From a couple days ago......while we were on the road!
On this day, we have been in Ohio for a few days. We haven't had internet connection since we left, but because we have the laptop, I'm using that and Word to write what's been happening so far. We left our house around 11am on Thursday, and managed to do a great chunk of driving. At this point the kids were just trying to get used to settling in to a car ride that was longer then to the grocery store and back. We taken out the middle seat in the van, so that there was just the front seats and the seats way in the back with a nice amount of leg and cargo room in the middle.
So we drove for about an hour, and stopped at the second rest area: Clarence. Us New Yorkers are pretty spoiled when it comes to rest areas. Such full service rest areas are definitely the exception on the road to Michelle's sister's house. After we had some lunch we got back on the road and made the long push to Erie, PA. The first day of driving was actually the lightest. It is only about 3 and a half hours from our house to Erie but it was closer to 5 hours to get from Erie to just south of Woodsfield, OH.
But we stopped in Erie for the night. We had made a reservation at an Econolodge. We checked in around 2:30 or 3. Another tough part of the trip was the complete (there is no better word for it) disruption in nap schedule. We had a quick snack in the car before we arrived, so we checked in and then just changed right in to bathing suits and explored all areas of the indoor pool! After an hour or so in the pool we were starting to get a little hungry. We nipped out to Applebee's, which was just down the road, and had a nice dinner. Once we got back to the hotel, and did some exploring and checked out all the stairwells and the location of the fitness room and elevators, it was practically bedtime. Now, after a brief discussion before we started the trip, we had decided to book one room with two double beds (for Michelle and I and the kids) and a rollaway for Emma. When we made the reservation it didn't sound like it would be that much of a big deal, but we were far from right. At half-past seven we got the kids changed and started getting them into bed (Michelle was sharing with Ryan and I shared with Holly). Now the flaw in the plan was that when you get the kids into bed and turn most of the lights out, everyone else just stands around by the door, looking at each other wondering what to do now. So Michelle took Emma up to the fitness area, and had what she felt was a great time up there. I stayed in the room with a book, sat on Emma's rollaway and tried to silently convince the kids that I wasn't actually there. It didn't work, Holly was tired, but Ryan (Mr. Over-tired) kept getting up out of bed, talking to Holly and me, and generally NOT SLEEPING. So I did the only thing I could think of, and climbed into bed too. That didn't turn out any better but, I imagine that it caused more impact on Michelle when she came back down to the room to see me in bed with my eyes closed, and Ryan running around a hotel room with no diaper on saying "Ah , much more comfortable." (He took it off all by himself, don't look at me!)
So that night, to spare you all the horror, was really that great. After we had a hearty breakfast (wow, it was crowded too, and the Econolodge didn't look that big), we packed up and hit the road. Between pit stops and lunch it took us a rather long time to reach our destination, in the southeastern part of Ohio. But, if Pennsylvania didn't illustrate the differences in terrain, then the differences between Upstate New York and Southeastern Ohio were pretty striking. In order to pass into Ohio you go through a mountain tunnel called The Wheeling Tunnel. We all enjoyed that little glimpse of something completely different. In the 700 miles it took to drive down there that was the only tunnel we saw. I thoughly enjoyed the drive down the Ohio river from Wheeling, about an hour of river views, and seeing sights I am still not sure what to think of. I saw several I had to write down to be sure to blog. Chief amoung these: "Chew. Mail Pouch Tobacco. Treat yourself to the best."
On the road to get to Brenda and Jay's house it was so twisty and turny that I don't think I got the speed of the van over 20 miles per hour much more then a few minutes out of the 20 minutes it took to drive up there.
Just a few of the other signs that I saw that I wanted to report on:
In Erie, where the fireworks trade is booming, because of the proximity to the NY border, there was a Fireworks Store where they had a sign out front : "Pepper spray, Stun Guns and Lord of the Rings Special Sale"
I never understood the books that the bookstore carried, about roadside church sign quotes, but after seeing them in person, I'm amazed. "The Wage of Sin is Death."
"Don't let the sun keep you from the Son this summer."
I'm sure that we will see some more on the way back, we might be going a different way to get back to I-70.
