So it wasn't a cold

CaDiva got me to the Doctor on Wednesday, who got me into the ER, which got me admitted with a bi-lateral pneumonia.

I'm trying to figure how to use this system at the hospital. It is pretty cool really. Right from my TV I can see Gmail, FB, and even my Blog. Well see is a rough term for knowing it is on the screen and trying to make out the individual elements from the bed. But today I'm sitting up in a chair and I'm hoping I'll be able to caption the other pictures while I'm up and learning to breath deeply again.

We tried walking this AM. The nurse put the supplemental O2 down to 1% and I got down two doors before she made me stop and hold onto something while she upped the oxygen. You see, your blood oxygen saturation point should be like at 100%. They aren't so testy about it at 95%. Although they would prefer that via "room air" rather than a rolling silver tank. But if you are breathing the stuff from the rolling silver tank and it still is at 87%, they do not agree you can leave the hospital.

The doctor said I could keep taking walks and doing other things that would help me expand my breathing. But I have to have hand holding and rolling silver tanks or finger probes (I know, right. I didn't think that was a good name for it either but that is what the nurse called it.)

I will do anything I can do to work the "gunk" out of my left lung (they no longer seem so worried about the right side.) So, up and out of bed to do as much as I can with limited sleep at night.

Truly, do you need to know my potassium level at 4 AM? I can promise you if you give me my banana or plums and let me sleep until 7, it will be improved.

Anyway, this is just my way of saying, go back and look at some of the earlier posts and see if I have updated the pictures. Maybe I have. And maybe I haven't. But you won't know until you look.

You are not going to believe this one

My cold was getting worse by the mile so CaDiva just drove and drove and drove. We reached Kickapoo and I had a pork Manhattan, CaDiva, ever so reasonably, had the small turkey Manhattan. I'm certain everything tasted wonderful. But frankly, I was feeling worse and worse as the day went on. I did my only driving from that point to Iowa. By which time I told CaDiva we needed to find a place to stay because I wasn't good for three more hours.

And guess what?

There were no rooms - well at least none from the quad-cities to the University of Iowa area.  Truth be told we never checked for anything on the Illinois side of the river and there was no reason to keep looking after Coralville because we were almost home. I checked Hilton, Best Westerns, Marriott, and Super 8.  No one had any rooms or recommendations.

Ok, lesson learned, we will not live on the fly again.

Well, you know we will.

But, I would appreciate it if any of you hear of us planning to do it again in the near, or even distant future, you would remind us it doesn't work as well as we thought it would.  Maybe I need to add it to the girl trip rules.

I don't think I have much more in me today, so I'll have to catch you up on the rest later this weekend.

Just so you know, those little coughing capsules with no codeine don't work worth spit.

Ok, here's the thing

We are going to pass on St. Louis. This changes our route to allow a stop off at the Jubilee Cafe in Kickapoo, Ill. It is also about 400 miles shorter and will have a us home a day earlier. It seems I have caught the creeping crud. CaDiva is on an errand to find me soup or pancakes or some other food that doesn't require me to make the choice between breathing and eating.

On the home front, the message from HRH is we have had a power outage, although the kitten girls are not fessing up to what happened. HRH also reported the three of them are out of cookies and she can see the bottom of the m&m dish. So, I guess we better get home with necessary supplies.

I'm going to set the camera up to download pictures while I wait for this cold tablet to kick-in. I may have more to say as I recover. See you soon...or not, depending on whether you can die in Columbus Ohio of a chest cold...I'll have to check the local ordinances on that issue.

More to tell and then I'll caption the pictures

Where do I start? Ok, the next morning, Sunday I think, OMG we have been traveling for more than a week, anyway I am sure it was Sunday. We got up after a pleasant night's sleep and checked out of the Fairfield. I'm going to have to get onto Trip Advisor to talk up this place. Ok, stay focused...we ate at the diner again. CaDiva had lox and bagel with cream cheese. She passed on the onions and tomato. I am going to nickname her Bruce...and not because "Fish are our friends" type Bruce. Like dun du dun du dun du Bruce. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she practically melted into the booth as she devoured the sliced smoked salmon and cream cheese on an actual New York type bagel. She was truly a happy camper.

