Oh My Gosh!

Old Glory

As of tonight we've traveled over 3,500 miles!  We're just now getting settled in the hotel in Erie PA.  We hit road construction on I-90 about 12 miles from our turnoff and it took us an hour and a half to reach the exit.  Tomorrow morning will be the same thing as we hit I-90 headed to our final destination, Troy NY.  They say that the construction goes on for quite a way but they don't know how far at this point.  We don't care, we have a couple of books on tape and we play with Jamison and talk.  We refuse to get upset or worked up at this point of the journey.  We've only scheduled 200 miles for tomorrow because we're so weary tonight we're not going to rush in the morning. It will have us stopping within a 100 miles of our goal.  Some may say that's crazy and if were 10 or 15 years ago you'd probably be right.  But for us, right now, this is right.  We've come to far to screw it up now.

Speaking of screwing it up, I really did a humdinger this morning.  We stayed at a Quality Inn last night in South Bend, IN last night.  When I checked they said they had internet.  They had it alright.  You just couldn't connect.  When I called the front office the gentleman said, "sometimes your security is too high and you need to reduce your security".  We talked with Aaron and he advised against reducing our security.  We also had no cell phone coverage in the room.  Outside of the room yes, inside no. TV coverage was about 5 stations and two of those you could barely see.  Needless to say, we read.  I wasn't concerned about any of it except for the fact that the first thing I do when we get in at night is plot our route and reserve our room for the next night.  Since I couldn't do it then I had Ray stop at a PILOT Truck Stop on the road this morning, I bought 24 hours of internet service for $4.99, purchased a Diet Pepsi and set up shop.  I just about screamed bloody murder when I tried to log on to the internet and it said there were no connections.  I took a deep breath, sat back, drank some Pepsi and waited for about 20 minutes and thought I'd give it another try.  In the meantime, it was 93 degrees outside and Ray was trying to keep Jamison cool.  I was not a happy camper.  Guess God didn't care that I was not a happy camper.  He was probably grinning.   After checking with Ray, I made one more attempt and voile, connection.  Ray and I checked out several hotel options, picked one and he went back out to take care of Jamison.  Just as I clicked the "book the reservation" button, our of the corner of my eye, I saw that the room I had booked was in Westminster CO!  Even if I flew as the crow flies I couldn't get to Colorado in time to check in this evening!  Excuse the language, but CRAP! There went $69.  Once it's booked, it's guaranteed.  Lesson learned.  I turned around, made sure I was located on  the bookings.com site for Pennsylvania and booked the room.  Done. By that time is was after noon so we decided to order sandwiches to go and eat on the road.  We got about 100 miles down the road and Ray said, "don't forget to give me my debit card back".  We use his card so he can check us in.  I said, "I gave you your card back after we selected the room the first time". He said, "honey, I don't think so".  Panic!  I grabbed my purse, took everything out.  Nothing.  I grabbed his Day Timer, shook it.  Nothing!  I picked up the road atlas. (yes, even with GPS we carry an atlas!) Shook it, thumbed through it. Nothing!  We hadn't stopped anywhere between where we were and where we had been. It had to have dropped on the floor.  Again, crap!  I picked up the phone (and amazingly enough, we had cell coverage) and dialed our bank and told them our plight. They checked the records for the last couple of hours and nothing had been charged since we left.  They put a block on the card.  Now, I need to order a card and have it mailed to a business.  The only business I know in Troy is Corey's, the Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group.  They all know me as Aunt Jan and that's a good thing.  Problem solved.

Jamison had done extremely well.  I bought a couple of pull down screens because of the sun and heat and he stretches out  and watches out the windows and is quiet as can be.  Tonight it was so hot we stopped at a McDonald's off the Ohio turnpike and had a hamburger.  They had tables outside on the grass and lots of shade.  He had a great time running in the grass.  Earlier in the day when I was walking him he cornered a opossum. Believe it or not, they can really move.  Earlier in the trip we came out one morning to walk and he came face to face with a jack rabbit.  I don't think either of them knew quite what to do.  The jack rabbit took off and Jamison decided he'd like to follow.  He couldn't get far on a leash though.

Troy home for the Jamison's

So, how was your day?