The End of Leg 1

What I'm calling leg 1 consisted of a loop of approximately 1650 miles from Cleveland, south to Kentucky, west to St Louis, and back east to Pittsburgh over a span of 10 days. In Pittsburgh, I took a pause of ~48 hours before beginning leg 2 (Pittsburgh to western NC). 

Below I'll share the stops and people from Casey, IL back to Pittsburgh and some reflections on the end of the first phase of the odyssey. 

After rolling out of Casey, IL, I headed to Indianapolis to meet my friend Joe for lunch at Shapiro's, a Kosher deli on the south side of Indy known for having the best Reuben in Indy.

While the Reuben at Shapiro's did not disappoint, Express Deli still owns the title for best Reuben in my book. 

After lunch, Joe (an engineering manager) showed me a model of the new F-35 lift fan he's helping to design (relax folks, no government secrets were divulged). 

Joe with the prototype F-35 lift fan. This fan allows the F-35 to take off over a much shorter distance, eliminating the need for a catapult system. It also allows the F-35 to land vertically, making it the only fighter jet in the world capable of this feat. 

For the rest of the afternoon, I toured around Indy on my bike and relaxed on the lawn at the war memorial in central Indy.

Indy has more war memorials than any other city (don't quote me on that)

I spent the evening with Joe, Isabella, and their daughter, Maria. 

Joe, Isabella, and Maria are preparing for Joe's brother's wedding in Italy later this year by making homemade pasta and bruschetta

As previously mentioned, Joe designs airplane motors and is not a person you'd like to be lined up across from on a rugby field. Isabella is a highschool English/Literature teacher and amateur interior designer. Her favorite book to teach is fittingly The Odyssey, as it has a bit of everything (adventure, romance, coming of age, etc.). She enjoys seeing students identify how this ancient tale is still relevant to their Gen Alpha lives. Maria is a precocious 5 month old; making popping noises is a sure way to bring a smile to her face.

My mother may not appreciate my crazy hair, but kids seem to get a kick out of it

The next morning, I went to mass with Joe and Maria before we toured through small towns turned suburbs. 

The Hamilton County Courthouse, sight of the famed D.C. Stephenson trial of 1925

Joe explained how the northern suburbs of Indy have boomed and expanded over the past few decades, leading to the suburbs absorbing formerly independent agricultural communities. One of these towns we drove through was Noblesville, home to the Hamilton County Courthouse. Joe shared that each county in Indiana has is own elaborately designed Courthouse, and that the one in Noblesville is famed for hosting the D.C Stephenson trial of 1925. D.C. Stephenson was a charismatic speaker, the grand dragon of the KKK and had made the KKK quite popular and powerful in Indiana by emphasizing temperance and moral uprightness while downplaying the racist elements of the organizations ideology; at the height of its power, 1 in 5 men in Indiana were members of the KKK. Stephenson's trial caused quite a stir as he was convicted of abduction, rape, and murder. Following his conviction, the power/influence of the KKK in Indiana (and the rest of the country) waned. I share this story as Joe's reflections on it made me think and have continued to stick with me: many of the men in Indiana who joined the KKK in the early 20th century likely did so due to the appeal of Stephenson's rhetoric on temperance/moral uprightness or out of social pressure from friends/family rather than racist ideology. The members who were not racist likely justified their decision by pointing to the party's emphasis on moral uprightness and temperance. How often do we do the same sort of thing today? How often do we identify/align ourselves so closely with a political party, politician, or movement that we accept, condone, and even defend even their objectively inhumane and indecent views and actions by claiming that their stance on other issues outweighs the negatives or that they are the less bad than the opposing party/politician/movement. I don't say this call out anyone in particular - I think reflecting on these questions is a worthwhile exercise for all of us, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum. 

After breakfast in Indy, I rode to Cincinnati to meet my friend Max for lunch at Quatman's, known for having arguably the best burger in Cincinnati. 

While the years have not been quite as kind to me, aside from the facial hair Max looks almost the same as he did in college

Seeing Max was a great reminder of one of the key reasons I wanted to take this trip - to reconnect with people I'd fallen out of touch with. Aside from a birthday text last summer, I don't think I'd talked to Max in 4-5 years. Since I last talked to him, Max has moved to a career in actuarial science, gotten married, had two kids, and has a third on the way. Talk about a lot of life happening in a short period of time. Max and I somehow found our way to the topic of conspiracy theories. Max believes that we did infact go to the moon in 1969, but does not buy that aliens exist. The conspiracy theory he finds most compelling is that Goldstar (a Cincinnati chili restaurant who is the primary competition of Skyline) is actually just a front for money laundering. 

