![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Driving for hours on end
1 Jan 2013 10:27 amThe last day of 2012 went like this:
Got up early to a Red Sunrise. 7 am Quickly dressed. Prepped an order for the post office. Hubby gathered his belongings. He went through stuff in the basement and found things like electric razors, an insulated backpack to hold his lunch, weird stuff he could use thats been forgotten over the years. He packed his clothes and boots and loaded the vehicle. Raided the freezer for good homemade food to take back to Detroit. The Extended Stay America has kitchenettes but no oven.
9 am I went out and shoveled out the car. Our neighbors used to be renters and are still learning that home ownership comes with responsibilities. You gotta shovel the street parking or eventually you can't drive over the ridge of ice that the snow turns into. Only the guy with the giant 4x4 pickup can do that. So I shovelled a couple of spots. Jennifer beached the car on a ridge of ice the other day. While it was warmer out, I took care of it. I figured some of the street's elderly would also appreciate it. And everyone from the northland knows that it warms up to snow before the temp dips down again.
Got the car out with no problems. We headed to the grocery store for milk. Then to the post office to ship packages out to clients. Dropped the milk off at home. 10 am. Then hit the road. Drove about 340 miles to Detroit via Youngstown and Cleveland. Nice uneventful drive. Taught hubby how to use the google maps on the iPad. Damn useful thing. IPad has excellent resolution so he can see despite the cataracts. Found him a Whole Foods. 4:30 pm. Trying to avoid corn fed meat and synthetic proteins. Hubby needs more fruit and veg in his life. Very busy place. Much nicer than the one in Wexford. We stopped for dinner and then went back to the Extended to unload. 5:30 pm
Left him unpacking and drove off toward home. Hit the MI state line and a snow squall. Called Jennifer for logistic support. Do I drive across Ohio along the lake shore on I 80 or head south on I 75 to I 70? Its a long drive but less dangerous. Logistics says avoid lakeshore. Winds are fierce there plus snow. I opt for mixed precip and a much longer drive. Mixed precipitation did not include freezing rain, just alternating mist with bands of light snow. Every thirty miles or so, salt trucks were on the road. And cops seeing to those party goers and speeders. Lots of gas stations open and restaurants which surprised me. The tank of gas which should have got me home ran low by the time I reached Cedarville. Michigan gas is not as good as Ohio's. My mpg was the same according to the car. Wind should have been more helpful on the way home so must be the mix of gas because the temperature hadn't changed either. Got the same grade of gas from the same company. I know they blend gas different depending on the region and state. Michigan's price was higher too. At any rate, I should have been home by midnight but with the secondary route and the snow, it was 2 am. I passed into the new year somewhere around Gratriot, OH on I-70.
All I wanted was a glass of water. I was so thirsty. Got home and unloaded. I'd packed as if I would be stranded somewhere. Two bags of knitting, a shovel, over night bag and groceries. Finally got my water and entered my tracking numbers into the system so I could get paid. That post office thing from 19 hours ago? Yah, tracking numbers so etsy will pay me Monday and I'll finally have the money sometime around the 9th or 10th. The lags a drag but they have me trained. Time for tea and then a shower. And back to inventory.
Got up early to a Red Sunrise. 7 am Quickly dressed. Prepped an order for the post office. Hubby gathered his belongings. He went through stuff in the basement and found things like electric razors, an insulated backpack to hold his lunch, weird stuff he could use thats been forgotten over the years. He packed his clothes and boots and loaded the vehicle. Raided the freezer for good homemade food to take back to Detroit. The Extended Stay America has kitchenettes but no oven.
9 am I went out and shoveled out the car. Our neighbors used to be renters and are still learning that home ownership comes with responsibilities. You gotta shovel the street parking or eventually you can't drive over the ridge of ice that the snow turns into. Only the guy with the giant 4x4 pickup can do that. So I shovelled a couple of spots. Jennifer beached the car on a ridge of ice the other day. While it was warmer out, I took care of it. I figured some of the street's elderly would also appreciate it. And everyone from the northland knows that it warms up to snow before the temp dips down again.
Got the car out with no problems. We headed to the grocery store for milk. Then to the post office to ship packages out to clients. Dropped the milk off at home. 10 am. Then hit the road. Drove about 340 miles to Detroit via Youngstown and Cleveland. Nice uneventful drive. Taught hubby how to use the google maps on the iPad. Damn useful thing. IPad has excellent resolution so he can see despite the cataracts. Found him a Whole Foods. 4:30 pm. Trying to avoid corn fed meat and synthetic proteins. Hubby needs more fruit and veg in his life. Very busy place. Much nicer than the one in Wexford. We stopped for dinner and then went back to the Extended to unload. 5:30 pm
Left him unpacking and drove off toward home. Hit the MI state line and a snow squall. Called Jennifer for logistic support. Do I drive across Ohio along the lake shore on I 80 or head south on I 75 to I 70? Its a long drive but less dangerous. Logistics says avoid lakeshore. Winds are fierce there plus snow. I opt for mixed precip and a much longer drive. Mixed precipitation did not include freezing rain, just alternating mist with bands of light snow. Every thirty miles or so, salt trucks were on the road. And cops seeing to those party goers and speeders. Lots of gas stations open and restaurants which surprised me. The tank of gas which should have got me home ran low by the time I reached Cedarville. Michigan gas is not as good as Ohio's. My mpg was the same according to the car. Wind should have been more helpful on the way home so must be the mix of gas because the temperature hadn't changed either. Got the same grade of gas from the same company. I know they blend gas different depending on the region and state. Michigan's price was higher too. At any rate, I should have been home by midnight but with the secondary route and the snow, it was 2 am. I passed into the new year somewhere around Gratriot, OH on I-70.
All I wanted was a glass of water. I was so thirsty. Got home and unloaded. I'd packed as if I would be stranded somewhere. Two bags of knitting, a shovel, over night bag and groceries. Finally got my water and entered my tracking numbers into the system so I could get paid. That post office thing from 19 hours ago? Yah, tracking numbers so etsy will pay me Monday and I'll finally have the money sometime around the 9th or 10th. The lags a drag but they have me trained. Time for tea and then a shower. And back to inventory.
