Miss Jody and Garry early Friday morning

 March 20, 2020 - Friday evening
36 degrees/cloudy/windy
Bloomington, Illinois

It's a short one tonight. 

We left Meador Road this morning at 7 AM bound for central Illinois. 

Tough? Man, it was hard saying goodbye to Miss Jody and Garry this morning. I ended up blubbering and as I later told Garry, boohooing can really mess up my rough, tough, Alaska mountain man reputation. Still, I'll miss my big brother and his beautiful bride. Saying goodbye is always difficult. 

The miles quickly rolled by until Jackson, Tennessee, when we encountered heavy traffic and multiple stoplights.

Heavy storms plagued us for part of the way. Thunder crashed and rain came down in torrents. 

Once into Illinois, traffic thinned significantly and we made good time.

It felt good to pull into the hotel's parking lot tonight. We'd booked our room an hour before arrival and the clerk had the paperwork sitting on the counter. 

Seems there are few others staying the night. Illinois has officially enacted the "shelter at home" law and people are far and few between. Hopefully, we'll encounter fewer, wild-eyed, crazies while driving tomorrow. 

You can always spot a panicked crazy a mile away as his car is usually stuffed with rolls of toilet paper.

We're going to be out of here fairly early in the morning. With people hunkering down, traffic should be light and after a quick stop or two in Green Bay, we ought to be back on Pentoga Road late Saturday afternoon. 

It's time to end and turn in for the night. There's still a long eight hours of driving ahead tomorrow before we see home.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...