Yesterday’s post was the most viewed post so far on this trip. It was actually amazing how many people were touched by it. I didn’t aim to touch heartstrings or rile up the anger in some. I just wanted to capture what happened in order to make sense of it in my own head. To be clear, I was not overly proud of my actions. It was so hard to keep myself under control. Few people know that although I seem laid back, I can get fired up – and not in a good way. It’s something I’ve worked on my entire life, and when something like what happened at Cedar Point, I spend a good amount of time reviewing the situation, going over different reactions and scenarios, and gauging my overall reaction. Getting angry uses so much energy, it’s usually easier to just avoid it whenever possible.
Then again, Tyler. He was the young man who upset me the most with his “too bad, so sad” attitude. Also, Herbert, even though he ultimately did the right thing, at first was resistant to seeing a different point of view. My question of whether or not he was a parent wasn’t a dig in any way. I simply was trying to appeal to something he might not have understood – the other side. I apologized for my anger, but if Herbert made it clear that he understood the subtlety of the situation, he might understand the passion behind it.
Anyway, I really appreciate the response from all of you. I had more comments, all positive, than ever before. I know what I did, but it feels good to hear that others are out there who felt what I did was okay. So, thank you!
Today was a driving day. In fact, most of the rest of this trip will be simply checking off states from our list. We’ve visited many of the states which remain. For me, it’s just Iowa and North Dakota (to reach 49). For the boys, it’s one other (Nebraska).
We drove into Michigan, then headed south through Indiana, and then parked it in Louisville for the night. The overall feeling in the truck now is “let’s get this done”. I’m in that camp as well. It’s been a long trip. We are all now dreaming of home. Deborah and the dogs are the things missed most amongst all of us.
Nothing much happened today, which was totally fine. With Indiana, we are actually back to familiar terrain – farmlands and rural communities. I didn’t take any pictures, which pretty much summed up the day overall.
Some final notes:
- In Kentucky, we’ve noticed that some KFC’s have a buffet option. A KFC buffet sounds appealing to me, but we didn’t stop to try it out.
- Indianapolis is a larger city that I thought it was. Somewhere around 900,000 people live there. Who knew?
- I’m finding that listening to Audible books is better at keeping me alert than music. It’s not my favorite way to “read” a book, but it is turning into a lifesaver for me on this trip. Thanks Deb!
- There are a ton of Dunkin’ Donuts out east. More than in the west, it seems. Maybe it’s just because Eugene has so few (it seems). I don’t know, but the boys mentioned it as well.
- We got into our hotel in Toledo last night, and realize we are right next to a strip club. There was another one just down the street. Thanked Deborah for putting us so close to it when she booked our hotel. We both agreed that there would be no height limits for that ride! (Her joke, not mine). 🙂
- My body hurts. It was hurting from all the sitting anyway, but after the amusement park, my back, neck, and shoulders are all sore. I think it has something to do with getting old. I don’t know. What I do know is that a couple of the rides at Cedar Point absolutely killed me. In general, it was the older, jerkier, less smooth ones. Those killed me the most. The newer ones are remarkably smooth. I’ve decided not to tell Nathan that there might be an age limit as well as a height limit…
Again, thank you so much for joining us on our trip. It’s really fun knowing people are following this blog. It feels as if you’re all on this trip with us. Wish you really were! Think of how fun that would be!
The Great American Road Trip 