Just out for a Sunday drive....

Many of you have probably heard by now of the record flooding that occurred here in Central Indiana over the weekend. It began raining overnight Friday and by about 1 PM on Saturday, 7 inches of rain had fallen in Indianapolis and about 11 inches just south of us. Needless to say, it caused some problems with the roads.

Sunday we were planning to go to Terre Haute and visit. Mom was in town and we were going to go have a cookout at Randi and Joe's. The problem that was affecting us was that I-70 westboud to Terre Haute was closed because part of the road had collapsed. Luckily we knew about this ahead of time and were prepared for a detour.

We set out at 11:00 am. We stopped in Plainfield for gas and a soda. We traveled on 70 to exit 41 where traffic was being sent North on 231. The line of cars as we exited on 231 was stopped and Chuck decided we should go South and try taking 42 over. We needed to go 20 miles before we could get back on 70 or take US 40. We drove about 12 miles and decided we had made the right choice and would be outsmarting traffic. Just after that we came to a field that was flooded on both sides of the road and the water was rushing across. Chuck turned us around and we headed back towards the original detour.

On our way back Chuck wanted to see the Cagle Mill Dam. So, thinking it would be just off the road we were on, he turned off and we drove a few miles on a gravel road and found the dam. We will be interested to go back and see what it looks like when there hasn't been so much rain.

By this time, it was about 1:15. We set back on our way and made it up to 40. It looked surprisingly clear so we turned west bound and were headed for Terre Haute again. We drove for several miles and were confident it wouldn't take us too long. That is until we came to Brazil. Well, we never saw Brazil because the line of cars were at a dead stop and were not moving any time soon. At this point, we decided to call it a trip and head back.

Now, it doesn't sound too bad right? It gets better (and funnier). We then went back and ended up at that same exit off of 70 in Cloverdale for lunch. Both the girls were ready to eat by now, so we ate at Chicago's Pizza. Great pizza, so we were glad for that!

After a stop for lunch, we were ready to head home. When we got back onto I-70 we saw the traffic that was being diverted onto 231 had worsened. The line on 70 was backed up for 4 miles to take the detour. Glad we didn't have to sit in that!! We were about 1/2 mile from the entrance to our neighborhood and we, yet again, encountered high water. So, we had to turn around and take a different road home.

So after 4 hours and 15 minutes, a half a tank of gas and 135 miles of travel we had only full stomachs to show for it. We were sorry we didn't make it to Terre Haute, but it certainly wasn't because we didn't try!!

This picture is from the Indianapolis Star. People submitted their own pictures and this one happens to be in our neighborhood. The fence you see on the left is the fence along Wicker Road that edges the golf course. They had to shut down the exit to our neighborhood and Wicker Road because of high waters. They have all receded and are passable, but looks like it was pretty bad right after the storm!

After we returned home Sunday, Chuck mowed the lawn. Maddie wanted to go outside so badly and when he finished, we went out and turned the sprinkler on for Maddie. She isn't a big fan of water, but Chuck got her to get into it a little. These are just a couple of pictures of her playing.