A gust of heat struck me in the multi-story car park of Columbus Airport, Ohio. It was the familiar hug of warmth familiar to every Briton leaving the UK for sunnier climes; comforting yet moderately distressing. Fortunately, hot places abroad are far more prepared for the sun than us Brits, with cars and houses all fully air-conditioned. So much so that you can spend the whole day indoors, oblivious as the outside world cooks at 36°c!
The journey from the airport to the house where I was staying took about 2 hours, although having travelled for over 12 hours, this didn’t seem too bad. It was just good to be on American soil at last, with my eyes eagerly soaked up all the sights.
The great thing about being abroad, to any country, is that everything you see if different in some way. You don’t even have to go anywhere special, just being in a different country can be its own reward.
Already, the American wide roads and overhanging traffic lights were things that struck me as particularly “foreign-looking”. That and the fact we were driving on the other side of the road, of course! But it’s a change you adapt to amazingly quickly… until you try and wrap your head around crossing “divided highways” (the US version of dual carriageways, but without slip-roads to enter them.)Ohio itself is the USA’s 34th largest state (44,000 square miles), containing about 11 million people. That’s approximately the population of London. It’s amazing to think that the millions of people roaming around Ohio's 44,000 square miles can all fit into London’s comparatively tiny 609 square miles!
Anyway, we headed south from Columbus towards Athens County, on the freeway, where the speed limit is a pedestrian 65 mph (although vehicles appeared to be doing 55 typically). The calmness in speed, together with the wider and cleaner roads, was something I could really get used to. I find driving in the UK to be a hideous chore, but more on the delights of US driving another time…
A discussion about wildlife and weather quickly arose, with most road kill I spotted identified as flattened groundhogs. Fortunately, dangerous animals weren’t really an issue where we were headed. I was told there was the odd copperhead snake to watch out for, but you don’t have to have your guard up 24/7. Ohio has the occasional bear that wanders across from West Virginia, but that’s a once in a decade occurrence for most people there. Interestingly, the animal most people seemed scared about meeing was skunks -– an animal I’ve never considered people would actually be “scared” of! Do they really smell that bad?
Hills covered in trees seemed to herald the south end of Ohio, as we travelled through numerous small towns that seemed to have fallen straight out of an A-Team episode: sparse towns with no houses in sight, just car lots, restaurants, fast-food outlets and supermarkets. Large signs emblazoned everywhere, proclaiming things like “We Got Waffle Bowls”. I assume it’s tricky to get waffle bowls in these parts?
You also notice billboards; enormous billboards on road sides, or standing in fields -- advertising everything under the sun (but mostly where to get a burger.) The billboards give you something to read on the journey, perhaps even designed to break the monotony of long car drives, but more likely just part of the American culture. Sell, sell, sell.
Ohio was in the middle of quite a dry spell. It hadn’t rained in quite a few weeks and some crops had begun to die. Stretches of grass had turned yellow and the Hocking River was very low. Someone back in England had told me it was tornado season, but unfortunately Ohio doesn’t really get many twisters. I say “unfortunately” only because it would be great to see one, not because I spend my days hoping for death and destruction. Honest. In fact, people have spent their entire lives in Ohio and never actually seen a tornado -– just seen the after-effects of a rogue one.
We travelled between a large forest, which apparently was Wayne National Forest. Strangely, the forest is actually split into three distinct areas, not joined by trees. Three separate forests; collectively known as Wayne National Forest. No plural. Quite why they couldn’t say “forests”, or even give them three separate names, is anyone’s guess. I didn’t like to ask.
Eventually, we arrived at the house, heading up into one of the hills and driving through the occasional small town and creek, leading to the house. The house was located down a ridge, in 40 acres of grounds that included some forest. It consisted of a twin garage, three bedrooms, basement, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a front room and a porch. All built by hand, taking a year, about thirty years ago.
Builders were involved, but people are more “hands on” in these parts and materials are not as expensive – so you can remodel and upgrade relatively inexpensively -- if you know what you’re doing. Even stranger, in town there are businesses that sell houses… flat-packed. You literally choose your house and some guys will come along and build it for you in five weeks, straight out of a box!
Only in America.
Part 3: Food & Supermarkets
Part 1: Coming To America
