Spring Break Trip - Day 1

[Up at 0600 - finished packing - drove to Nicky's to get kids (0700) - they weren't ready a while... - switched cars with Nicky - picked up breakfast for kids at McDonalds (0745) - left Alexandria, using I-495, I-270 and I-70 - stopped for gas in Clearspring (MD) at 0915 before turning on to I-68 - snow in the mountains (!) - made it to Morgantown without much trouble (very cold, Nicky's car not warming up) - got on I-79 (south) to Clarksburg and then used US-50 to get to the Ohio River (Parkersburg) - after crossing into Ohio, changed to US-33 - made good time to Columbus, stopping for gas at Meijer in Canal Winchester (1410) - got on I-270 and drove around the west side of the city until switching back to US-33 and continuing west - stopped in Neil Armstrong's hometown (Wapakoneta) to explore briefly - got four blizzards to share at Dairy Queen (1630) before proceeding north on I-75 to Lima - Brenna used her phone to get me to drive them to the "Glee" high school (McKinley) - after following a complex series of GPS instructions, we finally arrived at a car dealership (hee hee) - they posted to social networks - I used some back roads to drive north to US-30, which we used to drive into Indiana - followed I-69 around Fort Wayne and then reconnected with US-30, all the way to Plymouth - turned north on (greatly improved since 1990s) US-31 and arrived in South Bend around 1945 - explored the area near the Notre Dame campus and looked for a hotel - finally found one near my old apartment in Mishawaka (a Courtyard) and checked in (2030) - ND-KY basketball game was just starting and the kids got some food at the hotel bistro and watched it for a while there - I got a beer and then relaxed in the room until they finished eating - when they arrived back in the room, we stayed up to watch the thrilling game until the Irish lost by two points :-( - read book until 2330 - bed]