Melinda Lou Thomas
So I had quite an interesting beginning to my Spring Break. I return back to the MC at around 12:10 on Friday afternoon from my System Dynamics class. The plan (you know how I love to plan, what with my little lists here, there, and everywhere) at that point was to shave, get my yearbook picture taken, read some news, grab some lunch, and then head out to Mechanical Design at 2:30. After that would be a night of packing and merriment before the return to Northern Virginia the following morning.
But as I walked into the MC, I checked my mail, and checked to see if my good friend Sketch was in his room. He wasn't, but the door was (as usual) open. I stepped inside for just a half-second when I got notice of a missed call. I called Phil back and hear, "Kevin, we've got a situation." Apparently, our Mr. Sketchler had read that the first Wendy's Restaurant ever was closing that very night at 8 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio. And of course he wanted to go. So I ran upstairs, found Phil, then found Sketch, and tried to talk some sense into him. Apparently, the plan was to leave real soon and then return to Blacksburg that night around 1 a.m. I reasoned that I wouldn't actually have a problem with this, since I wasn't being forced to go, and we would still leave on schedule. But then Blair (Phil's girlfriend) wanted to come too. Blair lives in Marietta, Ga, a suburb of Atlanta. If Blair was to come too, Sketch would need to drive her home.
Within half an hour, they had convinced me to go to Columbus, Marietta, and back to Blacksburg with them, which required me to abandon my Mechanical Design class, my well-laid plans, and my evening of movies and relaxation following a half-semester of success. By this time, it was 1 p.m. I had insisted on getting my picture for yearbook taken, so I was simultaneously packing for this overnight trip and shaving. I ran out the door around 1:40, called my mom again, and explained to reasoned with her into letting me burst out of my single-state shell and travel all over the country for a burger. I had my picture taken and ran back to the MC, where we finally departed around 2:15. 5 hours and 45 minutes to get there.
Sketch's GPS system said we would be getting there around 8:30. We figured that at the speeds we'd be going, we could easily shave off that half hour and some more. Everything was going just dandy into West Virginia. We hooked up the radar dectector just over the border. Then we said hello to West Virginia. It said hello back with a one-way bridge that was completely flooded over. We were forced to turn around and we tried a 1.5 lane mountain road. Passing that one car was quite hairy... Sketch almost immediately abandoned that idea though and we started backtracking even further. At some point, he downloaded Google Maps Mobile on his Razr to check against his GPS. It was aroudn this time that he realized, "Oh no, toll road avoidance is on!" There are some major toll roads in West Virginia. The GPS recalculated and our new ETA was... 8:25. No big improvement. We would have to really high-tail it to make it to Columbus on time.
We drove through Charleston, and sometime after that, ran into some more trouble. A cop ahead of us. We were forced down to the speed limit. We tried to sneak past him, but after getting a good number of yards ahead, he hit us with the radar. That guy kept us in check for a good 15 minutes, while at least two other cops joined and subsequently left the party. Luckily, we were alone in getting off at our exit. Soon afterwards, we crossed into Ohio, which felt quite good. All that was needed now was to continue shaving off the minutes.
Speed limits were around 60 or 65 MPH most of the way. We averaged 88 MPH or so on the highways. Lots of 80 MPH speeds, lots of 90 MPH speeds, and even a few times breaking 100 (and even hitting Sketch's Prius' 108 MPH electronic limit). Every couple of minutes, the time would drop another minute. It became a game to see who could notice it change first. 8:20, 8:17, 8:13, 8:09, 8:05, 8:01, 7:57. Somehow we had done it, managing to convince the GPS that we'd get there in time. The atmosphere was quite tense as we drove into the heart of downtown Columbus.
