The Trip--Day 1

All things considered, I had a pretty good trip up to Michigan.  Things started off on Friday morning.  After stopping off at the bank for a last minute withdrawal, I gave Dad a quick call to let him know I was leaving, just like he asked.  I had joked with him the night before that he needed to make sure he was up.  Fortunately, he actually was up and out of bed (I called a little after 9 am), but had been that way for only about 10 minutes.

Leaving Charlotte just a little after 9:00 in the morning is just about perfect timing.  Rush hour has died down, but the non-employed types aren’t headed out to stores yet.  This let me blitz through downtown Charlotte without a hitch.  Things continued to sail smoothly up I-77 through all of North Carolina and Virginia.

I know I’ve said this before, but I really enjoy driving on the West Virginia Turnpike.  Yes, I could do without coughing up $3.75 in tolls, but winding through the mountains in my little ’96 Avenger just feels right.  I can grip some of the corners that overloaded SUV’s just can’t.  I had to kick the car out of the overdrive in a couple of spots in order to maintain my speed, but it handled everything like a champ.  I did have to take a potty break at the Tamarack stop around exit 45 on the turnpike, but within 5 minutes, I was back on the road.

As I neared Charleston, I had a decision to make.  I could continue up I-77 to the Ohio Turnpike, or I could break west on I-64 and pick up US-35 to Chilicothe and Columbus.  Having checked the weather report prior to leaving, they were calling for spotty showers for most of Ohio.  Given this, and the fact that I’ve only used US-35 a couple of times, I decided to stay on the turnpike.  I hate trying to navigate unfamiliar roads in the rain.  This would mean the trip would last a little longer, but the stress reduction made it worth it.

Once I cleared Charleston around 1:30, I broke out lunch, which was a couple pieces of pizza that I’d packed with me.  Casey & Erin, quit laughing.  Of course I packed some pizza, and no, I didn’t pack a microwave to heat it with.  I just ate it cold, which is good as well.  The stretch between Charleston and Zanesville, Ohio is pretty calm, and a good spot to eat in the car.

After just under 400 miles and about 6 hours of driving, I finally stopped for gas in Caldwell, Ohio.  I was quite happy with this, as the fuel light still hadn’t come on, and I knew I was over halfway home.  By this time, things had gotten more overcast, and I figured I was due to bump into some showers soon.  $38.00 and 13.576 gallons of gas later, I was back on my way.  And for you wealthy SUV drivers, that’s just under 30 miles a gallon in a 10 year old vehicle.  You and your Durango /Explorer /Escalade /Hummer can kiss my shiny, white, fuel-efficient butt.

Just as I got back onto I-77, things got REALLY dark.  I kept watching the skies, looking for any circular patterns that might indicate a tornado or some other kind of freaky weather.  The only thing I saw were clouds moving east to west, which still isn’t a good sign, but at least it was consistent.  Soon after, the rain started.  Nothing too bad, but enough where I had to keep the wipers running intermittently.  

The rain continued up through Canton & Akron.  I don’t know why, but I swear the last 3 or 4 times I’ve driven through Canton & Akron, it’s been raining.  I think this is God’s way of telling me not to move to northeast Ohio.

As traffic picked up, I bailed on I-77 and jumped on I-277 to I-76, then back to I-77.  I did this for two reasons.  First, things can get pretty hairy if I would have continued north, where the northern flow turns into SR-8 and intersects with the turnpike.  Second, it would have increased the amount of my toll on the turnpike.  Since both of those things are bad (at least in my mind), I made my break.  A funny thing happened shortly after I did that:  The rain stopped.  The clouds were still there, but the rain stopped.

Now on the turnpike, my thoughts turned to where I was going to stop for dinner.  There are three good service plazas on the Ohio Turnpike between Cleveland and Toledo.  The first one is right after you get on off I-77.  I wasn’t quite ready at that point, so I skipped that, and figured my bladder and I could make it the 40 or so miles to the next one.  I could have sworn that one had a McDonalds, but it appears that Burger King has taken over.  So instead, I went to Manchu Wok for some sweet & sour pork and fried rice.  This wasn’t too bad, but nothing I’d strongly recommend to anyone.  I will say the place was very clean, and a good place to do your business if needed.

When I got back on the road, the sun was out, and the clouds had pretty much dissipated.  I did hit a bit of a surprise when I jumped off the turnpike at I-280.  They forgot to post signs that I-280 was closed.  They did have a detour marked, that was surprisingly easy to follow, but I ended up a little south of the turnpike when I finally picked up I-75, and still had to navigate through Toledo.  Once back on the freeway, it was pretty easy sailing into Detroit.

I know this sounds really weird, but I love driving on I-75 through Detroit when it’s not rush hour.  There’s still enough cars on the road that you can form a small group, get in the left lane, and just go.  Rarely will you find a cop who’s looking to pull anyone over for anything outside of just insane speeds (95+ mph) or crazy lane changes at high speeds.  Of course, just as I got north of I-375 downtown, I got passed by two kids on motorcycles who had to be doing over 100 and just weaving in and out of lanes wherever they saw a little space.  I’d be willing to bet they were racing, but the second guy through sure wasn’t doing a good job of catching up.  Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed my left lane experience once again.  Plus, unlike in North Carolina, if you come up behind someone in the fast lane in Detroit, you’ve got a better than 50% chance that he/she/it will move right and let you by so you don’t have to pass on the right.

Finally, after almost 12 hours and about 720 miles, I made it up to the parents place.  Both seemed glad to see me, and I have to admit that it was nice to see them.  After unloading the car and relaxing a little bit, Chad and Michele (his fiancée for the uninitiated) rolled in.  This was the first time I’d gotten a chance to meet Michele.  Within about 15 minutes, I managed to stick my foot in my mouth with a crack about SC4 (that would be St. Clair County Community College), which come to find out Michele attended for a couple of years.  Crap.  But she didn’t get too upset.  I will say she seems pretty cool, and I may even be looking forward to having a sister-in-law soon.  I may pay for that crack at some point, but in the meantime, it hasn’t seemed to change her mind about marrying Chad, which is a good thing.  Then again, she survived the initial meeting with Dad, so everything’s been downhill from there.

After a late snack, I was off to bed.  So ended day one.