It was a good thing too, because the rest of the day was not as successful. Well it was successful. It was more harrowing. Yeah, harrowing is a good word for it...that or Horrifying. Maybe Horrific? White-knuckle, stomach in throat, anus-shriveling, terrifyingly horrific...Yeah that is closer to it.

We got back onto the I-95 and proceeded toward PA Cousin's house, which Jillian assured us we should reach by 1:00...except that I-95 did not skirt the Metropolitan area. It probably did for people who drive that way but not for the two of us. We went from the Bronx Thru-way, over the George Washington Bridge (actually not over, because we were on the lower level) and into the New Jersey Turn-pike. And this was when there was some sort of sporting event at the Meadowlands. It must have been major, because traffic was slow and go and there was a Met-Life blimp hovering in the distance.

Our arrival time was pushed back again and again. Precious visiting time lost to people who actually drive OVER the grassy verge to get to an exit they overshot, or turn around on the toll-road using that access point the Police sit in. Yeah, that place with the sign that says DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. Well they didn't think, they just did it. TWICE.

And they just kept driving after the end of the merge lane, right along side of us on the right to pass us.  I saw one man counting coup by reaching out and touching cars he outdistanced.

Fortunately, it was CaDiva who was driving and she has driven in California and MIAMI. Even so she was a little appalled at where we found ourselves. When we finally reached the PA Cousins she asked if the offer was still good to stay with them that night. Then we were able to visit last night and again this morning.

Dinner was lovely, roasted vegetable and grilled salmon. I took a second glass of wine since CaDiva doesn't drink and this day deserved a few of those brain cells to give up the ghost. They held too many horrific memories. SHUDDER. The conversation is the only thing that out distanced the food. We will have to schedule another visit soon.

Leaving the next morning, much later than we planned, we tried to find Hershey, Pennsylvania. It is not as easy as you would think. Well, that's what Jillian told us at least. We took four wrong turns and finally ended up in a place where all roads were named after snack related food groups. It was gray and drizzly. Not nearly as much fun as B&J's.

We were probably just too anxious to relax. We didn't take any formal tours, we just shopped and squished pennies. The eastern United States must still be more fit than Mid-westerners, even in Candyland, because I only found clothes to fit my post-smoking but pre-arthritic neck body. I did come up with this wild idea to get a philly steak sandwich. Maybe it is not a great segue following my discussion on not finding clothes to fit, but it was my decision and so we headed out.

Jillian was again no help. So we told her to find Harrisburg (ok, that turns out to be a bad choice on my part, but that doesn't excuse Jillian getting us lost and not knowing where to find a philly steak sandwich).

Anyway, after a few false starts we made a sharp right turn at Friendly's, which CaDiva remembered was the name of a restaurant. They had what they called a philly steak melt...on sour dough sliced bread with american cheese. CaDiva hadn't ever had one so she didn't know better, and besides, they gave her a two scoop sundae just for being born before I was. I missed the hoagie bun but not the Cheez Wiz.

We pulled back on the road only to find we were in Harrisburg during a rainy, foggy rush hour with cranky people who didn't have Columbus Day off. Ok, not as bad as NYC, but this time I was driving. We pulled off as soon as we could. CaDiva ran to the ladies while I pumped gas. Did you know you can't do that in Jersey? You have to let the guy at the station pump it...and he doesn't check your oil or clean your windshield or anything else. Just pumps your gas and hands you the receipt with your credit card. I KNOW! Crazy.

We discussed what to do to ensure we were on the right path to St Louis, especially since we only mapped it that way one time and all our other directions were taking us back to Des Moines via Pittsburgh and Toledo. We finally determined it was two days to St. Louis no matter if we drove any further today or not. So here we are, in a nice Hampton, planning what to eat if CaDiva quits burping up the faux philly steak sandwich and blogging away. After dinner, I'll try captioning more of the pictures. I may even download the ones from the Non-Whale Watching Cruise....oh sorry - SPOILER ALERT.

