The travel arrangements for this trip were somewhat challenging. Terry's dad (Bob) and his wife (Jean) live in Pataskala, a small town a few miles east of Columbus, Ohio. Kris and her partner Terrie live in Louisville, Kentucky, about 225 miles away. So we had to decide whether to fly from L.A. to Louisville, necessitating an inconvenient four hour drive from the airport to Pataskala on the first day of our trip, or to fly from L.A. to Columbus, necessitating an inconvenient four hour drive from Louisville back to Columbus on the last day of our trip.

So we ended up splitting the difference. We flew from L.A. to Cincinnati, which is about exactly halfway between Louisville and Columbus - thereby necessitating an inconvenient TWO hour drive at BOTH ends of the trip!

The flight was mostly uneventful, although shortly after takeoff, we got a magnificent, if rather unsettling, view of the smoke and fire in the hills above L.A. We had a two hour layover in Dallas, where we had a mediocre barbecue dinner at an airport restaurant. I also saw something at the Dallas airport which confirmed that we were in Texas, and not L.A. - a chapel.

We got into Cincinnati quite late, got our rental car, and hit the road for Columbus. We made a brief stop along the way for a midnight snack at a White Castle (w) restaurant. I grew up in New Jersey, so I'd eaten at White Castles before, although of course not for many years. But Terry had never been to a White Castle, so this was an exciting adventure for her.

Bob and Jean don't have a guest room, so they put us up at a motel. But Pataskala is so small it doesn't have any good motels, so we ended up in Reynoldsburg, a few miles away.

After our late night, we slept late the next morning, and finally made it over to Bob and Jean's house for a late brunch.

Bob & Jean's house, outside


Bob & Jean's house, inside


Bob & Jean's neighborhood

One thing I noticed on the drive to their house, and that you can notice in the pictures above, is the abundance of brick houses and buildings. You see very little of that here in Southern California - in fact, you don't see much of it anywhere in California. But it's very prevalent in the East, and I notice it every time I go back there.

There's not a lot to tell about this day. We basically spent the entire day visiting. We were joined for brunch by Jean's daughter Linda, and Linda's son Larry, both of whom live in the area. In the evening we all went over to Linda's house for dinner, and also met Trudy, Linda's sister-in-law, who lives next door.

Linda's house


Backyard sheds


Backyard tomatoes

On the drive over to Linda's house, I spotted a building that attracted my attention, and on the drive back, I stopped to take some pictures:

I did a little Internet research when I got home, and discovered that this is a very large, important church. Its website has a lot more information, and lots more pictures. Apparently, the place is even more impressive on the inside than on the outside. I wish now I'd taken the time to go inside, instead of just driving by. Another one of life's missed opportunities. Oh, well.