There and Back Again... an Ohio Tale

Jenne and I are home and we are pretty bushed. We got in at 5:15 PM today after having been on the road since 8:45 AM. The photos below are actually from the ride to Ohio on Monday and the last image is from the ride back today. This series will give you a little taste of our trip. Jenne was driving when all of these photos were shot. We call them 'drive by shootings' and I present them full frame as I saw them through the lens at 75 MPH! Enjoy.

Once we got into western Maryland - Allegheny and Garrett Counties - we saw a lot of this. Mile after mile of trees, fields and snow all of the way to Dayton.

We saw quite a few snowplows too. Some areas of the Interstates only had one lane plowed. Other stretches were completely clear.

Now we are in West Virginia and just minutes from crossing into Ohio, but first we must face the tunnel. Fortunately Shelob the giant spider was not waiting for us on the other side my preciousssss...

...but Gumby was. He and Pokey wanted to sell us cigarettes! I guess when your TV show goes off of the air you have to do something to make a living, but selling cigarettes? Bad Gumby!

We are now in Ohio and at exit 225. We are going to EXIT 21! YIKES! Another three-hours and ten-minutes, and two-hundred and nine miles to go. My butt has been numb for hours already. The hilly and interesting scenery will soon become very, very flat and dull.

SWEET! I need new hubcaps. Not really, but we did stop and buy new windshield wipers. With slush and salt covered roads it became readily apparent that new wipers were needed when the old ones simply smeared the dirt across our forward view. It's amazing what one can see when the windshield is clean. Without a clean windshield I never would have seen the billboard below!

We've only just crossed the border into Ohio and already we can buy cigs, hubcaps and now porn! Another thirty-seven miles to QUAKER CITY!! Ohh we got trouble, right here in Quaker City, and that starts with TEE and that rhymes with PEE and that stands for PORN! Only thirty-seven miles to go and I can pass the rest of the trip with a girlie magazine. Now how do I get Jenne to get off at exit 193?

There it is! The exit for Quaker City and porn, and look what else... FIREWORKS! OMG! This exit has it all! Quaker City is a guys dream. Porn, fireworks and...

... Delicious HOME COOKIN'. Isn't it lunchtime? Hey, Jenne, pull over so we can grab a bite to eat! Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket. I never would have expected to find a huge porn store and a fireworks outlet in a place called "Quaker City". Who'd a thunk it? The rest of the ride out-n-back didn't yeild any interesting photo ops. I mean really, how can you top Gumby, hub caps, porno and fireworks?

The one photo from the trip home. Rainey, foggy and very wet. Not good conditions for shooting photos, but wait! Thank god Noah's Ark is being rebuilt in western Maryland just west of Sideling Hill. This chuch has been under construction - and in this same exact state - for at least ten years. Thank god the flood isn't happening anytime soon. This metal ark sits right off of Interstate 68.

We actually didn't stop for either porn or fireworks, and while on the road we ate at the Park-N-Dine in Hancock, MD or at one of over a million Waffle Houses! It sure did seem like there were a million of them. Ohioans must really love waffles.