Last week/weekend was a bit of a whirlwind. I mentioned before that my mom was getting a new car, and gifting us her old one. But, the new one was taking a bit longer to come in than expected (because in 2022, you can't just pick up what you want from a lot, you apparently have to order it!) My mom (and Asa and I) had hoped it would come in before the end of October, so we could not only make it back up there for Halloweekends at Cedar Point, but also for my brother's birthdays (which are the 26th and the 29th). Clint was driving up from Tennesee to be at Corts for their birthdays, and my mom will never pass up the chance to have all three of us together. Anyway, by Wednesday morning we were resigned to the fact that the car wouldn't be in, and it just wasn't going to be that weekend. But, about lunch time on Wednesday my mom called- and the car wasn't just on it's way, but it was IN! So, I scrambled to find a decent price flight for the very next day. We went back and forth, not finding anything that worked for under $400 a ticket. Eventually, we decided it just wouldn't work. But then, after I hung up with my mom, I found a flight out of Orlando to Cleveland for a more reasonable price. After talking Calib into driving us all the way over to Orlando the next morning, I called my mom back and we booked the flight, and I was digging out my winter gear. In less than 24 hours we were heading to Ohio.
The bad part about going that weekend, was that our neighbor was officially moving out of her house the weekend we'd be gone. She'd been donating all kinds of stuff to us all week as she got ready for the move.
We did pop over Wednesday night to visit with her one more time. The conversation devolved into discussing platonic cuddling, which Asa insists is a thing, and T'Ola and I insist isn't. I believe this is Allison we have on the phone asking her opinion. We dragged all kinds of people into it, including T'Ola's friends and Asa's from college. It was an ongoing discussion days later.
The next morning we were hoping to take a picture with T'Ola between our houses, but we got up too late after being over there past midnight. Instead, we awoke to yet another "check your door" texts (man, I'm going to miss those), with a bunch more snacks from her pantry.
And then we were off to the airport. I have not flown since Covid. In fact, it had been three years and one day since I last flew on airplane. I'm a nervous flyer anyway, but not having been on a plane in three years, and in the post-covid world, I was quite anxious about it. But, Asa is an excellent travel buddy. He even high-tailed it back to the terminal hub so I could pet the therapy dog (although it turns out, it was the main hub, and I didn't get dog snuggles- boo.)
I'm not a huge fan of the Orlando airport. It's way more crowded than Tampa, and you get delayed WAY more. Plus obviously, it's more than twice as far from home. But, they do have good deals sometimes, so we make it work. We did, of course, end up being delayed. Luckily, we hadn't fully unpacked the backpack from wherever we had taken it before, because cockroach poker was still in it. We played a few rounds while we waited.
And waited. And waited. It just kept getting pushed back, until eventually they put us on a new plane at a new gate. We boarded just about the time we were supposed to be landing in Cleveland. Lucky for us, though, we ended up in a row all by ourselves (a benefit of booking the night before, I suspect), so that made it a little nicer for me. We did sport our masks too, just to be extra cautious.
It's weird flying out of Orlando, too, because I don't know the area as well- at least not from an ariel stand point. Tampa, I can point it all out. But, I could easily spot the coast of Florida from my window sear.
We landed in Cleveland right about six o'clock, and since we were in the front of the plane, and had no luggage, we were off pretty quickly. But as soon as we walked outside we were like 'wait. WHAT?!"
Man, it was like 90 feels like 97 when we left Orlando. It was in the 40s upon arrival in Cleveland. Why would anyone want to live here? Asa, who usually prides himself on not being cold, ran back inside.
My mom picked us up and we headed straight to Cedar Point. We still had our season passes from earlier this summer (really, from 2020) so we could get in for free. And it just so happens Cedar Point was open 6 to midnight on Thursdays, the only night it really worked for us to go.
