Columbus, OH

I am sitting in the wonderful establishment of McDonald's in Columbus, Ohio, right now, just on the outskirts of the Ohio State University campus. The people here are friendly and kind with a shy skittish, giggling-school girl way about them and they seem willing to submit themselves to a "hello" and even a quick conversation.

We arrived in Columbus via Route 78 in Jersey and across Pennsylvania, becoming I-70 in western PA, where we enjoyed a joyous dinner at another Mickey-D's in Washington, Pa late last night. Here are some musings from yesterday, 7/7, straight from the road:

I-95 S in New Jersey

Michael Stipe remarks that leaving New York is never easy. As I am in New Jersey right now, with New York to my left, I can agree with him. Today especially, as I embark on my trip, I am feeling a sense of uneasiness in leaving. This has been an extremely trying weekend and though I am elated to be heading west and moving past this weekend, I feel like I left a piece of me back in Englewood. And as I traverse the swamps in and around Newark, heading west on route 78, I know there is a light shining through the clouds on us for a reason, guiding me on my journey.

Route 78 W - Lebanon, Pennsylvania

Steinbeck wrote about something he saw in every part of the nation--"a burning desire to go, to move, to get under way, anyplace, away from any Here." This feeling of running away from something is tangible right now to me. It shows in every farmhouse, forest, and sad town name ("Krumville, Kutztown") that we pass. There's just a sense of escape that permeates this Pennsylvania countryside and it is plaguing me at the moment. Maybe that's why we're just passing through, heading straight for Ohio.

Western Pennsylvania/West Virginia/Ohio

Finally, as the altitudes increased, the valleys turned into mountains and back into valleys, my desire for this trip and my longing to go west increased as well. The area, driving through the mountains and the fog, as I took the wheel, became a part of me, just as this journey is becoming part of me as well. The tiny strip of I-70 that runs 70 miles per hour through Wheeling, West Virginia, was a beautiful piece of highway that we sailed on through the night. And the welcome sign for Ohio was a welcome relief for us, who have come so far to be here in only one day on the road. I should mention that my dreariness in Lebanon, PA, I'm sure is not reflective of this whole trip, only the start of it. But it kind of plays on the nickname that I gave our car, a Hyundai Sonata, which is "Rasselas." Rasselas was a Prince of Abissinia, written about by Samuel Johnson, who leaves his home and travels his country to seek adventure and the path to happiness. This is a fitting name for our car, our vehicle to discovering adventure and happiness in this grand country of ours.