We followed the turns that our little friendly direction box gave us. She said turn left, and so we did. Destination 0.6 miles on the left. 0.4. 0.2. There it is. Wendy's number one. We just needed to park and run in there before the doors shut. Permanently. Sketch parked about a block away and we all jumped out and started running there. As if it didn't feel this way throughout, th sprint to the door was like the climax of one of those "epic quest" type movies. Reminded me of both Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle and Little Miss Sunshine. We just ran. Phil had the video camera, and we ran. Turned the corner, and there was a small line. We had made it. 7:58 pm, Friday, March 2nd, 2007. We got into the doors and in line. Phil and Blair ordered, then I did, and then our fearless driver, the honorable Mr. Sketchler.
After eating our long sought-after meals, I went up to one of the numerous managers and other important looking people to get a signature for my drink cup. I figured I should get some kind of written proof of what had just happened. The guy I talked to just said, "Oh, you don't want me. I'll find somebody more important." I followed him across the store. "There, go talk to here. That's Wendy." Wendy? As in the Wendy? Somebody was talking to her, so I waited a moment, and finally her photographer or somebody got the idea and asked Wendy for me if she could sign my cup. At some point I mentioned that we had traveled 300 miles to get here. So when Wendy signed my cup, she mentioned the 300 miles and the fact that "You're it!", meaning we were the only ones crazy enough to travel so far for merely a burger and some history.
Our story soon spread, and it was only a few minutes before some pictures were being taken, Wendy was chatting with us, and a reporter from the Associated Press came to talk to us about our adventure north. I left my address with the nice photographer woman so she could send us pictures and soon afterwards, we left the Wendy's (which was clearing out already). We got some much need gas, and went back to take some fun pictures of the Wendy's and us in front of the Wendy's. 50 minutes or so out of Columbus we found a nice motel to stay the night before the next leg of our incredible journey. I'll leave it there for now, since the important parts are all over. We traveled 300 miles and in 5 hours, 45 minutes to get burgers that we could've gotten anywhere. But we met Melinda Lou "Wendy" Thomas, daughter of Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's, and we were interviewed by the AP. We have an epic story to tell, and memories that will last. Who cares about Mechanical Design when you can get a burger.
The story is fairly long. But quite enjoyable. Except for the fact that I have no writing ability whatsoever. In other news, I'm home for the week, heading into D.C. tomorrow, and I've not a clue about the rest of the week, except Sketch will be here for some of it.
But as I walked into the MC, I checked my mail, and checked to see if my good friend Sketch was in his room. He wasn't, but the door was (as usual) open. I stepped inside for just a half-second when I got notice of a missed call. I called Phil back and hear, "Kevin, we've got a situation." Apparently, our Mr. Sketchler had read that the first Wendy's Restaurant ever was closing that very night at 8 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio. And of course he wanted to go. So I ran upstairs, found Phil, then found Sketch, and tried to talk some sense into him. Apparently, the plan was to leave real soon and then return to Blacksburg that night around 1 a.m. I reasoned that I wouldn't actually have a problem with this, since I wasn't being forced to go, and we would still leave on schedule. But then Blair (Phil's girlfriend) wanted to come too. Blair lives in Marietta, Ga, a suburb of Atlanta. If Blair was to come too, Sketch would need to drive her home.
Within half an hour, they had convinced me to go to Columbus, Marietta, and back to Blacksburg with them, which required me to abandon my Mechanical Design class, my well-laid plans, and my evening of movies and relaxation following a half-semester of success. By this time, it was 1 p.m. I had insisted on getting my picture for yearbook taken, so I was simultaneously packing for this overnight trip and shaving. I ran out the door around 1:40, called my mom again, and explained to reasoned with her into letting me burst out of my single-state shell and travel all over the country for a burger. I had my picture taken and ran back to the MC, where we finally departed around 2:15. 5 hours and 45 minutes to get there.