It's been a hot minute since I've been to Halloweekends. I was sad to see "Wicked Twister" in the graveyard of past coasters. How has it possibly been long enough since I worked there to start tearing down rides that were built while I was there?!?
It wasn't just Asa, my mom and me at CP for Halloweekends. Jake so kindly took the day off and drove all the way up from Columbus on a moments notice to join us. He's a good cousin like that. (To be fair, we'd given him a heads up weeks ago- but by Tuesday night we told him we weren't coming, only to call him back and be like.... 'so... we are in fact making the trip')
You might notice I am quite bundled up. Man, it was COLD. Not just cold for Floridians who were being wimps, but actually cold. I just was not used to it.
Of course it's always nice to take in the Halloweekend decorations. And I will note it does feel a little more Halloween-y when it isn't 100 degrees. But, like I could have gone for 60.
Peyton didn't know we were going to Ohio (we're trying to see how much change Peyton notices), but I caved and sent some pictures of Top Thrill Dragster being torn apart. While the hill is still there, most of the track is gone. So sad.
Lucky for me, the Happy Friar was still open, so I could get one more thing of cheese fries and mini corn dogs. But, I was also able to nab the very last cheese on a stick- something I had missed from all our trips this summer. It was cheese overload, and I loved it.
Of course, coming on a Thursday night, we were missing football- and Bucs football at that. So, we did tune in every now and again (just to be disappointed- I mean, I knew the Bucs wouldn't beat the Ravens, but they didn't have to give me first half hope!!)
I was having a good night, but could still feel my anxiety quite high from the plane ride (and the last-minute-ness of the trip), so while Asa and Jake headed into the scare zones, mom and I hung out to do less scary things. (Note Asa's pictures below).
Nobody's going to jump out at you while you're doing some shopping. And, fun fact: they still have the EXACT SAME fanny packs we used to put our disks in for our digital cameras 20 years ago at Sneak Peeks (20 years!!! Yikes!!!)
We did find all kinds of Top Thrill Dragster stuff half off. I really debated on the pink mug, but eventually got it. It was $6, and I was pretty sure I'd regret it had I not. (Plus, I didn't actually buy it, my mom did- so I didn't even have to spend the $6)
I also didn't want to do too many coasters do the motion sickness of the airplane (another reason I'm not super keen on flying). But, we did hop on the Iron Dragon for old time sake and send the picture off to Hayden.
Mostly, I just patiently waited around and enjoyed the ambiance. Plus, the waits weren't too bad- Jake and Asa got on and off Millenium in 15 minutes flat.
Mostly though, I spent the evening with mom. We watched some shows (while I simultaneously watched the game on my phone), and hit up some tame rides like the carousel.)
As the night was winding down, I suggested we go check out the ferris wheel. Mom wasn't so sure (with the wind off the lake, it was sure to be cold), but agreed anyway. Turns out we were literally the ONLY people on the whole wheel. They let us go around a bunch (and we didn't have to wait for loading and unloading), and we cheered along with the ride operators every time we came around. It was super fun! Eventually they slowed us and asked if we wanted to get off (and told us we could stay on if we wanted), but Jake and Asa had just walked on front row Gatekeeper, and we still wanted to get in the nearly abandoned Bumper Cars before midnight closing, so we thanked the ride operators and hopped off.
That view from the top though...
Overall, it was a super fun night even if we missed the first 90 minutes because of our plane delay. I'm so grateful Jake was able to come. He always makes the effort to see us when we're there- even if it's a ton of driving for him for just a couple hours with us. What a cousin, am I right? Love him! (Even if he's growing his ridiculous mustache. At least it's for charity.)
And of course, no trip to Cedar Point is complete without visiting the very place, and the very doorway Asa walked through and into my life. Crazy how life ends up.
We just spent one night in Fremont, and given the temperature, that was plenty. Uncle Tom was leaving my mom's and heading to Oklahoma to see my cousin, so we just saw him in passing. But, he did get our new (to us) car detailed for us, which was very thoughtful.
