Sunday, June 21, 2009
Well, here I am in sunny, humid Columbus, Ohio. After days of packing (ugh), moving (double ugh) and cleaning (uber ugh), I hit the road. I'm sure not many people embark on a 12-hour road trip at 8pm on a Friday night, but I did. Here were my observations (things I learned or was reminded of on my excursion). Did you know that Beloit, WI is the "Gateway To Wisconsin"? Did you know that Indiana is "The Crossroads To America"? Apparently they are. Thanks to an uncharged iPod, I had to listen to commercial radio (gasp!) for 8 hours and I will say this... commercial radio loves Nickelback and any band/artist that sounds like Nickelback (Shinedown, Daughtry, David Cook), Jesse McCartney (heard every single from his latest CD), and I have heard more than my fair share of Beyonce's "Halo" 3Oh!3's "Don't Trust Me" and Katy Perry's "Waking Up In Vegas" for one day (or in some cases, for a lifetime, haha). Also thanks to the Killers for reminding me that I'm not a fan of songs where the singer sings one note the entire verse. "Mr. Brightside" somehow isn't nearly as good a song as I remember it being.
In Indiana, apparently it's OK for you to push your friend's stalled car by just pressing your front bumper against their back bumper and driving 45 miles and hour on the shoulder. Interesting. I love how when you cross the border from Wisconsin into Illinois, the road immediately becomes rougher and clearly more poorly maintained. The irony is, while IN Illinois, you'll be forced to stop at at least a half dozen toll stops to donate money to their imaginary road fund. Don't expect to get your meal quickly at Burger King if you order the Veggie Burger, especially in a small town where they probably make them once a week at most... but at least you know it will be made 'fresh.'
So there you go. My third road trip to Ohio is complete although this time I'll be staying a little longer than the two previous times. I know trips to Cedar Point, Cleveland and Cincinnati are in the offing. And I already enjoyed a meal at Bob Evans (which I wish we had in Minneapolis). Otherwise I've arrived, I'm settled in and I'm ready Ohio. Dazzle me.