So we drove for about an hour, and stopped at the second rest area: Clarence. Us New Yorkers are pretty spoiled when it comes to rest areas. Such full service rest areas are definitely the exception on the road to Michelle's sister's house. After we had some lunch we got back on the road and made the long push to Erie, PA. The first day of driving was actually the lightest. It is only about 3 and a half hours from our house to Erie but it was closer to 5 hours to get from Erie to just south of Woodsfield, OH.
But we stopped in Erie for the night. We had made a reservation at an Econolodge. We checked in around 2:30 or 3. Another tough part of the trip was the complete (there is no better word for it) disruption in nap schedule. We had a quick snack in the car before we arrived, so we checked in and then just changed right in to bathing suits and explored all areas of the indoor pool! After an hour or so in the pool we were starting to get a little hungry. We nipped out to Applebee's, which was just down the road, and had a nice dinner. Once we got back to the hotel, and did some exploring and checked out all the stairwells and the location of the fitness room and elevators, it was practically bedtime. Now, after a brief discussion before we started the trip, we had decided to book one room with two double beds (for Michelle and I and the kids) and a rollaway for Emma. When we made the reservation it didn't sound like it would be that much of a big deal, but we were far from right. At half-past seven we got the kids changed and started getting them into bed (Michelle was sharing with Ryan and I shared with Holly). Now the flaw in the plan was that when you get the kids into bed and turn most of the lights out, everyone else just stands around by the door, looking at each other wondering what to do now. So Michelle took Emma up to the fitness area, and had what she felt was a great time up there. I stayed in the room with a book, sat on Emma's rollaway and tried to silently convince the kids that I wasn't actually there. It didn't work, Holly was tired, but Ryan (Mr. Over-tired) kept getting up out of bed, talking to Holly and me, and generally NOT SLEEPING. So I did the only thing I could think of, and climbed into bed too. That didn't turn out any better but, I imagine that it caused more impact on Michelle when she came back down to the room to see me in bed with my eyes closed, and Ryan running around a hotel room with no diaper on saying "Ah , much more comfortable." (He took it off all by himself, don't look at me!)
So that night, to spare you all the horror, was really that great. After we had a hearty breakfast (wow, it was crowded too, and the Econolodge didn't look that big), we packed up and hit the road. Between pit stops and lunch it took us a rather long time to reach our destination, in the southeastern part of Ohio. But, if Pennsylvania didn't illustrate the differences in terrain, then the differences between Upstate New York and Southeastern Ohio were pretty striking. In order to pass into Ohio you go through a mountain tunnel called The Wheeling Tunnel. We all enjoyed that little glimpse of something completely different. In the 700 miles it took to drive down there that was the only tunnel we saw. I thoughly enjoyed the drive down the Ohio river from Wheeling, about an hour of river views, and seeing sights I am still not sure what to think of. I saw several I had to write down to be sure to blog. Chief amoung these: "Chew. Mail Pouch Tobacco. Treat yourself to the best."
On the road to get to Brenda and Jay's house it was so twisty and turny that I don't think I got the speed of the van over 20 miles per hour much more then a few minutes out of the 20 minutes it took to drive up there.
Just a few of the other signs that I saw that I wanted to report on:
In Erie, where the fireworks trade is booming, because of the proximity to the NY border, there was a Fireworks Store where they had a sign out front : "Pepper spray, Stun Guns and Lord of the Rings Special Sale"
I never understood the books that the bookstore carried, about roadside church sign quotes, but after seeing them in person, I'm amazed. "The Wage of Sin is Death."
"Don't let the sun keep you from the Son this summer."
I'm sure that we will see some more on the way back, we might be going a different way to get back to I-70.
posted by Tim @ 8:15 PM
1 Comments:
At 8:24 PM ,
Kyle Wash said...
I remeber reading the quirky signs when driving out to Clevlan back in April, its kinda funny to see what they will put on a huge sign for everyone to read. Did happen to drive by any adult stores. Its almost disturbing to see the huge sign advertisment for those. But I feel better once I stop in and pick up some 'novelty gifts'.
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