I had big plans to walk downtown for morning coffee, maybe ride some scooters back. But, the temperature was real offputting. I told Asa I was happy to still make the trip downtown, but I wanted to drive. It was too cold and early (after getting home late and not sleeping real well the night before) to walk my butt down there.
Fremont does have a cute little small town downtown area with some cute places to eat. We like the coffee/sandwich place and have gone a couple times in the last few months. Asa did convince me to eat outside, but only because I had warm coffee to drink.
I had a few bucket list items for visiting Ohio in the fall, even if I was only going to be there for 36 hours- and one of them was to jump in a pile of leaves. Asa said he would rake some up for me, but we already had a packed day. Luckily, I found a pile to jump in- no raking required.
Real talk, it was just a pile from the alley that the city had scooped up. But, I didn't care. Bucket list item complete.
My mom also noted next time I come to visit the gas house out by the garage will probably be gone. The city owns it, and has unhooked it and taken out all the pipes from the inside, and apparently they're going to tear it down and put in a fence, which will be weird, since I'm literally never seen it that way.
Asa for his part, told me to take his picture since he looked like "fall in Ohio". He has this new thing where he really likes to emmerse himself "in the culture" of wherever he's at. This started with country music on our drive thru Tennessee and continued with porch drinking in Cincinnati.
After the car was loaded up, we headed out to the BMV to sign over the title of the car. You have to pay $1, even if the car is a gift, apparently. I thought it was hilarious when Asa whipped out his wallet and said "Don't worry mom, I've got it". We then did have to go next door to get a temporary Ohio plate for our new car (so my mom could just put her old plates on her new car), and that came in at a whopping $20. Man, the BMV sure is cheap is people have to pay state taxes (It will be five times that at least to change our plates over here).
And just like that, we've gotten a car 10 years newer than our previous car! Trust me, I know how generous my mom is to have gifted us her old car instead of trading it in for a new one. In this economy she could have gotten serious trade in value. And now, instead of using Asa's most recent raise to pay for a new car, we'll get quite a few years out of this one.
After our visit to the BMV, we headed on over to another Fremont staple: Chuds! No trip to Fremont is complete without an order of Chud Spuds.
Since Asa and I had a decent breakfast, we split the Chud Spuds with my mom and then shared a sandwich. Asa, of course, ordered his cherry coke.
When lunch was over, we headed over to Walmart to pick up some Toft's Chocolate Milk, a request from the kids when they knew we were driving back. While Toft's milk is expensive, you know you're in Ohio when you see regular milk this cheap.
With Toft's Milk in hand, we headed out of Fremont and over to Haslinger Orchards. I was hoping to pick some apples, and while my mom had around gotten us a bunch, I wanted to be part of the experience.
So, we grabbed a 1/2 bushel bag and headed out to the orchard.
There weren't a ton of apples left. It was kind of weird. 8 trees in a row would have nothing, and then one tree would be full of them. But, there were plenty left for picking, which made me happy.
Picking complete, we headed back to the barn to check out.
We had quite a few finds in the barn. Some cinnamon sticks, apple cider vinegar, and even squash for 49 cents a pound. But, I was most excited about the non-pasturized apple cider. There used to be an apple cider mill in Fremont that I went to as a kid, that closed just a few years ago. But, they always had the best apple cider. I grew up on it. YOu'd go up to the little bar, order your jugs, and they'd give you little dixie cups to try some. I visited once or twice since I moved to Florida, but I was very sad when they closed. When my mom mentioned Haslingers had Apple Cider, I was slightly interested. But when she said it was non-pasturized, I was like 'I NEED SOME!!' Since I grew up on it that way, the store bought stuff just doesn't taste the same. I literally drank like 6 dixie cups of it at the barn. (They didn't have anyone serving you at a bar, just a self serve jug).
