Time left Raleigh: 8/15, 7 pm
Time back in Raleigh: 8/18, 12 noon
Total hours away from home: 60
Total hours driving: 22
Total hours playing bridge: 6
Total hours golfing: 4
Number of states we spotted license plates from: 32
(See map: green are states we first spotted on the way there, blue is in and about Columbus, pink is on the way home)
For her husband’s 40th and 50th birthdays, Lance’s mom has thrown a surprise golf tournament birthday party. So of course, she planned another one for his 60th. We decided to make the trek up to Ohio to join in the festivities. However, the tournament was Sunday at 2, and not near an airport. Thus, there were no reasonable (or reasonably priced) flights home that would me to work the next morning. So we drove.
Since we could not spoil the surprise by letting our presence be known, we had to kill time, so naturally we looked for the local bridge games. We found two – one at 1 pm and one at 7 pm. We planned to play in both.
But first, we had to get there. We left late, in no big hurry. We figured we’d just stop at a motel whenever we got tired (which wasn’t until 2:30 am that first night). It was a very chatty drive – we make very good driving companions. We talked about anything and everything it seemed, interrupting each other occasionally whenever we spotted new license plates, “ooh, there’s Arizona!” and coloring in the map (see picture). We had one scary moment when we told the GPS bitch to find us a hotel and she led us into a cornfield. “Quick! Lock the doors!” You just never know when you’ll find a cornfield cult lurking.
A leisurely morning drive revealed a few new states to color in on our map, and took us the rest of the way to Columbus, were Lance showed me around where he used to live and the places he used to hang out. We at lunch at Skyline Chili, one of his old favorites. Then it was about time for the bridge game.
The first game was a pathetic 2-table game. It was fun and we won, but the most interesting thing about it was this amazing 94-year old woman. I believe her name was Faye. They had a special table for her with low, bright lights. And she had a funny sort of hat that she wore, that lowered a magnifying glass so she could see better. She had trouble forming her words; her speech was a little slurred. The motor skills were failing a bit, but her brain was ALL there. She played very intelligently and joked and laughed with us. I was just so impressed with her. I hope i’m like her if i live to be 94.
After the game, we went to J Alexander’s, the restaurant where Lance’s sister Frith works. We had some beers (my favorite, Yuengling, hasn’t made it to Columbus yet) and some good food, and visited with Frith. Then it was off to the 2nd bridge game.
The second game more than doubled the number of tables; now we were up to 4.5. They didn’t even want to let us play at first – we are rated too highly. But, it was an “open” game, so they let us play. We scored 2nd. They were pleasant for the most part, and made us feel welcome.
After that, we went back to Frith & Will’s place for the night. Slept in a bit, and then the four of us met one of Lance’s brothers, Kevin, for breakfast at this awesome diner. By then, it was time to head to the golf place, which was about 90 minutes away. The only notable thing about that little trip was coloring in a few more states on our map.
At the golf course, we were the first ones to arrive. We got several buckets of balls for driving while we waited for others. Soon the whole gang was there, nearly 40 people. Ken (Lance’s dad) was somehow surprised, despite this being the 3rd such event held in his honor.
We played a scramble format – everyone hits a ball, then you pick the best ball. Then everyone hit their 2nd shot from that location, and you pick the best ball again. Pretty fun. Our foursome was me, Lance, Kevin and Lance’s other sister, Emily. (He is the oldest of 3 boys and 2 girls.) We had 2 pars, 6 bogeys and 1 double-bogey. I thought we did pretty well, and we would have won if the goal was to have the highest score. I posted a few of the golf pictures on my Facebook page.
Next stop was the reception, at a small church in Hillsboro, Ohio. Good food, and good company. There were pictures from Ken’s 60 years of life scattered all over the tables (what a neat idea!). We mingled, i met some of the extended family. When it was time for the cake, 5 of us worked together to try to light all 60 candles. (Tip to anyone else who has to do this in the future: light the interior candles FIRST. 59 candles create a lot of heat.) Ken blew out the candles and after that, it was 8 pm and time for us to get back on the road.
We were both getting pretty tired after a weekend of lots of driving and nonstop action. We only made it 4.5 hours that night before we knew we needed to stop. And we didn’t short ourselves on sleep either. Didn’t get on the road until 9 am. So, i didn’t get to work until after noon. But, i have cool peeps at work and they understood. Somehow i made it through the day and when i got home, i gave myself permission to flop (ie, do nothing).
It was a damn fun weekend.
Update: Kerry also went on a road trip recently and has a similar map to keep track of license plates. I like her color-coding system better, allowing her to keep track of states seen on both legs of their trip.
Tags: bridge, family, life, vacation
