Robbie Thomas
Holy Toledo III and OH-MI-IN Tristate Border
Bloggers note: This adventure took place on the 3rd of July, 2026
Getting to the OH-MI-IN Tristate Border was a pain in the ass due to all the construction. At first, I used my GPS in my car. But it doesn’t tell me about construction. After making a mistake that lead me three miles back, I turned on the mean Google Machine and it lead me to where I needed to go. I-696 was under construction and only the west side was available, on the opposite lane. This happened in 2017-18, the same road fell apart in less than 10 years?
Google actually recommended me to use I-75 to the Ohio Turnpike for the best route. The shortest was the route I took, but I decided I want to take US-127, a road I never been on. While traveling on I-94, I stopped at a place called Mugg & Bopps. It was a gas station store with both Subway and Dunkin’. First, I wanted to wash my hands, but there was a guy waiting at the mens bathroom. I asked the lady up front if there is any hand sanitazer, she said I could buy some. I went back to my car and used my own, and got back inside.
Subway had a line and there was a woman there with coupons ordering everything on the menu, and I mean everything. While I was waiting in line, the guy in the bathroom was finally done. He looked eerily similar to the guy waiting. I suppose they were brothers? The guy next didn’t take long. I didn;t need to piss that badly but I took one anyway. I heard a knock on the door and said, “almost done.” Then I heard a female voice said, “that’s okay.” I wondered if this person identified as one of the many flavors of gender that are out there. When I was done, it was a mother of a boy looking to use the restroom.
After a long wait at Subway, they finally got to me. I got a 6-inch Turkey sub and chowed down on it quickly. I bought a Sprite and continued my way to the Tristate border. US-127 was a freeway at first, then it became a country road similar to M-55. While on 127, I passed by a town called Addison; the main street and US-127 block looked run-down big time. Prior to entering town, I saw a medical building that appeared to have been abandoned many years ago. I wouldn’t want to live there. I next made a turn to Territorial Road. There were points where the road bordered Ohio and Michigan; Google told me “Welcome to Ohio” when that happened. Went down to Mead Road and took a couple of turns, and I was there:
After that was all said and done, I turned around, stopped by a truck stop, took a piss and bought some water. It was a hot one out there. I jumped on the Ohio Turnpike with a flurry of Myles Bennett Dyson Arnold prank calls while Google kept me safe from the cops popping speeders. Next destination: Toledo.
I stopped at the Ye Olde Cock n Bull and enjoyed one of the best pitas in the world, their own The Los Pita. I strongly recommend it! While so, I watched the Cardinals beating the shit out of the Cubs, 14-0. I didn’t take any photos of downtown Toledo. When I arrived to Toledo, it was sunny and hot. The second I left the bar, it was very windy and cloudy. I quickly got my online ticket ready and headed to the southeast entrance (conveniently across the street from the Ye Old Cock n Bull, actually).
The game time was moved from 7:05pm to 7:30pm. I took a few laps around the ballpark and had some ice cream that tasted shitty. It was very liquid, and I sure as hell didn’t enjoy it. I’ll pass on the ice cream next time.
The game was an intersting one, but it ended with the Mud Hens losing to the Iowa Cubs 5-4. The same score I saw when I first saw the Mud Hens. Ty Madden was the starting pitcher for the Mud Hens; he had some trigger time with the Tigers the previous month and in 2024. Jace Jung who played for the Tigers in 2024 played in this game. A notable player who had a good day for the Iowa Cubs was BJ Murray. He hit a triple and a home run. As of this blog post, Murray hasn’t seen any major league trigger time, but I think we will see this guy play in the majors soon.
Here’s the box score for the game.
After the game, there was the promise of fireworks (weather permitting). The game ended at 10:15pm and I knew it would take them some time to get the fireworks going. The previous baseball game, they allowed the kids to run on the field after the game. Sadly, the 15-minute wait for that game turned to 20 with people taking their sweet ass time getting off the field. This one wasn’t due to people on the field, these folks setting up the fireworks took too damn long. I gave up at 10:45 after hearing the full song of Everybody Clap Your Hands. I went to my car and drove off.
After two blocks, I heard the fireworks. I made a few turns and found a spot to parallel park, even though I wasn’t allowed to park there. I didn’t take photos, I just watched and observed those fireworks from my limited sight. Two minutes in, this overweight Karen yapps at me for sitting in a spot. After a back and forth, she meant business and I gave up and just took off out of Toledo.
I drove on I-75 and I-94 with Steve Roach’s Dynamic Stillness, that worked with the night drive! While driving home, I noticed that on my side of the freeway, it was complete darkness from Altar Drive to Cadieux Road. Power outage.
It was a good day.