Of course, they also had pumpkins. And because it was so close to Halloween they were a whopping $4!! Pumpkins are always cheaper in Ohio. But, I was happy to get Hayden and Calib one's to carve at Costco for $8 a few weeks ago. I passed on one in favor of a $9 Cactus garden (which was really cute, and I justified getting since I didn't get a pumpkin). But, when I saw these were only $4 (and I could get a white one at that), I jumped at the chance.
The only problem was the car was already full of stuff. All of Hayden's fair stuff, some stuff my mom had gotten for us to take back, our bags, and my mom's stuff she was taking to Cort's for the weekend were all stuffed in the car. But, it wasn't too far to the dealership where we'd be picking up mom's new car (and thus having a lot more room), so we made it work.
After that, we headed up to Maumee to Jim White Honda to pick up my moms new hybrid Honda Accord.
This thing is fancy! It has all the bells and whistles and saftey features you could imagine.
And now, just like that we both have new cars (although, I got mine for $22, and she paid a bit more for hers).
When we got in my mom's new car to head to Cincinnati, there were a whole FIVE miles on it.
Asa continued along the way with our new (to us) Honda Accord, while I went with mom in her new Hybrid. We stopped for dinner along the way, and then she let me drive it the rest of the way. It's probably the newest car I'll ever drive. This thing was straight off the line. And, super fun to drive. The cruise control is super fancy (and will slow you down if you get too close to the car in front of you), and your brights go on and off automatically. Of course, it's super smooth and quiet, too.
So, fun fact: nobody knew we were coming. We wanted to keep it a surprise (easy to do when you book your flight the night before). But, the whole thing kind of backfired, because all of Cort's family were off doing different things. While Clint and Jess had already arrived, and seemed surprised to see us, the only Cincinnati Sattler at home when we got there was Holly- who, to her credit, seemed genuinely shocked. We told her when we were there in August, she said we could come on a moments notice, and we were testing that theory.
Cort and Garrett were at the football game (which we knew, obviously since we were with mom, but Cort was texting Asa about), so when they got home we hid behind the bar to jump out and surprise them. Cort walked in and was like 'why are there so many cars in the driveway?' to which we jumped out and yelled 'surprise!' He was also pretty shocked, as was Garrett. He said if he had to bet on when the next time I'd be in Ohio, he would have lost bad.
Garrett is always fun to visit with, he told us all about his side hustle at school, selling gum for his school's currency (which you're supposed to get for doing good things, and then can use to buy things like a home work pass). Apparently, Garrett is just selling gum on the black market for the "money" instead. This guy's a hustler. He does say he wants to own his own business when he grows up and then showed us the flyer he designed for his pet (and plant) sitting business.
He also got a new fishtank (Asa helped him with a Power Point presentation to convince his parents to let him get one), so he showed us all his new fish. And no visit to Garrett's room is complete without hanging out with Big Steve, the gecko.
And no visit with Cort is complete without some Burbon.
Gwen showed up a little later. She had been at Kings Island with her friends (and she just got her license, so she's been driving herself around), and at first just walked in and said "hey" to everyone. Holly then said "Gwen, did you see who's here" and she took a double take and was like "wait. what?" So, not as fun of a reaction. But, whatever.
Of course, my mom was so excited to see everyone, we had to take the family picture. Stay tuned for this one coming from your Nancy Sattler Christmas card.
And then of course, I had to take a self taken picture of all of us, and Clint had to make funny faces. It's a tradition.
Another tradition: check out everyone's height. When I last left Garrett in August, I told him next time I'd see him he'd be taller than me, and I'd officially be the shortest person in the family. However, I thought the next time I'd see him would be January at Disney. So, I got one more visit in where I'm ever so slightly taller.
But really, like 'EVER SO', Cort got out his square to officially measure.
For the record, Cort is still ever so taller than Clint. I know, I measured it.
