Hippies, Hills, and Hugs

May 29, 2015

Ohio, USA 

Cleveland started out on the wrong beat with (1) a lady in the plane accusing somebody's 4 year old son for touching her butt and being a pervert (2) a lady in the car rental line continuously answering her excessively ringing phone and yelling at the person on the other end and (3) two women conversing in detail about their cats’ diets. What is in the water here?!?

Friday evening, we went to dinner with the Krause family to Tree Hugger's Cafe. The experience lived up to the summary of what we should expect-- extremely slow service, fresh ingredients, tasty food, and casual hippies. Besides the lengthy wait, I was satisfied! My 8-hour hibernation in the wonderfully chilly and cozy basement was preceded with drinks made by JFK’s famous grape kombucha. (Even Pedro was a fan!!)

Saturday morning, we stopped by Nanny & Grandpa Basford's house for a quick visit before driving 2 hours south to the Spartan race in Cumberland, Ohio. On the way to the race, we passed a place called "The Wilds" where rhinos, bison, and other animals roamed the vast farm land.

After driving down long, endless roads we arrived to the race site. At the 12:45 starting wave, my shoes were tied and my muscles were forced to prepare quickly. Within 30 seconds of starting the race, we got completely muddy and were faced with never-ending hills—neither the incline nor the decline were easy. This race wasn’t a bloody one (compared to Las Vegas); however, Pedro suffocated the entire time from allergies and I had a small crisis that I twisted my ankle (the ankle is fine!). We finished the race together to put the third piece of the puzzle together.

 

After the race, we drove for 2 hours through winding, curvy roads through the countryside past historic churches, old European style farm houses, and farm equipment billboards. By nightfall, we arrived to Wooster for a nice (but short) visit with Aunt Beaulah and Uncle Dick.

The trip was short but, nevertheless, a dreamy one. I hope to return for a visit to all of the llama farms we passed on the side of the road, a barefoot walk in the grass, and a glass of iced tea in the back yard.