The day I first saw Athens:
day 5: 8/13/08 athens, oh
athens is beautiful. driving here was a thing of beauty, a long stretch through the woods that was exactly the sigh of relief i needed. driving from columbus to athens is like driving from vancouver to corvallis would be if there was no I-5 or portland or salem in the way. that makes it seem like it would be a long drive, but it's amazing. coasting through little valleys and hills covered in lush green trees. i think it's more green and beautiful than oregon. that could be three days of plains states speaking, but i was blown away nonetheless. the hills looked like they were covered in fresh broccoli, billowing dark green foliage as far as the eye could see. i passed more signs for state parks, national parks, and national forests than i did for towns. as i drove, it grew dark and the moon rose and sharpened in white contrast. almost a full moon, shining down on the forests and the smooth, winding road. it was the best end possible to the past few days.
i decided that, regardless of the additional fee for being under 25, it would be worth it to rent a car in columbus. there were a series of minor disasters and misunderstandings. for instance, when you type "columbus airport" into google maps, it gives you rickenbacker international airport, which if you had never ever been to columbus would sound like the right airport. it's not. it's a tiny shipping airport way south of town. port columbus international airport is the main one, which is on the northeast outskirt of town, and it does not even come up on google maps. luckily we made it there, but after too much arguing and melting down and driving way the wrong way just for no good reason. also it was right about dinner time and suddenly my blood sugar went all over so i was freaking out as well as being tired and extremely hungry all of a sudden and... anyway. no fun. then there was another series of obstacles once we got to the real columbus airport, the kind you would probably see in the series-of-misadventures buddy flick that you painfully laugh at. yeah. backing a penske truck out of a parking garage in one of the midwest's larger airports. freaking sweet. but then, finally, success! it took about five minutes total to do all the stuff to get the car, a 2008 corolla. ohhh, just so relaxing. so wonderful and refreshing. an hour and a half to myself for the first time in five days or longer, a new car with a smooth, compact ride, low to the ground and with easy acceleration, and finally, finally on the road to athens.
and we're here! finally! after all my months of planning and looking up athens online and learning ohio facts on wikipedia, and after days of driving and $200 gas fill-ups and wrangling with a 16-foot moving truck, we are here. no more long days of driving. tomorrow we only have to drive about five minutes to our new apartment.
we finally are in a cheap motel, which explains why the internet isn't working and my computer only plugs into the one grounded outlet. and we had to drive around athens searching for it, because it recently changed its name and had no appropriate signs, and we were greeted by a balding indian man and smells of microwaved curry wafting in from the back. but it only cost $43, so i'm satisfied. and we did get to drive through most of the main road of athens while semi-lost, stopping at the kroger to look in a phone book (not helpful, due to recent name change) and buy ohio-produced cheap wine and various snacks. i do wish the day had gone so we'd gotten here earlier, because now all i want to do is explore. but that's what the next three days are for!
i still need to write about day 4: marengo, il, but that's several more paragraphs in itself. featuring: our first directional mix-up (you are not our friend, quad-city, iowa/illinois), crossing the mississippi, meeting all of chris' grandmas and many haaks, experiencing a bit of chicago neighborhoods/driving, drinking cheap wine and watching the olympics, and farm-fresh corn. the end!
No comments:
Post a Comment