Our late night/early morning opening drive on nearly deserted roads from Columbus to Norwalk had left me fairly confident that my overheating issues were going to be held in check. The eight mile drive on US-20 to Bellevue OH at 4:30 on a warm, muggy afternoon, dispelled such notions in short order. Traffic on the divided four lane was heavy, so it was difficult to get the space I needed to keep air flowing through the radiator. To make matters worse US-20 necked down and became Main Street in Bellevue, and we arrived in this town of just under 10,000 as everyone was finishing their day, and in their cars. The stop light to stop light grind was pushing my water temp past 230, so I started looking for a place to pull over. I was behind everyone else, but I decided to let them go, figuring Dale and Boone would have their own issues with the heat at some point as well.

Like the proverbial oasis in the desert I spotted Cold Rush Dairy Bar ahead on my right. It was old style drive up/walk up place that had no inside dining. Instead it had ample parking and a pristine cut grass lawn with picnic tables. I pulled into one of the angled parking spaces and shut off the Valiant, but left the electric fans running. I grabbed one of the pillows from my seat, and the Harbor Freight blanket, tossed them on the cool grass and took a little nap while I waited for the car to cool down.

Rachael called ten minutes later to ask if they needed to come back, but I told her it was only fifty miles to the first checkpoint, and I would catch up then.

"I think the guys want to find a place to eat somewhere around that first checkpoint", Rachael informed me.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, then everyone will want to go to sleep", I reasoned.
"You're overruled, so Pops and I will scout out the area when we get there."