Okay, so at some point early this season, when the Blue Jackets were acting as our secondary, back-up reserve tranny brides, we decided to plan a road trip to Columbus. We checked our schedules, checked their schedule, tried to estimate when, during the season, we’d be looking for a vacation, and picked a random, far-off date in March. The Devils weren’t going to be in Columbus then, but who cared? We were going to see the cute, fun Blue Jackets in person!
Five months later, on the eve of our scheduled trip, we were like, “Wait, we’re going where? To see what??”
But hey! Road trip!
Ah, interstate driving. It’s the life.
We hit the road late this morning, after a bit of a false start in which we left the house, drove as far as the bagel place in town, and realized we had neglected to pack our tickets for tomorrow’s game. Yeah, we’re very married to those long-ago secondary, back-up reserve tranny brides. What is interesting to know about driving from New Jersey to Columbus is that it’s completely gorgeous almost the entire way.
We just can’t stop ourselves from taking pictures, even when we know they’re going to suck!
It’s all bucolic farms and rolling hillsides and beautiful, ornate barn architecture…
…And the occasional barn billboard.
You would be surprised how many Mail Pouch Tobacco barn billboards we passed. It seems to be a very popular product with cows around here.
Because we are very cool people who lead very exciting lives, the highlight of our eight-hour drive was the tunnels.
The entrance to the Allegheny Mountain tunnel is quite pretty. You’d never know it from this picture.
Now, we didn’t realize there were mountains between New Jersey and Columbus, so when we came upon the first under-a-mountain tunnel on I-70, we were stunned. How totally cool! You know how many times before today that we’ve driven underneath mountains in our lives? Zero (that we know of)! And you know how different an under-a-mountain tunnel looks on the inside from a mundane, dime-a-dozen under-a-river tunnel? Not at all!
Under the Hudson River, or under the Allegheny Mountain? You be the judge!
Nevertheless, we were enchanted. It was a perfect day for driving, and a perfectly lovely drive. It was also maybe 45 minutes longer than we really wanted to be in the car. Good thing there was an easy-to-get-to restaurant waiting on the other end, just a stone’s throw from our hotel, serving pulled pork sandwiches, sweet-and-spicy french fries, and cold beer.
Rick Nash’s pre-game meal.
So, we’re hockeyless for the next couple of days but for the Blue Jackets/Blackhawks game tomorrow, but we’ve got all of exotic Columbus to explore. Thanks, early-season impulse, for booking this trip we would never have thought to go on if you’d asked us yesterday to make plans! This is going to be awesome!
