road trip!!!

when you spend most of your waking hours at work (in one hospital or another), it's hard to imagine spending your days off doing anything other than lazing around at home, not bothering to change out of pajamas, or putting on makeup, or doing anything other than possibly reading a good book or making a much-needed trip to the grocery store. of course, most of my days off consist of "catching up" on all the things i don't do on the days i work: laundry, shopping, cleaning, blogging..etc, but this past friday i took a real step away from the ordinary and spent an entire day just having fun.... !!!

that's right, despite my desire to be lazy, i listened to my fun-loving, more spontaneous side (yes, it's there, i really do have one!) and ventured out of columbus and about 200 miles away to meet up with my friend crystal, who is a nursing school buddy.

here's the backstory: at the same time matt moved here to ohio, crystal moved to washington, DC to pursue her CRNA degree at georgetown. so we are both TWU grads, both texas girls who are "displaced" and we both ended up having to live without our spouses for a while until new jobs were found and houses were sold. i moved to ohio to be with matt at the end of october, and rich was finally reunited with his wife in DC in january (just in time for the blizzards, oh joy!).

so crystal and i decided that despite (or between?) our hectic schedules we should plan a day to hang out somewhere about 1/2 way between columbus and DC. the meeting spot (proposed by the iPhone "meet me" app): morgantown, WV.

i should probably mention at this time that most people in ohio make fun of west virginia. the closest thing i can liken it to is texans mocking arkansas. there was more than one joke, when i told people of my plans for a road trip to WV, asking if i was headed there to marry a cousin or lose a tooth....ouch! sorry WV, i hold no ill will towards you! so, since the college town was pretty much exactly 1/2 way between us and required us each to only drive 3.5 hours (or *maybe* i made it in three.....) and we were really just going to see each other, and not go sight-seeing, it seemed to be a perfect meeting spot.

always one for a road trip, i packed up my snacks, ipod, cell phone, camera and sunglasses and headed east around 10am. the drive was great, through rolling hills and green trees. of course, there was hardly any "civilization" between here and there, save the few cities that the highways actually cut through.

west virginia

one of the most amusing parts of the drive was that i actually drove through the states in this order: ohio -> west viginia -> pennsylvania -> west virgina. apparently there is no highway that cuts southeast through west virginia...weird.

once i arrived in the "thriving metropolis" of morgantown, i parked in a tiny lot and met crystal at the micro-brewery. we enjoyed some *very* tasty food and really delicious beer. we attempted to ask our waitress for suggestions on what else we could do while in town, but she wasn't helpful.....at all. so we walked around town and decided to get pedicures. the first salon we walked to didn't appear to offer them at all, so we asked some other girls on the street who recommended a spa in a hotel, "the tallest building in town." nice. so we trotted about a mile down the street and into the building only to find out that they had absolutely no available appointments. *frown!*

so, we gave up on pedicures. we started to walk back to the brewery, but took the more scenic river-walk route back. on the way back, it started to thunder...then rain...then pour! after taking shelter under some trees and then a storefront awning, we decided to head back to the brewery for another beer and watch the rain from the patio.

after enjoying another beer, we decided we should probably get some caffeine to counter-act the tasty brew before we drove 3+ hours home. so we found the closest starbucks, ordered some frapuccinos and talked for several more hours until it was time to say goodbye. sober and caffeinated, i headed back to columbus, which suddenly looked like a huge metropolitan area. it really is all relative...

thanks for a great day out, crystal! i had an amazing time!!!

and thanks to my ever-loving hubby, who encourages me to actually "take a break" now and then. he offered to stay home with our dog when we couldn't find anyone to watch her for the day so i could spend time with crystal!