The first overnight event this year was down to Ohio to drive the 555 (The Triple Nickel) and Hocking Hills. We were in the area last in June 2021. Unlike the 2021 event, which was a big multi-region gathering, we chose to keep this one smaller. There was a stronger interest from our members than originally estimated and we were able to assemble a group of 19 cars and 39 people.

If you haven’t been to the Southeast Ohio area before, this part of the state is completely different from the rest. The roads have lots of elevation and direction changes, making it quite the drive if you enjoy roller coasters. Hocking Hills is known for its camping and hiking, but the drive through the woods and along the creek make it a very scenic excursion. It’s advised to drive through this area in the morning before traffic builds, as there is a nice flow to the roads as long as you are not stuck behind slow moving vehicles. The 555 is a sixty-six mile rural country roller coaster road. The crests are steep enough that vehicles disappear from your view of the horizon, even at relatively close distance. This is sometimes quickly followed by several tight turns on the way down. You need to be on top of your driving game to stay on the road.

This two day event included a caravan down on Friday and a drive on Saturday. The weather was great with plenty of sunshine and a bit of heat for both days. The caravan down on Friday consisted of 18 vehicles. We left the T/A Travel Center in Monroe at 1:30 PM and arrived in Circleville Ohio around 5:30 PM. There was a bit of traffic as we hit Columbus, however we were able to keep on schedule. Most participants had dinner at Roosters, which was across the parking lot from the hotel. Roosters’ slogan is “a fun, casual joint” and that held true for our visit. The food was good and quite a bit cheaper than Metro Detroit. After dinner, our group took over the lobby of the hotel for a tech session to help everyone preload a map of the area to ensure a smooth drive the next day. The group soon broke into several lively discussions for the rest of the evening. We started Saturday morning with breakfast in the hotel and then proceeded to move to the staging area down the street at a Shell station. We staged 19 vehicles into four groups with the leads for the groups being Chris Bohr, Andrew Vincent, Howard Gilson and Lucas Phan.

The group departed east at 8:15 AM heading towards Hocking Hills. It was a 45 minute warmup commute through the Ohio countryside to reach the Hocking Hills area. Traffic was light and the drive was enjoyable as we descended down to the creek and ascended back up the hill side. The area is heavily forested which allowed the sounds from our vehicles to reverberate back through the group for more audible enjoyment. Once clear of the forest, we paused at our first stop of the day for fuel and a short break. We then had a 50 minute highway commute east, all the way to the West Virginia border. Once we reached the state border we made our second rest stop for the day. The second stop positioned us at the bottom of the 555.

After departing the second stop, the group headed north on the 555. Ahead of us was a 40 mile run to lunch covering 2/3rds of the 555. Over the next 60 minutes, the group was treated to a very twisty and winding road with little traffic spoiling the fun. We saw more motorcycles than cars heading southbound as we continued to travel north. The 555 starts out pretty tame, but quickly ramps up the excitement as you continue onwards. For the 2021 event we traveled north to south, this year we did the opposite. There is a drastic difference on the challenge of the 555 depending on which direction you travel. Traveling north to south you have a fast up and slow down on the crests. South to north makes this even more exciting as you have a slow up and fast down.

Our lunch stop was at Burr Oak Lodge and Conference Center, just off the 555 and out in the middle of nowhere. Don’t let that deter you from visiting it though, as it’s a very scenic stop with good food. Burr Oak is a one stop shop as it’s a hotel, restaurant, camping site and conference center. Our original plan was to have lunch in the restaurant, however they have a party limit of 25 people. Once over 25 people, they require you book a private room with catering. We arrived for lunch just after 12PM. As it turned out, booking the catered lunch in the Lakeview Lobby worked to our advantage and afforded us an unobstructed view of the lake with a private balcony. The food was good and everyone enjoyed a bit of down time before our scheduled departure at 2PM.

Before we headed out on the last driving segment of the day, Lucas Phan gathered everyone and led the group in singing happy birthday to Jim Williams. We then departed and continued north on the 555. The road continued to not disappoint for the next 50 minutes as we finished the route. We reached the town of South Zanesville and headed west to our end location, continuing on back roads through a more traditional Ohio countryside to Buckeye Lake. We had planned to stop at the Boat Yard on Buckeye Lake, however as it was a sunny and hot Saturday everyone was at the lake and the place was packed. We detoured to a nearby parking lot to gather everyone.

Even though we were a bit disappointed due to the final stop detour, the group was still able to gather and talk at the end of the drive. There were many happy smiling faces as stories were swapped about the day’s events. As the event drew to a close, we dispersed into three groups. The first group headed across the street to a restaurant, the second group headed to the hotel and the third group headed back to Michigan.

Thank you to all who participated and a special thank you to Andrew, Howard and Lucas for volunteering. This was another great event thanks to everyone’s participation.