I arrived back from Bogota on Tuesday evening and was on the road again on Thursday afternoon. This was simply poor planning, or rather the timing of planning. This trip to Ohio to see my Aunt and Uncle had been in the diary for much longer than both Colombia or the Alps. When the invitation to Switzerland had arrived I had realised I could do it, and then could fulfil my mandatory two week leave by filling in the middle, which is when the Colombia idea was born. Obviously I cut that one a bit fine, and although it all looked good on paper I'd have actually quite liked a few days at home. This is always the way it happens in my experience - too quick off the mark booking things without really thinking about how they stack up, or might stack up. Somehow I always make it work, but I question my sanity at times. That said, on balance I think I'd prefer to be busy than not.
So, Ohio. Not a normal holiday destination by any means, but my connections there go back decades. It is where my Mum's family moved to when she was in her teens, where my Grandparents then lived for my entire childhood, and where my Aunt Megan and Uncle Chris (my Mum's siblings, or should that be my Mom's?) now live having spent time away. In my Uncle's case he lived all over the world working for the State Department, but after a stint in Texas and then Pennsylvania he has ended up back in Ohio. Likewise my Aunt spent many years in California and then Maryland, but is now also back in her home town in Ohio. They live on the same street, diagonally opposite one another. Maybe this is how their childhood bedrooms were laid out on the upstairs landing?
I've been visiting the small town in which they live for my entire life, and even though it can't be said that a lot happens there I really like it. It's genuine America, but intelligent America as it's a College town, and I like to think that it's a long way from JD Vance. When I was a kid this is where I first saw real snow, and I mean real snow. Snow you could do things with, snow you could sledge on. We couldn't go every Christmas, but it was a huge treat when we did. As I've got older I've maintained my relationship with the place, and with Grandparents now replaced by the next generation I continue to visit.
I flew to Chicago a day or so after getting back from Colombia. A quick turnaound but just enough time to sort a few things out, remind the family who I was and so on. My camera bag was just where I had left it, but with this not being a birding trip I left it where it was and simply extracted the clothes that I'd packed around the lens. It was an evening flight, and with Lorain about a five drive away I'd booked a motel just over the Illinois State line in Indiana that was conveniently close to what looked like some good birding. The plan was to spend the whole of the following day getting to Ohio as my Aunt was working, and then we could cook when I arrived which she likes to do. This all worked out exactly as planned, and by around 11pm local time I was ensconsed in a crappy motel near Gary ready for the next day.
This is the route I planned to take, more or less. In addition to Indiana I planned a quick wiggle into Michigan - eBird is a powerful motivator!
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