The Great Columbus to California Roadtrip

Over Christmas Liz got to thinking, and a plan was born.
Over Spring break, the plan was hatched when one Friday after work we hopped in the Tiguan and drove to St Louis and then a bit beyond…

Woke up real early the next morning and drove all the way to Flagstaff Arizona, blasting through Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico along the way. I had imagined taking a lot of photos on the road, turned out I mostly just got pictures of gas stations.

After a whole day of relentless driving we stopped for dinner at the Frontier restaurant in Albuquerque, a local treasure Liz’s colleague Mr. Mike had recommended. Our table-filling Tex Mex order really hit the spot and gave us the fuel needed for another four hours in the car.

Sunday morning, up and at ‘em once more with California in our crosshairs!

And next thing we knew we were in San Marino, enjoying the Sunday dinner of champions, having just driven across most of the country!

Since we were in California that meant we were on vacation! Grandma drove us over the the Langham to have a walk around and an explore. All these years and so many different names for that hotel and this was my first visit! Seemed like a pretty nice place.

And from the Langham we walked some Pasadena/San Marino streets that I did not know up to a turtle pond that we know well and then on up to a Hawaiian/Indonesian take out place by Grandma’s that I had heard was rather good and guess what? It was!

Monday was a workday of sorts for me, so Liz went over to her sister’s house after we all enjoyed Homestate for breakfast and, when I was free from the bonds of an honest day’s labor, I enjoyed a little steak supper with Grandma.

After Tuesday’s workday I had a little Big Boy lunch with famed Californian Collin before picking sister Emily up from the airport.

That evening I was reunited with my dear Liz and guess what? It was our anniversary! Our second anniversary and our third March 25th as husband and wife. We gave each other gifts, ate Argentine meats, pastas, and vegetables, and paid our Cal Tech turtle friends another visit.

Wednesday. Now here’s something big. Liz, Emily and I went to Universal Studios! We saw the Harry Potter stuff, we saw the Nintendo stuff, we saw the Simpsons and the Jurassic Park and Waterworld and everything else! And our tram broke down during the King Kong attraction. Woof that wore us out.

After Universal we had Yang Chow with Grandma (not picture) and the next morning we had Yang’s Kitchen for breakfast again and that IS pictured:

Then Collin gave us and Christina and her kids a VIP tour of the Disney Animation Studio before we enjoyed and evening and a morning in Santa Clarita.

And then on Friday we were back in San Marino sorting through treasures, loaded up the ‘Guan, and then Grandma was like “g’wan get outta here!” and we were back on the road, driving all the way to Albuquerque in a single afternoon! ( just kidding of course she didn't say that she said “goodbye I love you come back soon” and we said “goodbye we love you we’ll be back soon!”)

And on Saturday morning we woke up and drove from Albaqurque to the same hotel an hour or so outside of St Louis that we had stayed in a week before (with a stop for onion burgers and corn dogs in Oklahoma on the way!)

Sunday…woke up outside of St. Louis like we had before and stopped at the St. Louis arch like we did before. But this time we lived it up and went inside, it was great!

We also found ourselves stopping in Carey, Illinois, a small town that is home to many biggest things in the world.

Some Indiana traffic took the wind out of our sails but eventually we got home to a cat that was very glad to see us.

All in all, we were surprised by how easy it was to go to California and back. You just get in the car and go!

January Chicago Getaway

January 16: It was a Thursday. I had started a new job on Monday. I drove Liz to the airport that morning for a flight out to Palm Springs. Months before I had gotten a ticket to see Jamie XX in Chicago, before I even had my new job. The feeling I had getting into my car after work to drive home to Chicago for the weekend? Elation, I think.

Since I was leaving from the north side of town my phone told me to go a curious way through Indiana to get to Oak Park. The drive took about 7 hours, that’s a lot longer than usual…but I got to try Taco Johns (actually not spectacular) and get a closer look at a roadside church which had captured my interest on a drive a year earlier.

January 17 - A Friday! Mom, Dad and I tried a Chinese place on Lake Street that was…basically ok, not the dumpling revelation I had hoped for, but I’d say it’s possible we return. Then I walked home, taking in the Oak Park sights, and checking out a new house on Ridgeland Ave that I really like.

Then that evening I went down to Wicker Park-ish to do some birthday shopping for Liz but also I tried on these three jackets that, well, I am still thinking about. Funny how that is with jackets sometimes. First photo is of me wearing a coat that I already own at the Baggu store where I was secretly buying Liz a present.

And then it was time to go to my show! And guess what? I took just about no photos. I was living in the moment! And also, there wasn’t a ton to take a pictures of. Just a dude at his decks and some mirror ball excitement every now and then. The show was good and long but really I was pretty distracted thinking about the jackets I had tried on a few hours earlier.

January 18 - Up and at ‘em (eventually) and heading downtown. I had a hunch that my ID from my new employer would get me into the Art Institute free aaaand…I was right! Had a nice couple hours looking at the art, not much had changed since the last time I went.

Then I walked through Chicago to the West Loop and got a French cheeseburger at the Global McDonalds but you know what? Someone STOLE my burger while I was waiting for it! Chicago is just as crime-ridden as they make it out to be! But they gave me another one. And I took the train back to Oak Park. That night we all had Italian food. I’m telling you about a lot of stuff that I don’t have pictures of.

January 19 - For months the “point” of this Chicago trip was going to the Jamie XX show, but in the week or so preceding the trip, I realized it was actually an opportunity to pay a visit to my High School friend Steve in Iowa City. The whole world opens up to you when you decide 3 hours isn’t a long car drive! It was great to see my buddy again and to meet his friendly cats. And on the way back to Oak Park I stopped at a truck stop that I had wondered about for decades, just because I could. It was a good stop.

January 20 - Just because it was the day for me to drive back to Columbus doesn’t mean we didn’t do anything! Emily, Mom and Dad were nice enough to head to the south side with me to go to Carnitas Uruapan, a place I had been meaning to return to with family for years. It’s great to accomplish a goal!

And finally I must conclude with a shoutout to one of the best rest stops in the game, the Kankake rest stop on the I-65 about an hour from Chicago. Really a great place for a quick break.

January 2025!

Here’s some of the fun stuff from January.

January 3: We finished off our vacation time with a visit to EnterTrainMent Junction, a giant model train place that, sadly, was closing that weekend. The crowds came out to see the place off and, well, you know Liz and I have discovered we love seeing giant model train places! This one was very professional and well put together and well run and it’s sad to see it go but we’re glad we got to tell it goodbye. Also, there was like a carnival fun house kind of place attached to it so I got to get lost in a real mirror maze, just like on TV.

January 4: We took a walk along the Scioto river downtown. It. Was. Cold! But also we had fun being together and posing with the dear deer statues.

January 12: Took a little trip to have a little lookaround of the Columbus main branch library. Quite nice! Left with a huge stack of cookbooks.

January 14: Well here’s something very cool. Friend of the blog and family Jeff blew through Columbus on his way back to New York from Los Angeles … it’s just a drive he does for work every winter. We grabbed a little lunch at our local Mexican grocery store. Very nice lunch break.

January 16 - Here’s a mysterious gap in the blog where Liz goes to Palms Springs and I go to Chicago. There will be a Chicago post soon, that's for sure.

January 23 - Went to an OSU Women’s Basketball game with some of the Gardners. There was a hookup via Carolyn’s roommate that landed us in a suite. That’s basically my favorite way to watch a women’s basketball game, from a suite.