Day 2

Today was a long day. We woke up at around 4:30 am, which in my humble opinion is freakishly early. Joe was kind enough to take the first driving shift, and I basically passed out until 9.



Our first stop was somewhere in the mountainous central region of Pennsylvania, which was quite beautiful. It's been snowing a lot recently, so all of the trees looked incredible. We got off the highway in an attempt to find something to get us out of the car and provide some entertainment, but it was unbelievably cold with tons of snow on the ground. We made an attempt at a snowball fight, though neither one of us could land anything even remotely close to a solid hit. After carousing around a two-story mom and pop Christmas store that destroyed our sinuses with the overwhelming stench of hundreds of Christmas candles we decided to depart in search of food.

At lunch down the road we encountered this poor group of ducks freezing their feet and feathers off while looking hilariously awkward as they waddled through 6 inches of snow, pausing occasionally to warm one foot and then the other by tucking it under a wing. Caitlin tried desperately to befriend the more vocal of the ducks, which was more or less unsuccessful.



Needless to say lunch was dreadful. There was a dead deer lurking ominously over Joe's head, the french fries were strange and mushy, and Caitlin's oatmeal was a gelatinous mess. Somewhat disappointed, we returned to the car to continue on our way to Ohio.






The road from the middle of Pennsylvania to our destination in Mason, Ohio is a muddled blur, although we did have the breif excitement of passing through West Virginia. The further west we drove the worse the weather became, and by the time we reached Columbus, Ohio the storm had matured into a minor blizzard and traffic had ground to a halt. It took us at least 3 hours to journey from Columbus to Mason, a trip which should have taken no more than an hour and a half. Those final few hours were without a doubt the hardest, as enthusiasm waned, muscles atrophied, and backs began to cramp.



At around 7:30 we finally arrived at the house of Joe's aunt and uncle, Evelyn and Steve. It felt unbelievably good to be in a warm, welcoming house and stretch out a bit. We did a nice little yoga routine before settling down to a light dinner and some football and blogging before bed. We were also welcomed by the family dog and multiple cats, who are all incredibly well trained and the sweetest little critters.

So. The plan for tomorrow is to continue on at a respectable hour to St. Louis, Missouri, which we hope to reach at a decent hour. With any luck we'll have time to visit the arch and the science museum, and maybe even the Anhueser Busch brewing company. We will be staying on the couch of our gracious couch-surfing host, and it should be quite interesting.