Hello Cleveland!!

Captains Log

Day 2, 3/30/10.

We're up a little before our 8:30am alarm and then head downstairs to the free continental breakfast.

Its quite a spread! Juice, coffee, waffles, eggs, biscuits and gravy and more!! We fill our bellies full and then head back to our room to get ready for the day.

10:07am: We leave the hotel and stop at the gas station next door to fill up. $14.01. Gas is $2.69 a gallon here. We discover that the Amex gift cards we were given should not be swiped at the pump for gas. If you swipe a gift card at the pump, the gas station will put a hold on THE ENTIRE AMOUNT OF THE CARD! They also won't release the hold for 3-7 business days. Both of our gift cards are now unusable for the next 3-7 days. They were worth $150. We are absolutely furious at Amex for this.

Paula sees a sign for Cleveland not long after we head out and screams "Hello Cleveland!"

She had to do it.

10:22am: We get our ticket for the Ohio turnpike.

10:32am: Did our algebraic computations for the day and developed a fairly accurate formula. Paula is impressed by my formula skills. I am impressed at the fact she can do all this math in her head.

11:10am: Stop at the service plaza for lozenges for my cough and a coffee. $7.35

1:37pm: Paid a toll of $13.50 to the Ohio turnpike and arrived in Indiana. Toll ticket here as well.

1:47pm: Stopped for gas. Put in $20.00 to fill it and it was $3.09 a gallon. I almost cried. We also got some snacks, $11.00.

2:46pm: Hit 300 miles done so far for the day. That's a little less than half our daily goal for the rest of the trip.

3:05pm: Crossed the time zone border. We are now in Central Standard Time and it is now 2:05pm. We are both equally weirded out by this.

2:45pm: Paid the Indiana toll ticket of 6.75, though we are still in Indiana. I learned that it is the Hoosier state.

2:52pm: After discovering a CD with a song I love on it by the band 7 Year Bitch, I conclude that Paula MUST see the movie Mad Love. I am shocked she has never seen it. Will remedy when we get to L.A. Mental note was made.

2:55pm: Entered Illinois.

3:02pm: Paid a $0.60 toll to enter Illinois. Paula is shocked at how inexpensive this one is. I believe this is the last toll we will see.

3:45pm: Had to stop for gas AGAIN! My Prius is averaging about 35MPH. There are a lot of inclines which lowers my gas mileage. Also the car is packed very heavily and we are traveling at a high, but safe, speed. This is upsetting me. I am very anxious for the flat lands of the country.
Gas was $19.27. Around $2.99 a gallon.

?pm: Somewhere between the previous time and the next, I decided to secretly videotape Paula driving. I caught her almost driving off the road and breaking out in dance. Then she caught me. It was totally worth it. We also saw someone burning their crop fields and Paula is amazed at this process.

Paula is also shocked at how flat this part of the country is. I cannot wait to see her reaction to the Rocky Mountains. Those NY'ers don't know what a mountain is.

5:25pm: We FINALLY arrive in Iowa. It has felt like it took forever to get out of Illinois. I don't know what it was but it seemed like it just never ended. We also are very excited because gay marriage is legal here in Iowa. Yay for gays!

6:45pm: Stopped for the night in Coralville, IA at a hotel that has a fantastic breakfast to look forward too. We tried twice to stop at rest areas to get the hotel coupons and they were completely out of them. Tonight's room was $61.55 with tax.

We went out to dinner at Country Buffet and stuffed ourselves till we thought we'd be sick. Our plan for this trip by the way, is to eat the free breakfast, spend as little money on snacks as possible but not stop for lunch, and then have a nice dinner. Its working so far. Dinner was $25.

Thank god Paula realized that TV in CST is different. Lost was on at 8, instead of 9. I almost missed it!

Total mileage for Day 1: 620 miles

Total Driving Time for Day 1: 9 hours (without the time change. With it, only 8)

Total cost for Day 1: $168.03 (We bought 3 tanks of gas today, whereas yesterday we started off with an almost full tank from a few days prior and only had to buy 1 tank of gas the whole day)