We had a lovely evening hanging out with all the Sattler's, but we were up early the next morning to start the trek home. Sadly, when we got out to the car, there was frost on the windshield. Not cool.
We left Cort's just about 7:45 AM, which arrival suggesting we'd make it home before 10, of course then we'd have stops in there. We decided we could do the whole drive at once as long as we were going to arrive home before 2 am. So, we'd just see how traffic and stops went. In no time at all, we were crossing the Kentucky boarder.
Of course, it was a cold morning, with weird fog. I was really just happy to get back to the heat at this point. I am just not used to being cold.
You might have remembered, Asa and I were taking our first road trip back in August. But, coming back was less of a trip and more of a chore, since we had covid. This time was kind of like getting a re-do.
We stopped at the Kentucky welcome center for our first "Stretch our legs/bathroom break".
And then decided the Buc-ee's on I-75 were all evenly spaced for breakfast lunch and dinner. We decided we should stop at all three for meals and gas, and besides rest area's for bathroom trips, that would do it for stops. So, here we are at the Kentucky Buc-ee's. The first of the day.
We picked up some jerky, and some breakfast sandwiches and coffee and then continued on our way.
It wasn't too long before we had made our way through Kentucky..
..and into Tennessee.
There is a trail up a hill (mountain?) at the Tennessee welcome center that we noticed when we were last there. But, trying to race home before we tested positive for covid, we passed on the trail last go around.
This time, I was excited to head up the trail, with all the fall colors around. It was a wonderful way to get in some steps and stretch our legs too.
And the view wasn't half bad either.
Asa is just one of my favorite road trip buddies. (We say that all the time- sometimes we're "shopping buddies" sometimes we're "traveling buddies" sometimes we're "Disney buddies", sometimes we're "cruising buddies"... you get the idea).
Back on the road, we were fueling with sugar, caffiene and jerky.
ANd then we made it to the dreaded Georgia. It just takes FOREVER to drive through. But at least the weather was turning around. I could shed my hoodie.
And Georgia does also have two Buc-ee's. One in the north, and one in the south. At our second Buc-ee's of the day, we got our picture taken with the ledgend himself, and picked up lunch. I had BBQ Pork Sandwich, Asa got himself a Burrito and we also filled up the massive $1.19 drinks (though next time I'll go one size down- the giant size was a little much for the cup holders).
Also pro tip: mix the green tea, with the lemonade and water, and it's the perfect blend.
Just like that, we were back on the road again...
....and then we came to Atlanta. I thought maybe mid-day on a Saturday it wouldn't be terrible. But, I was wrong. We got stopped several times. But, we made the best of it. We played the Alphabet game several times over with World Leaders, Marvel Universe Characters, and Disney Charaters.
Eventually, we made it through Atlanta, and we stopped at our last Buc-ee's of the day, where we found gas the cheapest on our trip.
It was dinner time, but we had such a big lunch we opted for snacks to bring along with us instead- and some coffee to keep us going. Our ETA was now about 11pm.
Just before 9, we crossed over into Florida. Welcome home, new car! Just three hours from the line to Florida. Plenty of time to listen to Taylor Swift's new album, which we found very underwhelming.
We did end up pulling into the driveway just before midnight. Sadly, T'Ola had officially left the neighborhood, but she had dropped off all kinds of things before she went- including lots of liquor.
She was going to Glory Days the next day for her last football Sunday in Tampa with a bunch of friends and invited us to come along. Despite being super tired from the long weekend and the drive, we were determined to make it out. We didn't want to pass up any hanging out time with T'Ola.
And it helped that Amber and Chris were there too. They helped contribute to the taco count (since we were missing a taco bar, we ordered nachos and tacos to add to our count- and then stopped on our way home at Costco to get street tacos for dinner).
Overall, a very eventful couple of days. In all of the craziness, I wasn't even able to get a Buc-ee's magnet. Though, I did decide to turn a keychain into one. I'm crafty like that.
Next up: Halloween 2022
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