West Virginia's primary attraction was a loop of several scenic roads (designated "scenic" by AAA). Since it was raining, I did not find the first half of the loop very scenic. The Northernmost point in this "loop" is the town of Fairmont, WV. When I got there, I called Mukunda Uncle from a road-side pay phone.
When I had gone to Columbus, OH in March of this year, I had asked Mandar, Ambarish and Amit if they would like to accompany me on a portion of this trip. None of them had given me a definite answer then, so I called them today to find out if I should go to Columbus to pick them up. As it turned out, I ended up going to Columbus, then leaving alone a few days later. Meanwhile, Mandar did accompany me to some of the Columbus and Dayton area attractions.
5:00 PM Checked in at Days Inn, Fairmont, WV.
Miscellaneous:
| City: | Mace, WV |
| MAHOLIC | PA | Acura |
| $10.02 | CB | Gas -- Exxon | Renick, WV |
| $2 | Cash | Lunch -- Taco Bell | Elkins, WV |
10:50 AM Pennsylvania; 140221 Miles; Photographed "Welcome" sign (I already had one)
10:55 AM West Virginia; 140223 Miles; Photographed "Welcome" sign (I did not have one)
11:10 AM Pennsylvania again; 140234 Miles; Did not photograph any sign. Continued North.
12:10 PM West Virginia again (different location); 140287 Miles. Continued West.
12:30 PM Ohio; 140301 Miles; Photographed "Welcome" sign while driving.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, I ate my free breakfast from the motel -- while driving.
2:50 PM Entered Columbus, OH city limits.
3:25 PM Parked in front of Mukunda Uncle's house in Powell, OH.
This was Memorial Day Weekend, and everyone was at home. I told them about my trip -- so far. Little did I know then that the best -- and worst -- was yet to come.
Later that evening, Mandar took me to see the movie "Shawshank Redemption", which was playing to a full house (partially because this was a holiday weekend, partially because it is a good movie). After the movie, we went back home, ate dinner (my second Indian meal on this trip), then drove to Mandar's apartment at Ohio State University. We arrived at the apartment at midnight. The plan was to leave early the next morning (he did not have any school).
ONE MINUTE BEFORE PARKING AT MANDAR'S APARTMENT, my car passed the 10,000-mile-mark on this trip [140,450 miles on car's odometer].
This day also saw two other "milestones" of this trip:
Today, I entered "State #25" on this trip [Ohio].
Today, I saw the 200th personalized license plate on this trip [N8EEX].
License Plates:
| JOV14ME | VA | GT |
| TO | WV | Mazda 929 [To whom?] |
| NT51UN | OH | Nissan Truck |
| N 35 D | OH | Cadillac |
| N8EEX | OH | Ford Ranger -- License Plate #200 |
| N8EBV | OH | Ford Tempo |
| $37.06 | Chase | Days Inn | Fairmont, WV |
| $11.50 | CB | Gas | Zanesville, OH |
| $1 | Cash | Movie | Powell, OH |
We had planned to go to Dayton today -- he wanted to see the Wright Brothers Memorial and the Air Force Museum. I had already been there several times, but I did not mind going again. It would be good day's outing.
Ishaan woke up soon after I did, and we left my apartment at 9:30 AM. He had to give some film rolls to be developed and buy some more rolls, so that was our only stop before going to Dayton. He drove there in his car. On the way, he asked me again if I wanted to come with him on his trip. I guess he was getting lonely. I told him I had recently spent all my money on trips to Shenandoah National Park and Boston (I had gone there with some of my friends just a few weeks ago). He was telling me how impressed he was with Shenandoah and all its greenery. Funny thing is, I did not remember it being green! When I went, it was still winter and the trees did not have any leaves on them yet! Just a few weeks was all it took for the trees to go from brown to green. I also told him about my adventures in Boston -- I knew he would be going there soon with Sachin.
We arrived at the Dayton Air Force Museum at 11:00 AM. Since I had been here several times, I just went and saw whatever Ishaan saw. This is the kind of place that one who is interested enough can spend an entire day -- and Ishaan certainly looked interested! He pointed out some planes to me and told me what they were. He was especially surprised to see an F-117 on display at the museum. He mentioned he had seen it in air shows (always accompanied by Military Police), but he had never seen this plane at a museum -- unguarded.
