The Road to Hocking Hills

Friday was the official start of our weekend away. We got up bright and early, much earlier than Antoine would have liked, but when I HAVE TO be somewhere at a certain time I get a little Gestapoesque. See, we had to drop Cheese off at the boarding place by 11am so I was determined to leave the house by 10am...and thanks to my craziness, we did! It took a good 30 minutes before Antoine and I got over the initial shock of leaving our puppy behind. It's tough stuff when you're new puppy parents and it's the first time you have to say goodbye to your little guy. Especially when the little guy looks like this...

He's just too adorable for his own good.

But he was in safe hands and wasn't at all phased by us dropping him off and leaving him (which I think made it more difficult for us)! So, Antoine and I slowly made our way to Hocking Hills. We stopped at a Walmart (b/c it was the only option) to load up on random supplies for the weekend, we sang Black Keys songs to one another as we drove down nearly deserted highways. It's been a while since we've been completely by ourselves on a drive somewhere, especially when there was no real time table for the trip. We didn't have to be at the cabin by any set time, so our two and a half hour drive to Hocking Hills turned into a leisure almost four hour drive. It was nice to meander down the highway in the middle of a Friday afternoon.

We stopped at a little small town grocery store just a couple miles away from the cabin to pick up some parchment paper and peruse the store. Antoine ended up getting some really cheap, but tasty mac n' cheese at the stores deli counter. It's funny, the store reminded me of where I'm from...the middle of nowhere, where people wear tapered jeans, all white Reeboks (circa 1992), and have that slight hill-billy twang in their voice. I wouldn't say I miss that exactly, it's just nice to be reminded of the past every once in a while. It's obvious that I don't fit in that picture anymore, which my purple chucks, my oversized glasses, my fancy schmancy iPhone and my Asian lover...but I'm okay with that...no, I'm more than okay with that! As much as I love where I grew up, I knew it was never really a permanent part of me, just a stepping stone to bring me to where I am today...the place I belong...here with Antoine(aka my Asian lover) in Cincinnati, in our house, with out little zoo of creatures, at this job (UC, not Sbux). It feels right, even when I'm stressed or exhausted, it always feels right...more than the past ever did!

Whoa, major tangent! Sorry about that folks! Anyway, the ride to Hocking Hills was delightful...chilly, but delightful. Stay tuned tomorrow for another installment of "My Family Weekend in Hocking Hills". Happy Monday!