Trip #2 in recent weeks was to Ohio to visit Cowboy. I know, I know--he lives in Oregon. But when I called him to say "Hey! I found cheap airfare to fly out & visit over Labor Day!" He replied "That's nice but I'll be in Ohio. You can come there if you want." Hmmm........$40 cheaper to fly, only 1 1/2 hours of flight time vs. 8+ and a change of planes, & I get to stay in my own timezone. Sure I'll go to Ohio. I've never been there. The catch? I'd have to see his parents. I haven't seen them since Christmas of 2004. (I may have written about this in a previous post, but I'll write it again incase anyone isn't caught up yet.)
My flight was on Saturday & we were to take off at 2:59 (can't they just make it 3:00 at this rate?) and would land at 4:30. Pretty nice! The problem? Ernesto had sent us lots of rain & wind. Most flights out of LGA were on time & doing just fine. Not mine! My plane had yet to arrive. It finally did at 2:40 & they'd board us asap. So we finally get on the plane at 3:15 & immediately taxi out towards the runway. The plane? May as well have been a sardine can--literally. It had 19 rows & 3 seats per row. BUT--the first two rows on one side were for the closet & another seat on the two-sided one was a closet. So there were 50 seats in all.
The young woman sitting next to me was reading the same exact book as I was. Now, this may sound like no biggie, but we were reading The Bell Jar & didn't really know why. I mean, I asked her why she was reading it--if it was for school or something. She said that she had overheard someone's conversation and they had said it was their favorite book. So since she had yet to read it, she decided now was a good time as any. Too weird. (Not to mention the person who said that must have some serious issues to deal with if that is their favorite book.)
We sat & sat & sat some more because the captain told us Cleveland was not taking any flights in at this time because of the storm. We were free to use our cells to call out if we wanted. Well, it's 4:00 & I am not taking off yet? Okay--let's call Cowboy who landed 1/2 hour ago & let him know I am not there yet. He says "there's nothing wrong here in Cleveland. It stopped raining at 2:00 and there isn't much wind. I'll go ask the Airlines". He calls back & says "You are taking off in 10 minutes & will be here at 5:45". I hadn't heard any of this from my own crew & was a bit ticked that Cleveland (& Cowboy) knew this before we did. So we hang up & with that comes the announcement that we'd be taking off momentarily & prepare for it.
Oh the flight! We barely made it off the ground before the wind hit us hard & sent us down pretty fast. The pilot picked us up again & ascended higher. We get hit to the side & down again. We aren't smacking the ground because we are already a few hundred feet in the air but we may as well have been bounced like a basketball for the sensation that goes through your body & turns your knuckled white. Scary flight all the way there. We were tossed around like a child's toy boat in the bathtub.
The flight is also no frills. The flight attendant opened the large bag of mini pretzel bags & handed it to the people in the first rows & told them to take one and pass it back. So we served our own snacks. I thought this was pretty funny. Then she came around with Coke, Diet Coke, or Sprite. That was it. It was already on a little tray & you just reached up & grabbed it. Heehee---love this! It made everyone feel so close & homey.
I land at precisely 5:45 & call Cowboy to find out if he is in the building or went to get the rental car. He's in the building, but on the other side. That's where I have to go anyway. Cleveland airport is HUGE! I had to get off the stupid tin can, climb down the ladder that they call a staircase to the tarmac, run up a flight of stairs into the building & then see the entire airport while charging to the baggage claim.
It was so good to see him! We had that "airport reunion" thingy going. Ah~~very movie-like if you ask me. He grabbed my suitcase & we walked out to the car. Then he informs me that it will be an hour+ drive to his sister's house. Oh no--more waiting & travel. We got there, said "hi", ate dinner with the sis & parents & then left. This would begin our adventure of getting lost the entire trip. What should have been a twenty minute drive took us almost two hours to find. Yeah--so not happy. We got to the room & crashed.
9:00 the next morning I had him up & out so that we could drive to Newark (still in Ohio--not New Jersey) so we could go to Longaberger Baskets. I was so excited & this was the only other reason I went to Ohio. We were driving about 45 minutes and he said "let's stop & get a map". He buys a map of what he said was Ohio & off we go. Ofcourse, the exit was the next one on the Interstate but we knew that thanks to the map. We had been driving south for so long & I was still sort of asleep that when I saw a sign that said "KSU Next Exit", I exclaimed out loud "Kentucky State University? How did we drive through the whole state to get to Kentucky so fast? Did we miss the exit?" Yeah--that would have been KENT State, NOT Kentucky. Oh the blond moments just keep on rolling. This is when we also realize that the reason Colombus & Newark are not on the map because it's only of the northeast corner! DRAT!
We made it to the Longaberger Homestead & had a blast. It is a cute little village set-up that one family developed. Their baskets are very expensive but oh so cute. We wandered through the whole village before going back to make my selected purchases.
