We had already driven a couple miles west of Chicago to find a room, so it started our journey by taking us on interstate 80 towards Iowa. If you’ve never seen this road, imagine a straight line. A straight line that leads to nothingness. We tried playing louder music. We talked to stay awake. But there came a point when suddenly, the car started drifting slightly to the right. The tires vibrated on the rumble strips of the highway, and finally, after swerving back into the vacant highway, Ryan pulled over. Without saying any words, he put it in park and got out, as I too went around the back of the car, and for the first time, we decided to switch spots as I took the wheel.
About the time Ryan dozed off and I was 3 songs into Goo Goo Doll’s “Dizzy Up the Girl,” the road started getting sketchy. It looked like the roads on a tire commercial where someone almost hits Bambi or something of that nature. At one point, Garmin took me through a foggy town that was totally dead except for a big boat with a creepy light under an even creepier bridge. I drove through Silent Hill.
Finally, after a grueling drive, we arrived. We pulled into Aubrey’s cul-de-sac where I gave Aubrey a big hug. We basically snuck into the house and up to his room. Ryan and I ended up sharing Aubrey’s bed and he took the couch in the living room.
Luke: We made it man.
Ryan: Yup. I’m so tired.
Luke: Night
Ryan: Night
Luke: . . .
Ryan: . . .
Luke: Dude we rode go-carts today!
***
When I woke up, I could hear voices walking around upstairs. I didn’t want to freak anyone out so I just stayed put. Eventually after waiting around though, I decided to go find Aubrey. As I opened the bedroom door, I saw his little brother peeing in the bathroom with his pants at his ankles and a little sister dropping a pile of laundry in shock. Way to give em the heads up, roomie. I finally ended up introducing myself and telling them who I even was. They were all very nice.
As we walked up to the entrance of a Denny’s later, Aubrey looked at us and asked if we wanted to get some big sandwiches we couldn’t get anywhere else. In the spirit of the road trip, we turned around and followed him to the Spotted Cow. Everyone should eat at The Spotted Cow. It’s terrible for your body and great for your soul. I got the pastrami burger: a cheeseburger with pastrami on top of it. Ryan got an Italian beef sandwich that had so much meat some people couldn’t have bench pressed it. It was phenomenal. We talked for a while, and finally we were off again and headed east.
Our next pit stop was hours later in Indianapolis. A friend of mine, Tori, lived there, and it gave us an excuse to stretch our legs and get some ice cream. I hadn’t seen her since school had ended in May, and it was good to catch up about summers and such over Cold Stone.
I decided to take the wheel for the rest of the trip and we set out for home sweet home Ohio. I knew a friend of mine, Matt, lived close to Dayton, so I figured we could stop by for dinner and see what he had to offer. Unfortunately, he lived in Miamisburg, which was halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati, unbeknownst to me. I told him beforehand over the phone that we would have to be quick if we wanted to dodge the terrible weather on our way home.
As we arrived at his house, his mom and his cat, Agent Jack Bauer, greeted us. His mom is a very animated lady and made sure we had a seat and told us all about the trip and our summers. It was like a sitcom really. Then we went to a local place to eat that was just as kooky. It was the most stereotypical sports grill ever, complete with trivia over the PA system. I loved it.
After convincing his parents that we were fine to drive home at 10 o’clock, we were on the road. It was lightning, and I was pretty worried, but we set the Garmin, and let it guide us. We came out on interstate 71, 50 miles from Columbus. This meant we had at least a 3 hour drive ahead of us. It was just sprinkling, with lots of lightening in every direction. It was very cool and even surreal. Then, after a moving lightening, there was a moving wind. Before we knew it, the heavens were dropping buckets all over the highway sideways. I could only see about 10 feet in front of the car so we found a gas station.
It was a half hour later after we had played and completed games in the atlas that the rain died down enough. At 11 o’clock, we were back on the road, nearly home. 150 miles doesn’t seem that intimidating after driving all day across Illinois and Indiana. We talked for the entire 3 hours of the drive. We don’t get to see each other enough anymore. After 7 years of leaning on each other, it is difficult to have a friendship like that when we live so far apart. Going to Chicago was more than a couple of college kids getting an adventure. I wouldn’t have gone with just anyone. It’s a blessing that we are still investing in each other as friends even after the distance and all these years.
Who knows what the two of us will get into next summer.
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