Creme of the Crop

The best cream soda I've had in a long time can be found in Devola, OH. At Miller's BP and mini-mart to be specific--the site of our first rest stop on the way to Waxhaw, NC.

When you've got five vehicles filled with 28 people (one-third of which are small children), and they're driving about 500 miles in about 10 hours--it's not a question of "if" but "when" the first relief stop will be requested.

My money was on the Foell party. It was a "no brainer". They did have 50% of the aforementioned small children onboard. So, at 10:45AM, the request crackled over the walkie-talkies,

"Andrew's gotta go to the bathroom."

To which Taryl, the team's global positioner, responded with the exact mileage to the nearest appropriate exit--as well as a handful of other salient alternatives.

"Andrew won't last long! The nearer, the better."

We descended on the small "gas & sip" off of I-77 with military precision, and quickly overwhelmed their facilities at 1100 hours.

While waiting for the troops to rotate through the loo, I spied dozens of interesting 20 ounce plastic bottles of cream soda. Their labels purporting the finest in cream soda experiences with a taste like "creme brulee". So, for 99 cents, me and many others in our team were truly rewarded with a fine, creamy drinking experience.

Thank you, Lord--and thank you, Andrew!

By the way, the rest of the trip concluded without a hitch. With a couple more stops added in, we made it to the JAARS campus before 6:30PM.