Speed, Dirt, Beer and Laughter: One Weekend in NW Ohio

I spent last weekend in small towns of northwestern Ohio. I drove up with my nephew and dropped him off at mom and dads then continued on to Napoleon Ohio where Pete lives.
Pete is coming to live in my basement in the (hopefully) near future and I was helping him pack. He has done so much to help me move and do things around my house I thought it was only fair I help him a little.

After dropping Matthew off at mom and dads I drove the 30 minute country road drive to Napoleon. I forgot how much I loved passing people on country roads at night. No, that's not sarcasm, I really do love it. I got to Pete's house and changed from my driving outfit of men's boxers and a ratty t-shirt and we headed out to his brothers house.

It was a good time. There was a hot fire and cold beer. I also entertained myself with thoughts of how this could all go terribly terribly wrong.
I mean, sitting at a campfire in the middle on nowhere drinking with a bunch of boys (and one girl) that you've never met before certainly won't end you up dead in a creek right?
Julio (also known as Pete's brother, also known as Derek) and their friend Eric were riding on 4 wheelers and eventually I got invited to go for a ride. After confirming with Pete that Julio wouldn't kill me (at least on purpose) I hopped on. After an awkward realization of how I was supposed to hang on and not fall off (hello arms wrapped around some random person I've never met before) we headed out.

It really wasn't as terrifying as I was afraid it would be. We headed into a field to run over some sand dune type things and the other guy Eric wasn't far behind us. After almost driving off a 5' drop we launched down a dune and couldn't make it up the other side, apparently we were in 2WD or something. But Eric came flying in behind us and instead of backing out calmly he (while stuck in front of us) started spinning his tires. A wave of damp sand washed over Julio and I and it went everywhere. Yuck.
Back to the house we went and I shook out my clothes and Pete and I headed back to his house. I had to comb my hair for 30 minutes to get all the tangles out of it.

The next day Pete had to work so I drove the almost 90 minute drive to Fremont and Clyde to hang out with 2 of my favorite people; Nicole and Jerry. I forgot to take a picture of Nicole, so here's an oldie but a goody:

Jerry calls me his best lady friend, but truthfully I think I've gotten so much more from our friendship than I could have ever given him.

We had a yummy lunch at Woody's in Fremont and then walked around Hayes Park. After dropping Jerry off at his place Nicole and I went on a magical mystery tour of Clyde, my hometown. I realized that the more things change the more they stay the same...and I got a speeding ticket. Booooo! After a brief affair with nostalgia for small town living my lead foot and I got over it and started missing driving on highways with limits higher than 35MPH.

That night Pete and I went to his cousins graduation party where I got to meet the rest of his family. Now, I don't want to say that somehow I was left at the hospital and my parents picked me up instead of Pete's parents but I fit in pretty snuggly with them. By the time we left the party my cheeks hurt from laughing so hard and I had invited everyone to come stay with Pete and I in Cincinnati...but hopefully not at the same time.
The next morning we met his parents, Julio and his sister Holly at Pizza Hut for a breakfast buffet, whoops...I mean lunch buffet, it was just breakfast to Pete and I. I let him socialize for awhile then I kicked his butt into gear and we started packing his house up. The kitchen was done and he and Julio got their stuff cleared out of the store (since the new manager/owner was moving in the next day).

Far to soon it was time to leave and head to BG to hang out with my parents and Matthew for the night.
The next day after lunch Matthew and I headed back down 75 in the torrential rain. I tell you, I don't know how parents traveled before portable dvd players.....oh, right...the kids read.
It was a great weekend and full of laughter. My favorite kind. I can't wait until Pete moves in and I get to hang out with him all the time!