Columbus OH Visit

Our Adventure continues in Columbus, Ohio:

7/31 We left the Michigan campground around 9AM and drove to Columbus, Ohio (actually to a campground in Lancaster which is about 20 miles south of Columbus). Saw very little unplanned scenery on the way. Found the campground and settled in for the evening.
8/1 Drove to Pickerington to find a Post Office. Seems that before we left Plano, we filled out the paperwork and had pictures taken to renew our passports. Well, I got mine last week but Mom didn’t because the picture they took at the PO had her eyes closed! Unfortunately, this PO couldn’t take the picture because their camera was broken, but they did say that the drug store down the street would take them, so we finally got that done.
We drove into Columbus and went by Belinda and Julie’s grade school (actually in Brice, Ohio) which is now a realtor’s office. Drove thru our old neighborhood and took a picture of our house. Looks pretty much the same except for the tree in front which now obscures most of the house!

The neighborhood has aged a lot, but I guess that’s to be expected. Drove over to the mall (Eastland) and on the way went by our old church (which is now a Baptist Church). The whole area looks OLD and in need of renovation!
After lunch we drove over to the JCPenney Catalog Distribution Center where I used to work (it is now called the JCPenney Direct Logistics Center??). Went to the Outlet Store first – hasn’t changed at all). (Belinda, Julie, Larry - we got your Christmas presents!!!).

At 1 PM we went over to the distribution center – turns out that they were having an open house to celebrate the 35th anniversary of its opening back in 1974. Mom and I and the kids actually moved to Columbus in 1974. So it was reunion time – we met up with Doug Fawcett who still works there and also Jeff and Leanne Davis (Jeff was my boss). Toured the offices and the distribution center and met a number of people from my time there. We were told that 80 people still worked there that started in 1974. Amazing.

Left there around 3:30 and drove by Louie and Kathie’s house. They happened to be sitting in the yard so we stopped and had another reunion. Found out that Ada Compton (Big Lou’s Mom) wasn’t checking her phone messages because she just passed away last week and the funeral was on Monday.
One of L/K’s sons was there as well as Rhonda and her husband and their youngest, who was 3 ½. It started to rain so we left with plans to meet again tomorrow afternoon.

8/2 Went to church this morning in Canal Winchester (Lutheran Church of our Savior). Very small church but very friendly. This afternoon we went back to L/K’s and sat in the backyard again. Rhonda, her husband and their son came over later. Little Lou also came over and we got caught up on everybody.

8/3 Got our prescriptions transferred to CVS – took a long time because one of Mom’s needed to be reordered from the Doctor. Turns out that he cannot call in a prescription to drug store that is out of state. So he had to call it in to Tom Thumb in Plano and then get it transferred.
Went over the Jeff and Leann Davis in the afternoon. Had a beer and caught up on the times. Went out for pizza for dinner and then over to his barns (garages actually) where he restores cars. He has a 63 Corvette, a 65 Mustang, a 67 GTO, and another newer (age?) Corvette.

Plus, in the second barn, he has two more Corvettes – a 90 and a 94. They don’t really need anything, but he bought them because he likes them. The ’94 is a screamer – way too much power.

While we were there Ralph and Kim Henderson showed up so we talked with them for a while also. Ralph is currently the head of the Telephone Call Centers for JCP.

We then took a tour of Pickerington and went back to their house for dessert.

8/4 Went to the party at Max & Erma’s. Met a lot of people that I worked with. Got in touch with Debbie and Bruce Mackey who used to work at JCP in Plano but had moved back to Ohio to be closer to family.

Those in the picture on the left are Geoff Davis, Mike Sherman, Doug Fawcett, Dale Kezer, and me.

8/5 We went to Carol and Jim Kipple’s house and talked about family/looked at pictures, etc. Went out for lunch at Cracker Barrel. Came back to their house – Gail and three of her kids came over. Brandie, the oldest, is a senior at Ohio State. Gail is a grandmother already!!

From Kipple’s we went to June and Bob Reynolds house for dinner. They have a standing dinner night every Wednesday for all the kids. So it was Steve and his wife and three kids, Sherry and her two kids, and Kim. We had a great time.

On the left is Sherry (35) with her two kids, Taylor and Jackson; on the right is Kim (31) with Taylor.

8/6 Had lunch with Kathy and Louie at Bob Evans (Mom’s favorite – everything is sooo good, she can never decide!! I always go for the buttermilk pancakes) and said our goodbyes.

Next Stop: Frazyberg and Conneaut, OH