Day One - July 18

When you live in Columbus, Ohio, everything interesting is 6+ hours away. Chicago, Washington, DC, Niagara Falls, New York City. Those first 500 miles can be really, like, boring. We decided to help pass the time by listening to audio books. Our first one is Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. Listening to the 10 year old novel has proved amusing to the kids for the quaint references to what was then new technology of cell phones and the internet. "Why didn't she just call his cell phone?" was one comment our 13 year old made when faced with the ancient world of 10 years ago, when people had to leave messages on something called answering machines. The chauvanistic, stereotyped lecherous behavior of some of Dan Brown's characters also produced some awkward moments for the younger teens, and a corresponding humorous relief for Mom and Dad. Listening to an audio book is helping pass the time through northeast OH, Erie, PA and a long stretch of Western NY. Six hours and 3 CDs pass relatively quickly.