GART; Destination: Toledo, OH

My next stop was Toledo, OH to see my friend Crystal and her husband Adam. Crystal and I have been friends around 5 years I guess having met through a common friend. It's a long story but I count her amongst my best friends and closest confidants. I was looking forward to this visit to catch up as well as to slow down a bit as I would be there for 3 days.

DAY 5
I got my ass going early as it was a work day and Tom and Sara had work to do plus it would be the longest haul to date.It was going to be about 8 hours. I made good time to the interstate. I had plans of lolling along and enjoying the ride but let's face it, once you get on a turnpike, there's nothing to see and nothing to do so I settled in. As irony would have it, a year ago Adam lent me some audio books which, as I have no commute, I never listened too so I was returning them. I figured, what the hell and popped one in. I was hooked. It totally killed time and kept me alert. I finally hit the Toledo are around 5:00, way early as they were both at work. I found a Barnes and Nobles to kill time. I got some suspicious looks as I came in with my backpack with clean clothes and changed in their bathroom. I saw security hovering outside and laughed to myself. I met Adam then Crystal at a local bar shortly there after. We hung out there for a while and went back to their place so I could settle in. We went out for a few drinks and called it a night

DAY 6
Adam had to work so we kinda hung around a bit then decided to go to the Toledo Zoo!! I hadn't been to a zoo in forever so it was so much fun. It was basically us, students and ollllddddd people but we had so much fun. After we went to my must go place when I get out of the Northeast Steak N Shake!! If you haven't been you must try it. We killed the rest of the afternoon playing Wii then met Adam at a Japanese hibachi place, also a first for me. It was cool watching the grill dude flipping around food. After a few more beers, we turned in

DAY 7
We wee heading upstate to visit her parents and decided to stop at the DumDum lollipop factory located in the very same town. We took some time to make some cookies for her mom based on my world famous sugar cookie recipe (go ahead, laugh). It was fun taking the tour even tho FDA laws won't let you into the kitchens anymore. We went to her family's restaurant, The Tavern for steaks then to her parents for a visit. They are such nice and interesting people that I always look forward to seeing them. After a long ride back to Toledo me met Adam for more Wii then more drinks.

It was great just to catch up, chill out, have fun and laugh and much more relaxing then the previous stops

Notes from the road:

• We are deprived, and maybe lucky, that we lack the sheer volume of fast food and chain restaurants found in OH
• When you drive long, long distances, if you have the ability to not pee a lot, you really make good time