Surprisingly, we were finished by 1:00 PM. I could see how excited he was two hours ago when we entered the museum. I did not think he would see everything in just two hours! He told me about his rating system, and he gave this place a 
rating -- the highest rating in his system (sort of).
As we were driving out, he saw a sign that said "United States Air Force Museum". He had told me earlier that he was also photographing all of these types of signs -- the "welcome" signs at state borders, the individual attraction signs, etc. Since I was closer to the sign, he asked me to take the picture. What he was doing was a good idea -- all these photographs would become good souvenirs!
We were both very hungry by now, so we went across the road to a Pizza Hut and had their "All-you-can-eat" lunch.
When we had gone to see a movie last night, I had paid for both our tickets (they were only $1 each). Ishaan insisted on giving me back my money and paying his own way. I refused, and he stuffed a $1 bill into my pocket. I made a comment then that he was very stubborn.
This afternoon, I wanted to pay for the lunch. Again, Ishaan said he should pay. We argued for some time about who should pay, and he finally brought up the comment I made last night. I do not remember his exact words, but he said something like:
"I seem to remember a particular person calling me very stubborn yesterday. So, let me be stubborn and pay for this lunch!"
I couldn't argue with that kind of twisted logic, so I let him pay!
It was still early and neither one of us wanted to call it a day, so I took him to Hocking Hills State Park, which is about 50 miles Southeast of Columbus. He had never heard of this park, which seemed remarkable to me, considering the countless other places he knew in this country! I suggested this park as a place to do some hiking near a small waterfall.
4:00 PM Parked the car at Hocking Hills State Park.
It had been a while since I had been here last. We went on two hiking trails, and got lost on both of them! There are several trails there, and we had chosen a 2-mile trail. But the markings along the route were so poor that we kept coming back to our starting point! Finally, Ishaan suggested that we leave, and I was all too willing. We left the Park at 4:40, and Ishaan gave it a rating.
When we left my apartment this morning, Ishaan had left some of his luggage there to make more room in the car. This evening, we went back to my apartment and he picked up all of his belongings. Our next and last stop was my parents' house in Powell.
Miscellaneous:
| City: | New Rome, OH |
| River: | Mad River, OH |
| PP8OT | OH | Toyota |
| WRAP IT | OH | Ford Bronco |
| MORSE 2 | OH | Ford Ranger |
| I KART | OH | Ford Aerostar |
| $10.47 | CB | Two film rolls | Columbus, OH |
| $10 | Cash | Lunch -- Pizza Hut | Dayton, OH |
| $12 | CB | Gas | Logan, OH |
I picked up the photographs at 10:00 AM, then went back to the house. There, I wrote the descriptions on the back. These photos were from my last visit to the National Air and Space Museum, Shenandoah National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mandar saw the pictures of Shenandoah and again remarked how much it had changed since he visited it.
I told Mandar I would keep the pictures there for his parents and brothers to see, and I would pick them up on way back from Boston. Somehow, the three packets of photographs ended up in my luggage, and I left with them.
2:15 PM I was supposed to drop Mandar off at his apartment. Just as we were leaving, Ambarish came back from school. I said "bye" to him one last time[28], and the two of us left for Mandar's apartment.
2:40 PM I dropped Mandar at his apartment and left immediately -- alone
again.
3:00 PM Left Columbus city limits.
I wanted to drive to Philadelphia tonight. I knew I would be arriving late, but I did not mind that. I did mind the construction and closure of I-70 Eastbound and massive traffic jams on the detour road. I traveled less than twenty miles in 45 minutes, then finally got back on the freeway.
5:00 PM West Virginia (on I-70); 140911 Miles
5:10 PM Pennsylvania; 140924 Miles
6:30 PM West Virginia again (on I-79); 140976 Miles
It was already 6:30 PM, and I had a long drive to Philadelphia. I decided to save the drive (scenic) until tomorrow.
6:45 PM Checked in at Holiday Inn at Morgantown, WV.
Miscellaneous:
| River: | Licking River, OH |
| County: | Licking County, OH |
| CKSTOR | OH | Jeep Grand Cherokee |
| TRUCCO | OH | Toyota Camry |
| TIMBO 2 | OH | Dodge |
| KUTCHE | OH | Honda Civic |
| $37.92 | CB | Film Developing | Columbus, OH |
| $11 | CB | Gas -- Sunoco | Washington, PA |
[28] Mandar did not.