Sketch's GPS system said we would be getting there around 8:30. We figured that at the speeds we'd be going, we could easily shave off that half hour and some more. Everything was going just dandy into West Virginia. We hooked up the radar dectector just over the border. Then we said hello to West Virginia. It said hello back with a one-way bridge that was completely flooded over. We were forced to turn around and we tried a 1.5 lane mountain road. Passing that one car was quite hairy... Sketch almost immediately abandoned that idea though and we started backtracking even further. At some point, he downloaded Google Maps Mobile on his Razr to check against his GPS. It was aroudn this time that he realized, "Oh no, toll road avoidance is on!" There are some major toll roads in West Virginia. The GPS recalculated and our new ETA was... 8:25. No big improvement. We would have to really high-tail it to make it to Columbus on time.
We drove through Charleston, and sometime after that, ran into some more trouble. A cop ahead of us. We were forced down to the speed limit. We tried to sneak past him, but after getting a good number of yards ahead, he hit us with the radar. That guy kept us in check for a good 15 minutes, while at least two other cops joined and subsequently left the party. Luckily, we were alone in getting off at our exit. Soon afterwards, we crossed into Ohio, which felt quite good. All that was needed now was to continue shaving off the minutes.
Speed limits were around 60 or 65 MPH most of the way. We averaged 88 MPH or so on the highways. Lots of 80 MPH speeds, lots of 90 MPH speeds, and even a few times breaking 100 (and even hitting Sketch's Prius' 108 MPH electronic limit). Every couple of minutes, the time would drop another minute. It became a game to see who could notice it change first. 8:20, 8:17, 8:13, 8:09, 8:05, 8:01, 7:57. Somehow we had done it, managing to convince the GPS that we'd get there in time. The atmosphere was quite tense as we drove into the heart of downtown Columbus.
We followed the turns that our little friendly direction box gave us. She said turn left, and so we did. Destination 0.6 miles on the left. 0.4. 0.2. There it is. Wendy's number one. We just needed to park and run in there before the doors shut. Permanently. Sketch parked about a block away and we all jumped out and started running there. As if it didn't feel this way throughout, th sprint to the door was like the climax of one of those "epic quest" type movies. Reminded me of both Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle and Little Miss Sunshine. We just ran. Phil had the video camera, and we ran. Turned the corner, and there was a small line. We had made it. 7:58 pm, Friday, March 2nd, 2007. We got into the doors and in line. Phil and Blair ordered, then I did, and then our fearless driver, the honorable Mr. Sketchler.
After eating our long sought-after meals, I went up to one of the numerous managers and other important looking people to get a signature for my drink cup. I figured I should get some kind of written proof of what had just happened. The guy I talked to just said, "Oh, you don't want me. I'll find somebody more important." I followed him across the store. "There, go talk to here. That's Wendy." Wendy? As in the Wendy? Somebody was talking to her, so I waited a moment, and finally her photographer or somebody got the idea and asked Wendy for me if she could sign my cup. At some point I mentioned that we had traveled 300 miles to get here. So when Wendy signed my cup, she mentioned the 300 miles and the fact that "You're it!", meaning we were the only ones crazy enough to travel so far for merely a burger and some history.
Our story soon spread, and it was only a few minutes before some pictures were being taken, Wendy was chatting with us, and a reporter from the Associated Press came to talk to us about our adventure north. I left my address with the nice photographer woman so she could send us pictures and soon afterwards, we left the Wendy's (which was clearing out already). We got some much need gas, and went back to take some fun pictures of the Wendy's and us in front of the Wendy's. 50 minutes or so out of Columbus we found a nice motel to stay the night before the next leg of our incredible journey. I'll leave it there for now, since the important parts are all over. We traveled 300 miles and in 5 hours, 45 minutes to get burgers that we could've gotten anywhere. But we met Melinda Lou "Wendy" Thomas, daughter of Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's, and we were interviewed by the AP. We have an epic story to tell, and memories that will last. Who cares about Mechanical Design when you can get a burger.
The story is fairly long. But quite enjoyable. Except for the fact that I have no writing ability whatsoever. In other news, I'm home for the week, heading into D.C. tomorrow, and I've not a clue about the rest of the week, except Sketch will be here for some of it.