GADT Day 1 - The Beginning

Okay, so it's been a while. I know you're expecting me to be writing about another tombstone hunt, but plans have changed... several times. Mom decided she didn't want to go on the Mediterranean cruise in November and would rather take a long driving trip in the fall. How long a trip? How about to California and back all within two weeks. Can we do it? Will we have fun? Stay turned and find out :-)

So it's day one of the Great American Driving Trip for 2008. We started off at 7:00 this morning when I picked up mom and we went to breakfast at The Main Ingredient, a local eatery within walking distance of our houses that serves a really nice breakfast. We were on the road and heading north by 8:00. The plan (such as it is) was to drive up through the middle of Pennsylvania to see what the fall foliage looked like.

The farther north we went the brighter and more colorful the trees became. It was certainly worth the extra miles to see such beautiful scenery on such a nice day. We arrived in the Southern Tier of New York State around noon and stopped in Bath, NY for fuel and lunch. We drove around the little downtown shopping district until we spotted the Chat A Whyle restaurant. The place looked charming enough so we turned around and parked the Prius.

As we're getting out of the car this adorable older couple comes walking up the sidewalk. The man stops and asks me something. I didn't hear him at first so I asked him to repeat the question in my best seriously listening to you manor.

"In the morning, who makes the coffee?" he said. "The man or the woman?"

"Um... I don't really know," I said.

"The man," he declared with a devilish grin. "Because according to the Bible it was He-brew."

I know, it's an awful pun, but to have some little old man stop me on the street some 300 miles from home just to tell it to me was enough to make me crack up! He then told us another one and I was afraid we had unleashed the pun demon, but his wife grabbed his arm and pulled him away before he could launch into the second set.

The floor show over we went into the restaurant and had a lovely little meal while mom had the waitress tell us her life story (my mom can do this better than anyone alive, trust me!) We finished lunch and got back on the road heading west. Our goal was Cleveland, but just a few miles down the road mom spotted a billboard for the Seneca Allegany Casino. I told her it was her vacation and if she wanted to stop we could. Two hours later we left the place happy, entertained, and minus most of the contents of both our wallets.

Around sunset we pulled off the highway in Erie, PA to look for dinner. While we were looking for a Cracker Barrel that was supposed to be there somewhere we stopped at a light and I spotted an OCB. One of our favorite haunts back home is the Old Country Buffet (OCB). The food's not bad and it's easy for me to get a plate full of veggies without the hassle of explaining that I'm a vegetarian. We both thought a little bit of home would be the right touch to finish off the day and we pulled in.

We were feeling so good that we decided to head for Cleveland in spite of the two hours we'd spent at the casino and checked into a Courtyard on the west side just after 9:30pm. Now mom's asleep and I'm trying to wrap this up before I join her. This was only day one and already I'm thinking this trip is a winner. I do need to take more photos and I'll try to remember that tomorrow when the adventure continues.

Day 1 mileage: 593