On my way out of Cincinnati, I ran into stalling issues for the second time - which prompted me to increase the frequency of adding fuel system cleaner to the gas tank. When Harriet began purring again, I drove to Columbus for the evening. I hung out at Battelle Riverfront Park for an hour before heading out to Powell (NW suburbs) to meet up with my friend Will at the men's night his church, Veritas, was hosting at a camp out there. 

If you haven't realized it yet, I'm a big fan of urban greenspaces and riverfront parks

I don't remember Will being 6'3" in high school

Will is one of my brother's best friends from grade school and currently works as a project engineer for a company that specializes in resin tanks for paint. He spends about 25% of his time on the road, in exotic locales like Iowa. He moved back to Columbus a few years ago after spending his first few years out of school in Fayetteville, NC. Back in the day, Will was a sharpshooter (basketball), but unfortunately there wasn't a court around for me to see if he still is. At one point in time, Will was considering getting a motorcycle. I tried to convince him to get one and join me for the rest of the trip but was unsuccessful on this first attempt. Yes ladies, he is single. 

I was having too much fun at Veritas' men's night to take pictures, so you'll just have to take my word on what went down: gyro truck, archery competition, axe throwing, ultra competitive volleyball, s'mores, projector with the Cavs' game. No, I did not win the archery competition, but I think I would have won the medal for most improved if they had given that out. It was at this event that I first tried s'mores with Reese's (instead of Hershey's), and my life may never be the same. I met a bunch of solid dudes at the men's night, and was bummed that it had to end, as I feel like big groups of guys just being dudes sadly hasn't been much of a thing since college ended. 

Before departing Columbus for Pittsburgh the next morning, I met my friend Natalie for breakfast at La Chatelaine (please don't ask me how to pronounce this) in the suburbs of Dublin. 

I forgot to grab a picture with Natalie so here's a rather generic one of La Chatelaine

I met Natalie about 2 weeks ago, just before the start of the trip by way of introduction by mutual friends. Natalie is a med student in Columbus studying osteopathic medicine. This is her second act - she previously worked as an engineer before deciding that wasn't it. Since wrapping up finals, Natalie has been going to weddings, planning her sister's upcoming bachelorette party, and trying to decide what to do with the one week of vacation she'll have in June (the first week she's had off since starting med school and likely one of the only breaks she'll have for the rest of med school). Natalie and I agree that weddings are more fun when people let loose on the dance floor, but we are at odds over whether a DJ or a live band is more effective at encouraging/facilitating that. 

I made it back to Pittsburgh in time to take my mom on a motorcycle ride for mother's day. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of that, but I did get this gem: 

Wes and Elise plan to follow in their uncle's footsteps

My other reason for looping back to Pittsburgh so early in the trip was to be there for my grandpa's 95th birthday (same grandpa who's bridge I drove over in Louisville). He's lived pretty remarkable life - here are some photo highlights: 

The Early Years - He still remembers wearing those silk shorts. His earliest memory was getting punched by another kid at age 3 or 4. 

Grandpa and his college roommate - when I shave and cut my hair short I kind of look like Grandpa in this one

Great-grandpa would keep you in line, no matter how old you got

Badass army commando

GQ-worthy

The first thing grandma noticed about grandpa was his New Jersey accent, the first thing grandpa noticed about grandma was her legs

In his prime

The Golden Years

The Birthday King surrounded by his great grandchildren (please excuse the poor quality photo - my phone camera finally decided to die)

My grandpa's birthday party was a fitting way to end leg 1. For much of the first leg, I was visiting friends who are establishing themselves in new cities or starting families of their own. The juxtaposition of my grandpa's birthday helped bring it full circle. Surrounded by his 4 daughters and many of his 10 grandchildren and 11 (soon to be 12) great grandchildren, we celebrated a life fully lived and a city made a home. It was a great reminder that no matter where you go, no matter what you do, it is the people that make life rich and community that turns a place into a home.