Tuesday, March 18, 2008

A Trademark Event

Well, I pulled off one of those moments that people always say to me "you're crazy". I packed up 3 17 year-old girls and set out to drop them off in Hilton Head for a few days of sun and fun. Oh, but I needed to return to Toledo because of work commitments. Friday, we head out at 4PM. Nadine was going to take the first leg of the drive. We head out and all is well. We make a stop in Covington KY, and this is how Nadine looked after getting stuck in a traffic jam in Cincinnati, OH.


And this is how Brittany and Katherine looked after hanging out in the back seat for 3 hours.

Burger King in Covington KY
Originally uploaded by bblack3



So I take over driving and we're back on our way through Kentucky. We hit Tennessee and decide to take another break and fill up before heading through the Smokey Mountains. Lots of fog, but luckily we make it through without incident! By this time, everyone is asleep. Our plan was to stop in Columbia SC. So I pull into a hotel and there are no rooms. Just now I remembered being so mad at the girl behind the counter because I asked if she knew if the Wingate right next door had rooms. She picked up the phone to call and "no one was answering". Well, I wasn't sure if she even dialed the number because the whole time she was on the phone, she was playing some game on the computer. How did I know? Because I could HEAR it! I can't remember her name, but I just remembered I wanted to send a complaint! I can understand playing a game at 3AM, bored out of your mind, but come on, I could tell she "lost" and started up again while she was on the phone. Checked a couple more places and no rooms. Now I've lived in Ohio/Michigan all my life, so I didn't realize that St. Patrick's day was such a huge celebration down south. There were no rooms to be had because there was a parade and party the next day.

I reluctantly go back to the car because my co-pilot was about to lose her mind if she didn't get to stretch out in a bed. By this time, it is 4AM. I called the Disney Hilton Head Resort (obviously where we were staying). Just praying in my head that we could check in early. They were so nice and said we could, just had to be after 7AM.

Nadine decides she wants to drive. Yeah, I'm a little nervous, but she's got to learn right? We stop to get gas, use rest room and get caffeine. She pulls onto the highway like a bat out of hell, nearly runs off the road. I ask "are you sure you're ok to drive?" Yes of course. So she asks me to open her Starbucks Frappuccino...

Starbucks Frapp Bottles
Originally uploaded by rocketvending07


She takes a sip and we continue on. A few minutes later she's holding her drink and she says "Jeez Mom why did you put the lid on so tight". I start cracking up laughing because I had taken the lid off and set it aside. I said to her "the lid is not even on the bottle". We both start laughing so hard, probably because we are deliriously tired.

We pull into Hilton Head at 6AM and stop at McDonald's to grab a bite to eat and wait until 7AM. Thankfully we got to our room just after 7, we all crashed for a few hours and then got up and enjoyed the sun.




After a good night's sleep, I headed back home on Sunday. I had a very pleasant drive home. Here's the temperature changes I went through!

Yeah it was warm in SC
Originally uploaded by bblack3


Yeah it's freezing in Findlay OH
Originally uploaded by bblack3

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