We drove out of Middletown around 1:00, starting our 6 hour journey to Ohio. Surprisingly, we didn't run into ANY toll roads in the states that we traveled through. We DID run into crazy rain storms. The rains here, when it decides to really rain, are so heavy that seeing the road through the buckets is very difficult.
(Joe contends that it doesn't actually rain in Oregon most of the time- it just sprinkles/mists/spritzes from September to April or May. Since he grew up over here, I do get his point. We get rain like the stuff here only on occasion!)
There are a multitude of eighteen wheelers that take the road we traveled, and they all want to be ahead of the truck in front of them. Being stuck behind a truck in either lane is no fun!Sometimes, the truck that is passing is efficient- gets out in the left lane, passes and goes back- but often, they attempt to pass on a hill.
Since they are moving only a bit faster than the truck they want to get around, we would lose all of our upward momentum waiting for them to pass. The view was sometimes amazing- with the fog rising through the hills. Surprisingly, we still got better gas mileage on the first leg than Joe expected.
We finally reached Cory's house at around 9:00 PM. Backing into the driveway was an interesting experience. It is long and only about two feet wider than the trailer. Joe managed to get it into the space, so we settled in for the next several days. We drove up to see Joe's mom in the care facility. She is hanging in there, some days are better than others. Friday, she was pretty low key. She noticed that we were there, but didn't really show any recognition. Friday evening, Joe's sister Judy stopped over. She was up from Florida to visit her mom. We hung out for a couple of hours, and then on Saturday morning, we went to lunch at Farmer Boy Restaurant. Yum!
We went over to Justin's house (Justin was raised by Joe from the age of 3, so he thinks of Joe as his dad) and swam on Saturday.
There was a herd of people- Joe's nieces and their families, Cory's mom, Joe's sister Beth (mom of the nieces) and Justin's kids.
Kira and Koen had a great time; Cory's son, Travis, and Josh loved swimming. We wore them out. :o) Akron is the home of the Goodyear Blimp- we had a great view as it flew over the pool on Saturday.
Today, we went to Mass at St. Joseph's (Greek-Catholic). It was a nice service, and enough similar to the services that I attend that I knew what to do. Joe had attended services there before, so he knew many of the parishoners. Then we headed out to the care center to see Joe's mom again. She was pretty perky today- happy to see the kids and Joe. She wanted to go outside (and it was HOT today) and travel the halls a bit, so it was a good day. We ate at Village Inn, which wasn't great. (Kira and Koen liked the chicken, though.) Joe and I didn't, much.
Joe had spoken with a wine purchaser for a grocery store about Ohio wines. He was given the name of one, The Winery at Wolf Creek, which happened to be out in the vicinity of the care center. Have to say that, compared to our wineries in the Willamette Valley and Yamhill Valley, the wines were pretty one-toned. We didn't buy any. (There was one "sweet" peach wine that was soooo not sweet! I thought it tasted like the bitter flavor at the center of the pit, to me at least. Joe said it didn't to him. Needless to say, we chose to let them keep their wine for someone else to drink.)
Justin and his family invited us over to swim again today. It was warmer today than it has been for the last two or three, so it was a good thing. Aside from the mosquitoes- which are plentiful out by the pool- everyone had a great time. (Justin's youngest just turned 1 last week. He is CUTE!)
We restrained ourselves and didn't buy any Strickland's frozen custard today (though the kids did want to!). We stopped yesterday, for maple and banana, and it was so yummy! Maybe tomorrow. ;o)
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