12 hours straight. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. 😉 Sure if we’d left at 6am, but in our case our departure was delayed due to … yummy breakfast … playing outside … computer problems “back home” and just in general laziness.
We departed MI at 12:30 pm (ish) and started what was to be a 12 hour and 23 minute DRIVE TIME drive home.
Ron and I both commented, again, on the drivers in Ohio and on how long it took to get through Ohio. I missed a turn… yet again … and we got a wonderful detour through the countryside. I LOVE little towns. I would love to fly/drive to some and photograph them for nothing more than fun … or to preserve their heritage just a little bit more.
Back over the bridge, back through Nelsonville, back into West Virginia and we were getting TIRED. We broke the “food rule” and ate at Bob Evans for dinner. Our other option was Ponderosa which would have met the criteria, but we weren’t sure it was sanitary enough and the only other sit-down restaurant on the exit was Bob Evans. At least it’s an Ohio based chain and started in the North and we didn’t get one in the South until within the last 3-5 years. 😀 That’s our excuse and we’re sticking to it.
In any case after a great dinner with an AMAZING waitress that we tipped well over and above 25%, we decided to drive into Charleston and find a place to stay for the night. We passed a Marriott and a Hilton and decided on a Country Inn & Suites. I told Ron that I refused to stay at anything that said “budget,” “motel”, “economy” or “inn” without looking new.
I ran into the Country Inn and Suites to see about prices and availability. They had a King bed suite with a SEPARATE room with a pull out couch. Woohoo! Ron and I got our “own” room! And it was onlly $139! We took it!
The girls took a floor spot again and Joseph took the couch. Ron and I, of course, took the King bed. Free wireless Internet and hot breakfast the next morning.
We’d put in over 7 hours of driving getting down past Charleston and we all thought it was time to quit for the night. 🙂