From there we started on towards Colombus. This is where we met up with Cowboy's friend--Hottie. They met while living in an apartment complex in Ashtabula (can that town name be any hokeyer?) and have stayed in touch ever since. Hottie was so much fun to be with. He lives in a townhouse that he rents with another guy & gave me the grand tour. He acts like he's known you forever...which is nice. I've never met a friend of Cowboy's that has been around for years (due to his moving like an army brat) and felt nervous. So he even opens up the bedroom doors & says "Go In. Check it out." Weird walking into some guy's room who isn't even there for you to meet before you go into his bedroom & closet. The townhouse is 2-story brick....stunning! There's a living room, galley kitchen, and small area for a dining room set, and a 1/2 bath downstairs. They also have two garages + two parking spaces. The living room has a 40-foot cathedral ceiling with a skylight. Upstairs has the two aforementioned bedrooms each with private full baths & walk-in closets. They pay $950 total. That's for the monthly rent, the maintenance, and the utilities. They will sell you the unit for $180k. I wanted to cry. It was right in the middle of a suburban area with grocery store, panera, mcdonalds, and some swanky restaurants. We ate at a place called 'Burgundy', which was a tapas restaurant that focused on wine pairings. We stayed with Hottie 'til 11:30 at night. He wanted us to go into the city (20 minutes away) with the newly arrived roomie + friend in tow. Cowboy wanted to but understood that I didn't want to stay overnight here with no personal effects with me. So we made the drive back to Geneva---4 hours. We got back close to 4am & dropped instantly.
Next morning we were up & out by 10 am. Breakfast was at my favorite out-of-state Crackerbarrel. From there he gave me a tour of all of the towns he lived in. SO many towns....all so different. We got to stop at "a" Starbucks....we only saw 1 of them the entire time. We even stopped at a mall quickly so I could get KDP's stuffed friend, adam, a cleveland shirt. Then it was on to family reunion #1. We walked in with Cowboy's sister + 5 kids & everything at the gathering stopped. It was like City Slickers meets Beverly Hillbillies. Not kidding. We stayed as long as we could handle it (2 hours) and then took off for reunion #2. Cowboy's in-laws wanted to see him & his parents. We stayed there a bit & then piled 2 of the 5 kids in the car & my tour of the counties continued. I saw Pres. Garfield's house, Lake Erie, the famous nuclear reactors & the school district that is the most state-of-the-art thanks to the reactor. We dropped the girls off around 7 & took off to relax before looking for something for dinner.
While Cowboy slept the 1/2 hour, I finally called home to catch up with family for a bit. He woke up & off we went looking for anything open for a snack. But--unlike New York--EVERYTHING was closed. We settled on Pizza -take-out to go back to the room at 9:00 when we finally gave up.
Tuesday brought breakfast with his parents.....the second time I actually had to sit down with them. But his sister + the littlest one were there, so things went smoothly. He & I headed off to wrap up a few things & then went to his sister's house so the two of them could talk. It was so nice to see him interact with her. He's seen me with my brother so many times but being that his life is in another state I never get to see this side of him. It "normalized" him for me.
It was time to make the 1hr 15min. drive back to the airport. I stayed with his family until they had to board their plane. I had an hour to waste once they boarded so I went to grab dinner. I foudn this great little place called Tequilaria & ordered some yummy tacos & rice. I was 1/2 way through with them when I double-checked the time and realized I was going to mis my flight. Rememebr how I mentioned that my gate was at the furthest end of the airport? well, I had to make that same sprint back to that area. I literally threw the money on the table and sighed that the meal was so good but only 1/2 eaten & ran off.
I went through 1/2 the airport, down an escalator, over two moving walkways, up another escalator & then down a long corridor to smack right into the desk by the gate. The gate was closed, there were no people, nor was the rope there anymore that guides people in. I almost freaked. The gate attendants looked at me strangely as I tried to catch my breath. I panted "Has this flight left yet?" It was now 5:12 & the flight would take off in 8 minutes. As I am freaking out I look at the board behind then taht says the next flight is a 6:15. How did I miss it? I have NEVER missed a flight. I had a connecting one once that landed so late & I had to take off like a shot to get to the door & then the attendant had me on the gangway and slammed us back into the soon to move jetliner to signal that there was still a person not on. Well, there were actually 10 of us from that 1st flight, but I was the first one there. I had to tell them to hold the plane. Sorry--back to the latest one. The gate attendnat says "Oh--taht flight is delayed 'til 6:15. Relax. We'll let you know when it's ready." ????????????????
I could have eaten the rest of my meal? There was no reason for me to break a sweat? UGH! We finally get the call to go & it's down another flight of stairs, out to the tarmac, and up the ladder to the plane. I settled in for the 1hr 15 min flight home that would once again be quite turbulent. We bouced & shifted right to left & dropped a bit but made it to LGA at 8:00 pm. An hour late but home safe.
I had fun. Cowboy & I fell right into sync with one another as if we hadn't been separated & now I am missing my best friend more than ever.
