What's up, sunshine? I'm Coy Wire. This is CNN 10. Happy Fri-yay and happy Halloween Eve, the most spooktacular time of the year. Are you ready? I'm going as a pirate this year and I'm getting in the spirit. Now, let's get your news for Fri-yay, October 30th. Election Day just around the corner. On Tuesday, Americans will head to the polls to make their voices heard in this year's midterm elections. Many already have. A whopping 40 million ballots have already been cast during early voting. This election will not only give many voters a chance to choose their new governor or decide control of the US Senate and House of Representatives, but to voice concerns on key issues impacting their everyday lives as well. From affordability to healthcare, immigration, ongoing wars, there is a lot to consider on this year's ballots. What a better way to find out what's on voters'minds than with an epic pre-election road trip. Our Omar Jimenez crisscrossing key battleground states all week to hear directly from voters and he's livestreaming the whole thing. Omar and team took a quick break from their marathon reporting to let us know what he's seeing, hearing, and most importantly, eating. What's up, Omar? What a road trip this has been. We are at Ohio State's campus right now, as you can see, in Columbus, Ohio, which is the state capital of Ohio and we've been on this road trip starting in eastern Pennsylvania. We hit Philadelphia, some of the suburbs, and a place called Allentown, as well. Moved west towards the state capital of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, west then to Pittsburgh, and even further west into Ohio, where we are now. Some of the issues that we've been hearing about from basically everyone is about affordability. Things are just really expensive and they've been that way for a while, but especially so over the past year and change, even when you look at gas prices. A lot of the gas stations where we've stopped have had above national average worth of gas and the prices of diesel have been just around record levels for about a month now. So, it's been really difficult for a lot of people to deal with that and we've heard that from a lot of the folks we've talked to, from farmers, from students. We've been talking to people on campus here and even they said affordability was probably the top issue for them right now. Now, as part of this trip, we've also seen some pretty cool places because the best part road trip is stopping to see what makes some of these places unique. So, we stopped at Gettysburg, which is one of the pivotal places in the Civil War and we got some perspective from a historian there, heard from a Ulysses S. Grant impersonator who he told us Grant wasn't at that battle, but he gave us some broader perspective on the war. We stopped in Pittsburgh at this old steel mill that they've fought hard to preserve because they want it to stand as a symbol of what's possible, but also how quickly things can change. And the last thing, of course, is we've been eating. We've been eating a lot of food. Philly cheesesteak or cheesesteak in Philly was unreal. But also, we've been just getting There's a place called Wawa in Pennsylvania. We got a nice hoagie from there, which was incredible. We stopped at a shack on the side of the road when we were leaving a farm to eat a footlong hot dog, which I'm still thinking about and was lighter than you could imagine. Coy wanted me to tell him what my favorite food was. I don't need to make it complicated. The cheesesteak we had in Philly, I'm still thinking about it. Really, really good. That was day one. That was first meal and I can't get it off my mind. So, I think that's going to be my answer. But so far, it's been great. Meeting all sorts of people, all sorts of different walks of life, talking about what's important to them this election. And the top line seems to be things are just too expensive. >> Now to a nautical phenomenon causing royal problems on both sides of the US. King tides are bombarding the Atlantic and Pacific coasts this week, spurring dangerous conditions from California to the Carolinas. Well, what are they? King tides are generally the highest tides of the year occurring when the moon reaches its closest point to Earth known as its perigee. But a combination of strong winds and the weather pattern El Nino are causing quite the coastal conundrum. Los Angeles and San Francisco set high tide records this week as coastal communities dealt with flooding and dangerous erosion. >> Basically, it's the highest tide we've seen maybe ever. >> As soon as it breached there, it was like a >> river. On the other side of that street, there were white rapids coming in. And I saw a school of fish go by. >> Remember like Mike Tyson said, everybody's got a plan till you get socked in the mouth? We got socked in the mouth. >> Thousands of miles away in Florida, some areas saw tides of up to 2 ft above normal as seawater inundated beachside businesses, roads, and homes. >> My rent is going up because I got waterfront property right now. When I see a car up, I run down here and tell them, "Within 20 minutes, water's up to here." >> While this week's record tides have begun to recede, meteorologists warn that a combination of high ocean temperatures and this year's super El Nino could continue pushing water levels higher throughout the winter. Pop quiz, hot shot. What color is a spider's blood? Blue, yellow, red, or black? Ooh. If you said blue, you absolutely nailed it. Unlike human blood, which uses iron-based hemoglobin to transport oxygen, spiders rely on a copper-based protein called hemocyanin, which appears blue when oxygenated. A lot of us probably hate spiders, yes? Well, turns out we may have more in common with the creepy crawlers than we probably would have thought, at least when it comes to sleeping. Researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany discovered that spiders appear to experience distinct stages of sleep much like humans. They used infrared cameras to observe an Australian jumping spider over several days and nights as it traded catching flies for catching z's. To make sure the crafty critter was actually asleep and not just lying in wait, they used a special audio prompt to measure its reaction times. When asleep, they noted the spider underwent eye and muscle twitches during different phases similar to how we humans and other vertebrates experience REM or rapid eye movement sleep. While there's no word yet on whether spiders dream, the revelation is helping give scientists a better view of bedtime in one of the least understood corners of the animal kingdom. So, next time you have a nightmare about spiders, just know that maybe they are having bad dreams about you, too. It is almost Halloween. But wait, what is Halloween? Halloween, Hallow evening. Well, let's unmask this mystery. Travel back more than 2,000 years to the ancient Celts in what's now Ireland and Britain. They celebrated something called Samhain, marking this harvest's end and the winter's beginning. They believed the boundary between the living and the spirit world would grow thin. Think bonfires, disguises, and ghosts. Centuries later, Christianity brought All Saints' Day or All Hallows'Day on November 1st. The night before became All Hallows' Eve, eventually shortened to Halloween. Irish and Scottish immigrants brought traditions to America. Door-to-door customs eventually evolved into trick-or-treating and carved turnips became pumpkins. Talk about a gorgeous makeover. Meanwhile, Mexico celebrates Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, around November 1st and 2nd, a distinct tradition blending indigenous and Catholic influences where families honor loved ones who've died with flowers, food, and colorful altars. Different traditions, different stories, but a fascinating connection how we remember those who came before us and celebrate being alive. Turns out Halloween has a whole lot more behind the mask. Today's story getting a 10 out of 10, adorable otters giving the WME's Gabby Williams and Ryan Howard a run for their money. The Oregon Zoo just shared this slamming video of their rescue otters getting into the fall spirit by hooping it up with miniature pumpkins instead of basketballs. It's part of their regular training and enrichment program to keep the furry friends healthy and active. Hooped it is. These motor skills ought to come as no surprise to us. Sea otters are known to use rocks as tools to open hard shelled prey. That is a clam dunk. All right, sunshine. I've got a time for one shoutout today. This Friday goes to Mr. Mascara at Delmar Middle School in Delmar, Delaware. Thank you for making us a part of your day. I see you, Ava Lynn. You all are what makes this show the best 10 minutes in news. Play that Friday music, Nader. Hope you have a whole lot of fun this Halloween. Send us some pictures on the socials at Coy Wire at CNN 10. Stay safe, stay warm, and dominate some candy. I'm Coy Wire. We are CNN 10.