Made it to Ohio

Here's how to get from Oregon to Ohio:
1. Get in the car
2. Drive
3. Keep driving

Let's see, Monday we left at 3pm and drove to Burns in Eastern Oregon; Tuesday we left at 7 am and drove til 11:30 at night, arriving at Laramie, Wyoming. Wednesday we left at 8 a.m. and got to Iowa City, Iowa, at 10 pm. Thursday we left at 8:30 am and, oh glory, got to Kevin and Brenda's near Elida, Ohio, at suppertime. (That's Paul's nephew and his wife. Their hospitality was heartwarming to these weary travellers.) We left their house at 7 this morning and got to my first book signing at 10 and now we are ensconced in the Ohio State Univ. dorms and taking in the BMA convention and more book events.

I am trying to be very brave, but this heat and humidity is almost more than I can bear. Let's just say we are all really, really grateful we live in Oregon, and Emily is vowing that if she ever marries a guy from the Midwest, they're going to live in Oregon, thank you very much.

You know, it is a long way to Oregon. Our stops were short and infrequent. The little bit of food we got was all to-go. We just plain drove. And even though Emily has her license now, she didn't feel comfortable with driving a stick shift on interstates, so Amy and I did all the driving.

We also checked the dipstick and pumped gas and such. We are rather proud of ourselves.

Quote of the Day:
"I didn't know girls did that."
--Kevin, on finding out we had driven all the way to his house