By: MJ + PJ
Time to return to PJ’s stomping ground. While she and AJ had been back to visit in the last two years, MJ had not been here since about early 2014. We rolled into Ohio bringing our car from whence she came upon the birth of AJ. Finally we were able to appreciate the length of the drive (even though we did not complete it in a straight shot) that our Ohio family had endured several times over the last decade.
Northern Ohio gave us numerous trips down memory lane, but also offered a few glimpses at what was new in the area. See BUCKET LIST: MONTH TWO, for our list! Of note we saw PJ’s brother perform a piece at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Name Announcer, by Pierre Huyghe.
We hit the road south east towards the famed town of Athens, OH. Famed in our family anyhow! PJ had been yearning to show MJ her origins and the character of a historic college town.
Halloween was when we wanted to visit, which is when the town really gets it’s party on, but timing was not in our favor. Being at the wedding of a good friend was our primary task, with the bonus of a chance to look around the university and town. We did strike some luck with the closing festivities of the Ohio Beer Week “Last Call”, and had time to visit Hocking Hills, one of the local state parks.
Columbus was next on the list to visit so PJ could spend time with one of her best friends from college. It was also time to get the car’s brakes looked at after descending some serious mountains over the last two months, and then to give it a rest while we wasted time and recharged poolside for more days than we intended. 😉
The brakes were fine. Hooray! Unfortunately, there were other things that were not. Hence, you see a spike in spending on one of the Columbus days on our 365 DATA PAGE.
Clearly we had recovered during our stay to be sharp and on our game enough to actually escape an escape room. You’d better believe it. We escaped with about four minutes to spare with the subtle guidance of an actor who gave us some legit character play (but no clues!). With this high point in our lives (we had not escaped the previous two attempts in the last few years), it was time to pack the car again and roll out of town.
Driving in and through Ohio, it seems entirely possible to cross the state without ever seeing a speed limit sign. You can infer the speed based on the road construction, but this may not stand up in a confrontation with highway patrol. This is an unusual observation, but noticeable in crossing the state line and on road type transitions. On the back roads later in our time in Ohio MJ also noticed that country roads are not banked at the curves. These are the nuances that one notices after weeks on the road driving in numerous states.
No doubt we shall see Ohio again. This was both a refreshing and productive visit, and we were able to spend a good amount of time with family and friends.
