Toledo, Ohio, to Cleveland, Ohio
Driving time: 1 hour 48 minutes
After our recent all-day driving times, this under-two-hours day felt like a trip across town. We didn’t need to stop in Cleveland, but how can you travel through Cleveland and not stop? Plus, my mom and my sister and brother live about 40 minutes south of here and this gave us a chance to take a trip to the zoo with them on our way to our New England life.
What we didn’t realize was that today was some kind of free day at the zoo for specific counties/townships. Our family got to go to the zoo (which was, even more than we expected, a zoo), but my family of origin arrived too late and were turned away. We left before the exodus and all got to eat dinner together at this odd little family place and then hung out while the kids played and played and played at a rec center playground.
Cleveland gets just 65 days of sun a year, and we were lucky enough to be here for the most beautiful of beautiful days. If Ohio intended to put on her best to make me miss the state even more, she did a lovely job.
I’ve been feeling especially emotional since we’ve been in Ohio. I feel very much tied to the state and the landscape, which is kind of odd since when I lived here, I kind of hated it. I found the landscape boring and the culture oppressive and backwards.
I think part of it is the clarity of distance and being able to see the beauty of the area after being away so far for so long. But I think the other part is the realization that when we head out on the road tomorrow, I will be traveling a route I’ve never traveled before. Up until Ohio, I was traveling away from Utah, and perhaps even towards these rendezvous with our families. As of tomorrow, we’ll be definitively heading towards Massachusetts and the unknown new life that awaits us there.
And I’m finding this prospect a little scary.
In other news, my husband has been trying to get me to like Coldplay during this trip. He’s repeatedly tried to sell me on them by saying they were a more radio-friendly Radiohead. I think they sound like U2, i.e. pretty sissy and incredibly boring, which is about what I think Radiohead would sound like were Radiohead more radio-friendly.
Today, after having me listen to two of his favorite songs, I sportingly suggested I try a song from the Garden State soundtrack, since I really liked the music from that film. I noted that the title of the track was “Don’t Panic.”
“There’s not much likelihood of me panicking now that I’ve been bored into a torpor by the other Coldplay songs,” I commented.
We’ll be playing Iron and Wine on our drive tomorrow, in between the Jim Weiss audiobooks about mythology and about ancient Egypt.
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Imperfect Happiness 
I am very much enjoying the play by play of your trip, bit I’m not sure if we can still be friends with you not realizing the greatness of Coldplay. Just so you know.
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We both hate opera. Isn’t that common ground enough?
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I dislike Coldplay and Radiohead as well. Whenever I tell people this, they inevitably decide it is because I just haven’t listened to enough of them and proceed to try to convert me. So far, it hasn’t worked, but I’m sure their fans won’t give up trying.
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I actually like Radiohead quite a lot, which is why my husband thought I’d like Coldplay. Just a case of diverging musical tastes. I like Gordon Lightfoot, and he’s not a fan. He likes AC/DC, and I can’t stand them. But mostly we’re compatible music-wise.
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