I’m writing this update from a hotel in Youngstown, Ohio. So far, our trip has been a little bit on the harrowing side, but only due to the weather conditions on the road.
We’ve been trying to achieve a 2 hour / 2 hour / 2 hour driving pattern per day, and it hasn’t quite worked out. The idea was that I would drive the first stretch, Chicago to South Bend, stopping at Hungry Howie’s Pizza. I know a pizza chain isn’t the sexiest destination for travel foodies, but we don’t have any near us and leap at the opportunity to grab some Cajun crust pizza.
Stretch #1 worked out pretty much like intended. It took a little longer than planned due to nasty rain, but overall we stayed on track.
Stretch #2 was where the problems set in. We intended to stop at Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio to play an escape room and break up the trip a little bit more. The rooms there are only 25 minutes long, which wasn’t bad for us considering we needed to stay on the road.
Unfortunately, with the weather and road conditions, we watched the time slip away minute by minute until it appeared we were going to be 15 minutes late for a 25 minute escape room, and the subsequent slots were all booked up. No good. We had to change our plans.
I checked for rooms near Youngstown, Ohio, our final destination for the night, but none of the rooms in the area stayed open late enough for us to try. I almost gave up, but I was thrilled to find that Escapology Solon had availability and wasn’t too far out of our way. I had previously done a few rooms at Escapology Las Vegas, so I knew this chain was a safe bet for a good room.
We played the Mayday game- a game in which we need to gain access to the cockpit and safely land the plane. It was done well, and we both enjoyed it quite a bit. Also kudos to our game master Malik who recommended the vodka cocktail I shared as my picture for this entry. It was delicious. I had previously been to a few different rooms that allow alcohol in the game, but this is the first time I went ahead and actually got a drink.
After the game, we hit the road for our final stretch. On a good day, it would be less than an hour. With the weather conditions, we took almost two.
After a long day of driving, we rested well and are ready for day two of our driving adventure! The weather looks a little better today, and we still have our 2/2/2 plan intact. Segment 1: stop in Du Bois, PA for an escape room. Segment 2: Stop in Scranton, PA to see some of the sites from The Office. Segment 3: Finish our drive to Stamford.
I will post updates and share pictures from Scranton (assuming our plans don’t radically change yet again)!
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