Good Grief

Let's just say that the trip yesterday had a strong resemblence to the rest of my week. The trip that should have taken 9.5 hours took 15 thanks to two car fires, road work, another closed interstate with a detour, more road work, a strong thunderstorm with zero visibility, and...did I mention road work? Ok. 30 minutes of that 15 hours was spent at a truck stop waiting for ibuprofen to work on my headache so I could continue to drive...

So we arrived at the hotel at 1140 pm...and the refrigerator isn't in the room and there is standing water on the bathroom counter. I call the desk. Twice. They offer to move us, but I am way too tired. Just bring the fridge and I will put towels on the counter and you can fix it tomorrow. Really.

So this morning we went to the hospital...the short version is that we get to return in six weeks to see both surgeons again to see if this neck is fusing. He has to stay in the collar until we return. While not the news for which Will was hoping, it is the news that was expected.

We headed to Guest Services and snagged tickets to the Cincinnati Museum Center, a combination natural history, children's, and Cincinnati history museum with an Omnimax theater. We met Bob, a volunteer there, who chatted with us throughout our visit until we reached the cave, the largest indoor cave in the US. Well, a living cave means water, and water in a non-ventilated area means mold which means Nancy is treated to a lovely asthma attack which prompts an early escape from the natural history side of the museum. I wondered what had been bothering me the whole time we were there, but as soon as we were in the cave I realized what it was...as the asthma quickly won. Grr...Really. This trip has been challenging...in so many ways.

We watched the Imax film, "Under the Sea", in a totally different area of the museum before leaving. It was amazing to see it on the Imax screen. Will is totally enthralled with the "Planet Earth" series, but we both enjoyed this movie.

So then we headed back to the hotel. Only I, of course, after a series of mis-turns, ended up in Newport, so we instead had dinner at Johnny Rockets wich was really fun. We finally got a breather. We laughed, we ate, we played cards, and then we visited a Barnes and Noble. Then, Will got to watch a magician perform outside the bookstore. That was probably the best part of this entire trip for him!

We stopped by Graeters, the Cincinnati based ice cream parlor that has amazing black raspberry chip ice cream and headed back to the hotel. Come to find out, Newport on the Levee is a whopping mile and a half from our hotel. Go figure! :)

We are safely ensconced in our room that wasn't cleaned with a sink that is still leaking. Really. The offered to move us and I said, "You have to be kidding me." I have no idea how they are going to financially handle this, but this has been most...interesting. They are amazingly pleasant, the hotel was beautifully remodeled, but, um, not so well run.

Tomorrow we head toward home...in what I hope is a slightly less entertaining drive. :)