YAY, Ohio! I arrived in Columbus, OH, on Monday night at about 11:30 pm. Headed over to baggage claim and then on to Budget car rentals. As I was walking out to the car, I noticed that it was a relatively new Mustang (SWEET!). I packed the big suitcase this time, and it barely fit in the trunk, but I jammed it all in there and started the car. Someone left it on a pop station, and Just Dance by Lady Gaga was on, so I was grateful not to have to wade through random radio stations to find music I knew. At this point, I hadn’t been out of the airport yet, so I didn’t know what was waiting for me just outside the parking garage. All I knew was that Columbus felt WAY colder than New York.
SNOW! It was falling, and I was having trouble reading directions on my phone, keeping an eye on the road, and jamming to good music. The fishtailing freaked me out at first. I finally found my way to the hotel and checked in, then promptly crashed.
Tuesday at the client went well. I made it to the office in the Mustang in one piece, but not without getting lost. I told the people in the office that I was from San Diego and hadn’t seen or been in snow like this before. They were concerned, and one of the sys admins offered to pick me up on Wednesday because some major storms were coming in that night (see news articles above). The headlines read:
Brutal storm arrives in Ohio – “With a mix of snow, ice and freezing rain overnight, today’s morning commute could be horrible compared with yesterday’s drive because of a winter storm that has killed at least 19 people nationally.”
OSU CLOSED WEDNESDAY, Winter Weather About to Pound Columbus – Better bundle up, Buckeyes. The Weather Channel is calling for an inch of snow tonight, as well as two to four inches of snow tomorrow morning. Snow isn’t anything new here—seems like we are getting into an every-other-week pattern with the winter weather.
It’s a good thing he did pick me up! My Mustang’s doors were frozen shut, and there was a huge layer of snow and ice over the entire car. The snow continued to fall until early afternoon, and then it started to warm up. What I mean by “warm up” is that the snow started to melt a little, making some slush, not that the air temperature was by any means warm.
When I returned to the hotel, I asked the check-in guy in the lobby to take a picture of me doing a snow angel. He sorta laughed but was totally game for it. He got 4 to 5 pretty good pictures of me in my work clothes (no hat, gloves, or jacket) freezing in the snow. I got some pictures of the angel later on without me in it too. NOTE: Laying in the snow is the inspiration for my musical title and excerpt of Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.
I decided to explore a little bit, because earlier on our way to lunch I saw a Target and a Famous Footwear right down the road. By then the snow had melted on the main roads and freeways, or was at least packed down enough for me to drive on. Unfortunately, my car wasn’t any less covered in snow and ice that it was in the morning. I spent 45 minutes chipping away at the ice with a tiny little scraper the rental agency threw in there. This time no one was on the road, so the fishtailing didn’t bother me so much and actually started to be fun (don’t worry g-ma, I didn’t do anything crazy). I liked it so much that I drove all the way downtown and just cruised around for about half an hour until I got hungry.
I headed back toward the hotel and found an “El Vaquero: Authentic Mexican Food” restaurant. I was skeptical about what Ohio peeps thought “authentic” Mexican would be, but I was pleasantly surprised. I chowed down and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for bed.
I think this snow thing is pretty cool, but I’m glad to only have to be in it for a few days. I’ll take a 65 degree average winter over 20 degrees any day. Miss you San Diego!
