I’m tired. Really tired. So tired that last night’s blog entry was made in between catnaps at the laptop. I’ve rejuvenated somewhat, but we spent more than six hours in the car today as we departed New York and wound up in Dayton, Ohio. Since leaving the house on Wednesday evening we’ve traveled a little more than 1,000 miles. Ugh!
We are here because we couldn’t, at first, find anything else to do today. We knew we had to head toward home, but our options from there didn’t provide much excitement. Finally, Linda suggested we head toward Dayton where tomorrow we can visit the museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
All in all, this has been a successful vacation. Both boys have used the word “magnificent” to describe it, so I’m pretty sure we’ve done something right.
Some random thoughts and observations:
- Pennsylvania smells nice. At least, the part where we drove did. Occasionally, and for no determinable reason, we would pass through an area lasting about a mile that smelled incredibly floral … Mild and soothing.
- Parts of Cleveland stink. While walking several blocks toward Quicken Arena in downtown Cleveland, there were two or three points where the sewage aroma was overwhelming.
- Cleveland has successfully overcome its “mistake on the lake” syndrome. It’s a nice city, full of very helpful and friendly people.
Gas prices in Indiana are criminal. When we left, regular unleaded was going for around $3.50 a gallon. We filled up in Columbus, Ohio, on the way north and it was around $3.10/gal. and some places in Cleveland had it for under $3.05. Depending on where one was in Buffalo, a gallon of gas was $3.079 to $3.229, and several stations along I-90 in Pennsylvania today had it for $2.999. We filled up here in Dayton at $3.049 and then found it a couple of miles away for $3.019. Hoosiers are getting ripped off, plain and simple.- Canadians have cool currency. The $5, $10 and $20 bills are neat looking and it was kinda strange getting Canadian money from of an ATM (called ABMs there). The $2 coin is awesome, too.
- Zach likes sushi. He’d never eaten it before, but was curious. He talked us into letting him get some at a multi-cultural cafeteria in Canada and really enjoyed it. More power to him.
- Wireless Internet is the berries! Yes, I’m spoiled. Being able to carry a laptop throughout a hotel and stay “connected” is awesome!
- My family is awesome! I can’t imagine doing anything important without having them along to share my excitement with. I couldn’t be more proud of any of them!
Sadly, this is the last entry before we get home. Hopefully, we won’t confront any surprises when we pull in the driveway or walk in the door tomorrow. Then it’s back to the daily grind on Monday. But not before blogging about tomorrow’s visit to the Wright-Patterson museum.