Columbus, OH . . . just the two of us.

Wayne and I were able to leave the kids with friends on Tuesday and take off to Columbus, OH for an interview he had at Ohio State University. I can't even begin to explain what an awesome time we had.

After Jacob jumped on the bus we took the kids to our friends house and took off. Columbus is about a six hour drive from here. The fog was unbelievable through portions of New York and Pennsylvania. I remember thinking morbid thoughts as we were driving through it like, "there could be a lake right beside this road or a huge drop off to a cliff" and we would have no clue because of the dense fog. Thankfully as soon as we were able to head south it cleared. It was so much fun to talk for hours nonstop with no interruptions. As we were chatting Wayne said, I think Kirkland is right around here. He pulled out the atlas and said, "What exit number did you last see?" I told him what was coming up next and he said, "That's the one." I couldn't believe it. We decided to head over there and check it out.
This picture is inside the N.K. Whitney store (which is 85% original). It's incredible to hear stories like the Whitney's. They had built a thriving business and left it all to go with the saints to Far West, MO and eventually Salt Lake City. I am always awed and inspired by stories like theirs.

Wayne and I in front of the Kirkland visitor center.

We made a stop for one of Wayne's favorites, delicious M&M ice cream cookie sandwiches (just because we wanted to) and continued onto to Columbus after an hour in Kirkland. The first night we stayed at an OSU's hotel, The Blackwell. We had no idea it would be as nice as it was. Here's the view from our room. That's right. It's the horseshoe. If your wondering what that is you're not alone. I was educated too. It's their football stadium that seats over 100,000 people. That's the entire city of Rochester, MN. I later asked if their football team was really good and Wayne looked at me in all seriousness and said, "Don't ever let anyone here hear you say that. Yes, they're amazing and REALLY passionate about it." All righty then. Not long after checking in we headed to Cap City Diner. A highly recommended Columbus restaurant. I ate the BEST pork chops EVER. I think I sighed and nodded my approval multiple times. Especially when this mother came. Now imagine it with one more layer of cake on top. We didn't know how to begin eating the monster, but we found a way . . yes, we found a way.

The next day Wayne and I went and worked out, ate some breakfast and then he headed to his interview, looking handsome in his suit. I hung out at the hotel and read until just before check out time. Then I headed to Easton mall and shopped to my little hearts content. I grabbed a salad at a yummy place called Cosi, grabbed a quaint little table next to a window, and pulled out my book and read. HEAVEN. I don't know the last time I was able to do something like that. Not that I would want to do it often, but it's a beautiful recharger. I also found this YUMMY ice cream place that was recommended called Graeters. Now, I'm not a huge ice cream person, but the Buckeye Blitz is to die for. I had a scoop and just for good measure, another scoop later that night.

The interview went well and after picking up Wayne and talking about his day and my day we headed to the downtown Renaissance hotel. We would have just stayed where we were, but it was sold out due to a huge swimming championship going on. We would have loved to catch some of that too. We felt 1950's since the Renaissance had no more king sized bed's and gave us two queens. I just laughed as we were reading in our own beds. Our last taste of Columbus was at a Mexican restaurant called Abuelos. I've gotta say it was good, but nothing like Cap City Diner. I wished we would have gone there again. Here's Wayne giving me that puppy dog face since he was DONE with pictures.

I was able to convince him. Maybe it was the ice cream at Graeters. I told you, I had to have more and this time Wayne had some too.

Thursday we were able to workout and catch breakfast before heading back home. We stopped by this cute cheesebarn about an hour and half outside of Columbus. I was hoping for a spread like Cache Valley cheese, but not so much. We did buy some delicious homemade chocolates for the kiddos though.

After picking up the kids and heading inside Wayne checked the messages and told me to listen to the last one. It was from the program director at Mayo. He said that after their ranking meeting Wayne was ranked incredibly high, that he would love to talk to him about anything, and that they hope to be working with him next year. So, so nice. Wayne has one more interview at the University of Virginia and then we'll have to rank these programs. I'm feeling the pressure. Thank goodness I had three days with Wayne to worry about nothing and have the best time with my best friend.