Holiday World on a Holiday

Monday, September 5, 2006

We woke up in the morning in our Days Inn room in Jasper, Indiana. I was up first, and got dressed enough to head down for the breakfast area. I have never seen a continental breakfast so busy! Usually, I am at the breakfast at 5 or 6 am, and out the door by this time, nearly 8am. Nina's sister and her family was there, as well as Nina's brother. The seating area was full, so I took my breakfast out to the lobby.

We packed up the bike, as the other two families packed up kids and stuff, and headed out to the Amusement Park at around 9:30am. The park didn't open until 10, so we had no rush.

We returned back out to SR 231, and headed further south. We would take 245 to Santa Claus, Indiana, home of Holiday World Theme Park. It was only a 27 mile drive.

The visit to the park was slow, as many opinions had to be taken before deciding what to do next. It was a family day, after all. We were able to get on all the roller coasters, including the new "Voyage" which was 1.2 miles long, and quite the thrill! I think Nina is getting to the edge of her coaster riding days, but I take a great childish thrill with them.

We decided to start heading back, as the sun was running low in the sky. We ventured back up to Jasper, fueled the bike, and then fueled ourselves.

At Bloomfield, we veered off of SR 231 to SR 54. Outside of town, I was looking for a place to rest, and we pulled into a church parking lot. The pastor was there, doing some construction work, as he was a contractor before, as he called it, being saved. He offered the use of their bathrooms, and we took him up on it. His father owned a 74 Shovelhead, but doesn't ride it anymore.

We continued on SR 54 to 445 and then to SR 45 which took us into Bloomington, Indiana. I was trying to keep an eye on time and mileage, and space the break out evenly. We had stopped at about 45 miles first off, so when we got to Bloomington, about 20 miles after the stop, I saw that Martinsville was another 24 miles on ahead. Darkness had fallen, and we were again traveling without natural light. SR 37 was much busier than SR 231 the night before, but SR 37 is the only road I have ever seen deer on at night, so I kept vigilant.

We pulled into a Shell/Circle K in Martinsville, and took a break. Nina didn't complain about pain, as much as being tired. We had less than 40 miles to go, and we were over the 400 mile mark for the two days. The night time bring my awareness higher, but for someone sitting on the back, there is nothing to see, and besides the rumble of air and the exhaust, she had her book on tape to listen.

As we approached Indianapolis, the traffic got thicker, but I must say I could best catagorize it as light. I have never seen that much traffic on this road, except right where it joins 465. We took the beltway around the south east side, and up to Shadeland Avenue. After a couple of turned onto and then off of Washington Street, we were home. We could tell by the familiar barks of our Basset Hound, Murphy.

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