a) I could focus on my new job and not on what I'm missing back home
b) I would not speak my first impressions onto you
c) I didn't have to stress about whether or not I had sufficient internet.
I also intended to stay away from Facebook for the same reasons. I failed at that in general, but I did manage to stay away from posting too much on twitter and facebook statuses, as well as answering any questions about "what do you think of NYC?" or "how do you like it?" I'm pretty pleased with my "fast" thus far.
I am still not going to respond to either of those questions, but I am going to address the journey. That, of course, was the best part about the last week. So... here we go!
First of all, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out to the Gala on Wednesday night :) It was great to see everyone and even fun to hear some of the things that you remember from the past 10 years. It was a great last day, for sure :)
Also, a HUGE thanks to my brother and sister-in-law from rescuing me from a panic attack on Thursday evening when I realized that everything I'd hoped to bring didn't actually fit into my car. I have no idea what sort of mess I would have been if they hadn't been willing to jump in and help out.
As well, a giant thanks to some dear friends who paid for my windshield replacement. I honestly don't know what I would have done without you, but you have been and continue to be a great blessing upon my life.
On Friday morning, it was "go time." Our (Eaic and I) aim was to hit the road at 7a. That didn't exactly happen as planned, but we WERE on the road by 7:45a. Well, technically around 7:30ish, but we had to stop for a gas/snacks/oil fill-up.
the VERY loaded car and my handsome co-pilot
Welcome to Ohio!
Driving through what seems to be the middle of nowhere...
aka Ohio along the Erie shoreline
The "beach" of Lake Erie
Around 12:30/1p-ish, we were arriving at the African Wildlife Safari in Port Clinton, Ohio. This was a planned excursion for us. About a month ago, I saw a Groupon deal for it. The original cost (per person) is $24.95 or something kinda outrageous like that. The Groupon cost per person was only $8. For me, this was much more reasonable and is what the tickets probably SHOULD cost, but then again, I am not a businesswoman. We managed to arrive between storms, with seriously impeccable timing. The rain had just stopped when we got off the highway and it began again just as we were about to leave.
As we drove through, the first area was llamas and alpacas. They were cute and fuzzy and very friendly. One of them was creepy according to Eaic, but they were very excited that we had cups of food to be giving them. The next area was reserved for deer, moose and bison. At this point, we knew this was going to be an adventure, because there were cars bunched up in front of us because they were swarmed with deer and the rangers had to scare the deer away from the gate just to open it for us. As we assumed, as soon as we drove into the area, we were as well swarmed with friendly, hungry, pushy deer. At one point, one of the larger, moose-like deer grabbed Eaic's cup of food right out of his hand! He had, as he put it, just gotten bamboozled by the deer. As we were navigating our way through the swarms of deer, an extremely large brown creature caught our eyes. Actually, it was probably the horns that caught our eyes first. A giant BISON! Yes, he needed to get some of our food. We chased him down as fast as we could, which wasn't very fast because the deer were still swarming us. Before we knew it, there was a buffalo staring into our car window! How awesome!
As we left the deer/moose/buffalo area, there they were in all their tall splendor - the giraffes! The funniest thing happened as we drove into the area next to the giraffes' cage. It started to sprinkle. This in itself wasn't funny, but what was funny was the giraffes' reactions to it! They walked away from the fence, through which they were eating carrots from the cars in front of us, and stuck their hindquarters under the shelter provided. Not their heads, not their whole bodies... only their butts. How funny! Anyway, their entertainment was quite disappointing, so Eaic and I continued on to the zebras who seemed less worried about the rain and more concerned about how much food we were going to give them. After giving them all the remaining food we had, we exited the park just as it began to downpour. What a fun time!
Here we go!
First stop: llamas
There's a llama in my window!
This is the llama that seemed creepy to Eaic
and then we met the deer...
We played a game with this deer.
Eaic rolled up his window and then held the cup inside the window so that it could see the cup, and then we drove slowly.
The funny, little deer ran alongside the car for quite a way.
Yes, that is a buffalo coming toward us.
At this point, Eaic says, "Roll up the windows! Roll up the windows!" even though they are manual windows and he has to roll up his own window.
Hilarious!
When there's a buffalo at your door, you should probably not open it.
My, what long horns you have. Please stay over there, thank you!
I was so excited about the giraffes!
Putting their butts under the shelter...
When was the last time YOU fed a zebra?
As we continued on our journey, we drove through Ohio and continued into Pennsylvania. For Eaic, this was the favorite part of the journey. It has been a long time (if ever) that I've done I-80 through Pennsylvania. It was beautiful! It was a constant up and down through the hills and we were surrounded by green most of the time. It was so beautiful!
We stopped for the night in Drums, PA. We were looking for free wifi and free breakfast and found both at a Holiday Inn Express, as well as free cookies (although we didn't even partake of those!). We ordered pizza from a parlor down the street and picked it up and ate until we couldn't eat any more. It was delicious! The hope was to stay up and watch a movie, but after a long day of driving, I passed out quite quickly. Eaic, since he'd napped on and off throughout the day, apparently stayed up until 1a doing homework and watching online videos. :P
The next day, we were off at 9a and headed toward the Big Apple. Breakfast at the hotel was delicious and we left completely satisfied. We checked out and headed out, through green hills once again. Around 11, we were nearing the city and decided to stop for gas in Orange, NJ. Little did we know that apparently that town is where Thomas Edison grew up... or something. And Saturday, June 1st, just so happened to be Thomas Edison Day. It was busy in this little town. Busy is actually an understatement. As we attempted to re-navigate ourselves back out of the town toward the highway, we came across a diner. They were sure to have coffee and restrooms, both of which we needed very much. They had both and they were both of fairly high quality. They also had really good ham and swiss club sandwiches :)
Welcome to New Jersey!
When we got back on the road it was only another 30-45 minutes before we arrived to my new home. At that, my friends, is another post for another day.
Eaic and I at a scenic overlook on I-80.
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