glide up and down the Ohio

The falls on the Ohio, across from Louisville, a site of frequent flooding

On our only sunny day on the Ohio, in Indiana, got a shot of sunset on the river

The next day, in Illinois, was grey and frigid; you can almost feel it in this picture

Snow fell overnight in Kentucky. I spotted a pond with a fuzzy green layer of algae

We finally made it to Arkansas; the first rest stop allowed visitors to park overnight

So, a few pictures from the trip along the river. Hopefully, more about it next week.

Have a good week and stay warm.