I feel like one thing about getting older, and especially when your extended family lives all over the country, is you never really get to see your cousins. Luckily, we at least have a 'Cousin Chat' which we all pop in and out of to keep in touch. We tried to organize a cousin meet up, but with us all spread out- that was particularily difficult. However, I was able to get my cousin Joanne and her family to commit to driving from Pittsburgh to Cort and Holly's Lake House near Cincinati for Memorial Day weekend. Only that meant, I too, would have to travel to Cincinnati for Memorial Day weekend. Olivia was still in the UK, so she wouldn't be going. And Hayden was not at all sold on driving all the way to Ohio for a weekend trip- even if it was a long weekend. So, it turns out Asa, Calib, and I were taking our first road trip just the three of us. We left Thursday morning just after 8 and we were hoping to make it to Ohio in around 14 hours.
We were a bit concerned about holiday traffic. And, we were proved correct just 7 miles from home, when we got on I-75 north and it was completely stopped. Turns out a huge truck lost their load of plywood. I was like 'that's still decent plywood. I wonder whats going to happen to it?' And Calib and Asa made fun of me. (For the record, some of it was still totally usable).
Eventually we moved past that to northern Florida/Southern Georgia. I drove for a couple hours, and then switched off with Calib. Generally, I do not drive in a car with Calib. And, I'm not entirely sure if I've ever driven on the highway with Calib. But, he really wanted to drive, so I let him take over. I figured Southern Gerogia was the best for my anxiety. It's flat as flat can be, straight driving, not usually a ton of traffic, and riddled with cops so you can't speed. Still, I had to sit the backseat and hope for the best. To be clear, it's not that Calib is a bad driver. He's not. I'm just a terribly nervous passenger and I don't want to freak anyone out with my antics.
But, I survived (without getting car sick, mind you- thanks to the straight roads and not much traffic) and we arrived at our first Buc-ee's stop for the day. There are three along the route to Ohio. Our first stop was in the Warner Robbins one.
Calib had never been, so it was his very first Buc-ee's experience. The hat was given to us from a neighbor before we left in honor of his pilgramage.
We grabbed some lunch, some drinks, some snacks- got gas, all that stuff and headed back out on the road.
But then- we got stuck in traffic again. nearing Atlanta, we were barely moving. Eventually, we exited to use the bathroom. It just so happened it was Racetrac, so we got some free ice cream on Asa's Racetrac rewards. If you have to be stuck in traffic, I recommend ice cream.
But man, it took us HOURS to get through Atlanta. It was just taunting us, off there in the distance.
And even when you thought you'd start going for a bit, it'd stop again. We barely moved.
Asa was not pleased.
When we finally got through Atlanta, it was already dinner time. We had lost so much time, which was frustrating. Nothing a little Buc-ees in Adairsville couldn't fix though. 10 hours from home now, and we still had 6 to go. So much for the 14 hour trip.
We had never been so happy to see the 'Tennessee Welcomes You' sign.
But by the time we had gotten to the good mountain scenery, the sun was starting to set. Asa was bummed we didn't even get to see much of the mountains.
And then, just when we thought we were good on the traffic- we were stopped again. I don't know who thought going down to one lane on the highway on Memorial Day Weekend was a good idea.
Slowly but surely, we were making out way there, though. All we could think was thank goodness we were only going to Cincinnati. If we had been going all the way to Fremont, you have to add like 3 to 4 hours.
And then finally, we made it through Kentucky and to the state line. It's always so bittersweet. You're like 'oh yea, I made it to my destination. But, my desitnation is.... Ohio.'
Cort was there to greet us a little before 1am when we finally got to his house. We made up good time when we weren't stuck in traffic- but holy geez, it was a trip. I wanted to come on Thursday just in case this happened (Asa had a strict 'we need to be in Ohio longer than it takes to drive to/from Ohio' rule). Luckily, it was the kids first day of summer vacation, so coming in late didn't disturb anyone but Holly who still had one more day of school remaining.
The next morning, Asa and I were enjoying the cool Ohio air (though, perhaps a little too cool for my taste), and hanging with the pups. Cort has two: Luke and Lily. Luke is a little high strung for me, and was actually totally freaked out about us coming in so late the night before- but Lily is my girl. She's so cuddly and chill.
Gwen was at a friends house (she'd been at a sleepover the night before), Holly was at work, and Cort was working from home. So, Asa, me, Calib and Garrett were left to our own devices, which is fine. We played some basketball/horse...
...and invented yard ball, which was like baseball but complete choas- multiple bats and batters, hitting each other with said bats, running whenever you so chose. It was just a whole thing. But, they had a lot of fun. It was a game we ultimately turned into bucket ball- where the pitcher tries to catch the ball in a bucket. It's way more fun than it sounds, and it really took off later on in the trip.
We also played a totally inappropriate game with Garrett and his yearbook trying to guess the jocks and 'queen B's' based soley on looks. I was surprisingly decent at it. We will not be telling Cort and Holly about this game, however (I'm pretty sure nobody reads this anyway).
As we were sitting there, I asked Garrett if he had ice cream. He said he had bomb pops, which he ate along with Asa and Calib. I told Asa to text Gwen to tell her to get ice cream on her way home, and he did, but she never replied. So later when I asked everyone "Do you think Gwen will bring ice cream?" everyone was like 'absolutely not', and then look what my favorite neice showed up with! Cort was like 'wait.. what happened?' Stay tuned though, because the ice cream came to the lakehouse and we had what I dubbed 'Ice Cream Feasts' with it.
Later that evening, once everyone was home, we headed into downtown Milford to hit up one of the Brewerys. It was a cute little place, and right along the river, so that was fun. Plus, again, the weather was pleasant. Usually that's what I like about Ohio in the 'summer'. That and the grass. Saint Augustine grass is not my favorite.
Anyway, we had pizzas and nachos and salads for dinner. Clint and Jess showed up to meet their Cincinnati friends, and we hung out. It was a nice time.
And, for being a smaller Ohio town, it's a cute enough place.
After dinner and drinks we headed out to the lakehouse, ready for bed and a couple of days enjoying lake life. (A lake you can actually go in free from gators! What a novelty!)
Next Up: Lakehouse Cousin Time!
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