We are merely hours from our Day 2 destination and I am thrilled to report there are still four people in the car!
Yesterday, Day 1, was our longest mileage day, traveling through Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Nancy drove the first shift and got us through all the Mass-holes and torrential rain, Steven and I had smooth-sailing shifts with mostly sunny skies, and David took us home to Willoughby, Ohio, in the smoke…thanks Canada!
We had a great lunch at The Hungry Chicken in Rotterdam, shortly after which, my first 200-mile shift at the wheel began. To help break up the tedium of NY state motoring, my co-travelers helped to keep me entertained by either taking naps or stating the obvious: “That’s a big barn” … “That field is so green” … “The speed limit is 65” … Thanks team!!
And we’re learning things along the way…for instance, Rome, NY, is in fact, NOT the hometown of Nat King Cole…much to the postmortem chagrin of Steven’s elementary school softball coach, Ms. Rita French, who was clearly just a liar.
Our Marriott points from “Fantasy Football” were put to good use for the overnight and Day 2 began with café lattes and some good ole’ fashioned mid-western anticipation.
I began the day cruising through Cleveland, where, apparently, no one wakes up before 7AM. Gooooo Indi…Guardians!!!
We even had our first friendly-argument. Everyone had their fill of NPR, YachtRock, and The Sinatra Station and, for seemingly nefarious reasons, I was appointed DJ. With no other requests to fulfill, I put on my favorite road trip album, Paul Simon’s Graceland. The selection was immediately and passionately met with an airing of grievances by two thirds of the car.
I played the album from start to finish…out of pure spite…and it’s still SO GOOD. If appointed a second term at DJ, I will absolutely play it again tomorrow.
One more thing before I go…hey, Indiana…where are all the basketball hoops? I thought there’d be more…
And for those keeping score, we just forged the Mississippi River and didn’t lose an axel!
We’re heading to the Sunset Hills Bison Ranch in Malcom, Iowa, where we will sip martinis and sadistically grill the family members of ranch residents for supper.
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