Sandusky to Fort Wayne to Indianapolis

Heinz Factory, Fremont, Ohio

We woke the next morning in Sandusky ready to get on the road. Unfortunately, everything was still wet from all the rain.  We hung the tent on a picnic table and rolled the tarp up in such a way as to keep the wet inside.  It was not going to dry by the time we needed to leave and we needed to be on the road to Fort Wayne and then Indianapolis!

The drive to Fort Wayne was almost uneventful.  First we decided to go to the Arthur B. Hayes Presidential Library.  On the way there, we stumbled upon a Heinz Factory.  Josh really wanted a tour, but alas they do not offer them.

While driving through Fremont. we realized that they may have been hit harder by the storm than we had been in Sandusky. There were tree limbs everywhere and some off the streets were blocked off.  Utility workers were everywhere and people had started to clean up their properties.

Upon arriving at the Hayes Presidential Library, we decided to walk around the grounds before going on a tour of the library and museum.  It was really interesting.  Hayes had named trees in honor of politicians and dignitaries who visited the house.  Each tree contained a plaque designated the person who had it was named for.  Other trees just contained the name of the type of tree.  This was the first time I had seen a ginkgo tree in person and I recognized it's fan shaped leaves immediately.

Grove at Hayes Presidential Library

President Hayes, his wife, and several of his family members are buried on the grounds.  There is a monument to them there.

As we continued our walk through the grounds we came across the house of the Hayes Family and then we found ourselves again in front of the library.  The women in front was kind enough to tell us that the library had no power and was closed for the day.  She also relayed to us the tale of when the storm hit Fremont:

When they realized how bad it was they took all the visitors and employees down into the basement.  When the storm had passed and it was safe to emerge they walked outside only to realized that one of the older trees on the property had fallen down, on the parking lot, and crushed four of the guests' cars.  

Needless to say Josh and I were glad that we had arrived a day later.  It would have been a shame for our trip to end before it had really started.  Our thoughts and prayers do go out to the nice people of Fremont, Ohio.  We hope they have a quick recovery.

Our next stop was to be Fort Wayne, Indiana.  On the road I researched things to do there.  Josh was so excited to get there he got pulled over.  I won't divulge the  amount in which he was exceeding the speed limit, but let's just say it was too much to be let off with just a warning.

  

 After that little set back, we headed to Fort Wayne.  My research resulted in one thing that Josh thought warranted our time; Johnny Appleseed's gravesite.  The best part about the gravesite is that it's off of a road named after a man named Harry Baals. I couldn't make that up if I tried.  The site itself wasn't much.  There was a sign explaining who Johnny Appleseed was and what he had done for the people who were settling in this part of the country.  You walk up a small hill that is flanked on either side by fruit trees and his grave is at the top.  

Johnny Appleseed Gravesite

After this it was on to Indianapolis.  Below is a picture of our campsite at the KOA in Mount Comfort which is only 20 minutes outside of Indianapolis.  To date, it is the nicest KOA we've ever stayed in and we highly recommend that if your ever in the need of a place to stay near Indy that you stay there. They have cabins for those of you who don't like to rough it which include full kitchens and flatscreen televisions.  We stayed in our tent...