February in Ohio and a Digi-makeover at Frank University

I took last Friday off and drove to Ohio to visit my daughter and my Family. The trip consisted of 8 hour drive to pick up my daughter and then another 3 hours to get to my sisters house in Barnesville. Ohio is actually a big state to drive through. I can recall my 4 hour drive from home to college in the late 80s and early 90s. I thought that was a long drive at the time. Little did I know that I would be putting in much longer road trips later in life.

Here is a picture of what is very common in northwest Ohio. Now, I have to say.....who would want to live here?!?!?! Very flat and very windy. There is nothing to stop the wind and the streams and rivers often flood their banks.

After 514 miles on the road I was 10 minutes early. So as not to be rude, I drove around a little to fill up that 10 minutes. I can't say in a public forum why in the heck I did that, other than to say I was "asked" to be "on time"......after 514 miles and 8 hours, I figured just getting there would be good enough. Anyway, there is Em and her brother happy to see me!

Our (my) plan was to take Em to the Polaris Fashion Mall area in Columbus for dinner (or supper as they call it in the north) on our way to my sisters house in Barnesville. So I did everything I could to deflect requests to eat at Taco Bell and Subway. We settled on Max & Ermas. I had never been there before and figured it would be nice to try it out. Since living in Asheville, I HAVE become a food snob.....and I am better off because of it. But I absolutely do not like or prefer to eat at chain restaurants. I'm not quite militant about it and I really can't figure out why my mind thinks this way (now). I figure that I can eat at chain restaurants any time and any where.....so, why not try something local. But, as you can imagine it is difficult to find "something local" on-the-fly as you are traveling. I guess you have to kind of know about it before you get there. So, convenience wins over on the road.

Here is a shot from the Reisbeck's grocery in Barnesville. These were my stomping grounds when I was a kid.....but without the Wendy's and McDonalds. We only had a Dairy Queen and that was downtown.....in addition to the 3 pizza places. It is hard to believe that I came from this part of Ohio as I have not spent much time there since I went to college. It is so different compared to the life I know now.

The main purpose of this trip was to celebrate Em's birthday. Here is the cake.

Here is the cake and ice cream being eaten. Yummy!!

Here is the family, my Mom and Dad in the background with the family dog (Reba). Em is opening presents. Since Christmas, I have to believe that she has all the DVDs and CDs that she could possibly want at this time.

See what happens when you go to Ohio, the locals dress you up. The girls (Em and my two nieces) had a little fun with their Digi-makeover and Uncle Frank. Here I am with pink hair and a sweet heart on my left cheek. I am digging that necklace!

Here are the digi-makeover experts. No guilt on their faces, huh! The girls have fun together when we visit.

North of Columbus, I found "Frank University".....ha, ha. I just couldn't resist! I hope you can figure it out.

Oh yeah, what is a road trip without Starbucks?!!! Here is a quick snap shot of us drinking SBX products in the car as we are road trippin. Em is actually drinking Chi tea...and not coffee. She usually gets a hot chocolate or Cream Frappuccino.

Drafting: The high winds had my CRV get half its usual gas mileage.....180 miles on 13 gallons of gas. My RPMs were 4500 for most of the drive across the state on Sunday. It was extremely windy. I HATE the wind!!! So, I tucked in behind a semi-truck as my gas gauge was getting low and I became concerned about getting Em home. I was amazed at how quickly my RPMs dropped and how much I let off the gas just to go forward. We hit some backroads and found gas in Dunkirk, OH.