There was no room at the inn

I have no place to really type but I'm at least out of the car and in my PJs. Oh, such a story I have to tell. We got up this AM in Portland, Maine. We have lots of good things to say about the Marriott Fairfield in Scarborough, ME and I'll share them all when I can type sitting up.

We spent a lot of Thursday determining there is no place to stay in Vermont. So we passed on returning to the Vermont Country Store. Sad, but we had to be somewhat sensible. We were slow to start the day because we only needed to drive halfway to Hershey to ensure we could hook up with Cousin in PA. Unfortunately NH Cousin is down low with a wicked virus. So we'll have to visit our next time out.

Off we go down Maine into New Hampshire and over to Massachusetts and into Connecticut. We decided at 4:00 PM to start looking for someplace to park ourselves for the night by 5:00. That way we would have time to blog, find pills we knew we packed but couldn't find, and generally reconnoiter.   Ok, so we first encountered no rooms because of the leaf peepers, but we got off the interstate and were driving on some Parkway 5 and found out that it was Parents Weekend for Yale. And we pushed on and continued to hear tales of weddings and school reunions. We even called forward to Hershey. If we drove until nearly 11 PM we could make it there, but they are having a car show and have no rooms until the one we booked for tomorrow.

I was calm as the proverbial cucumber, but CaDiva was starting to get a little cranky after the 17th or 30th hotel said no. We backtracked about five miles to one place that said we they had a room and it only cost $55.00 a night. We were a little nervous when they told us to bring cash. When we got there we realized we were right to be nervous. It was probably perfectly safe and clean. But this time we decided to judge the book by its cover.  We took off like a rabbit with a scalded cotton tail.

At one point we pulled so far off the Hwy 5 in yet another unsuccessful attempt to find a place to lay our weary heads that Jillian put us back on I 95. I was horrified we were going to end up in Central Park. Just as the sun was setting I spotted a Best Western over CaDiva's shoulder. We pulled off and set Jillian to find the phone number, only to once again hear the sad words, "We're sold out for tonight." I asked one more time if the desk clerk had any recommendations. He did and we called this little local place, Fairfield Inn at the Circle. When I asked if they had a room for two adults for tonight the phone went quiet. I imagined the night desk clerk was laughing or rolling his eyes or just putting me on hold so I could fall like Wiley Coyote with a little Help! sign while he said "Meep Meep" from the cliff above. But NO ... He actually offered us a choice, one bed on the main floor or two beds on the second floor (no elevator.)

We snagged the king bed on the first floor and drove like the wind to find a charming, seriously dated, but clean, quiet place with an incredibly good diner next door. After we checked in (only $105 with tax) we dropped our bags and went next door for a proper dinner. CaDiva had the potato pancakes and I had the pastrami. HRH would have killed for the pickle.

We have already connected with PA Cousin and will be joining her and her husband at their home, three hours from our current digs.

I have more pictures to post and captions and tales to tell from the last two days.  I promise I'll give you the details tomorrow.

Pictures Pictures Pictures - I'll tell the story later

We asked the lady at Odyssey Whale Watching for a recommendation for chowder. She said Gilbert's, definitely, however one of us should get chowder and the other should get the lobster stew. Her grandson, she claimed, ALWAYS got the lobster stew, even though Gilbert's made the best New England Chowder. They had several types, including corn chowder, so HRH wouldn't starve if she ever follows up out there. But, I did learn that I like lobster. The versions I found in the Midwest are always so sweet. It turns out, I really like fresh lobster, or maybe it is Maine lobster. 

Oh that reminded me, across from the harbor was a juice bar named Maine Squeeze, you gotta love it. 

 The tour driver explained the purpose of a US Custom House but I just thought it was a beautiful old building, It, and many of the buildings are stone. Or at least the old ones are, because the old wooden ones burned down in one of the three fires that gutted the city over the years.

Yeah, well have you ever seen a piece of the Berlin Wall? 

OK, now this is hard to get perspective, but this is part of a mural of a life size whale. It was really quite pretty. I actually got some more pictures of it out to see. I'm going to try and get the two versions together and see what differences I can see.

 Well, we were there for Fall Colors, right? And the sign was cool.

Portland ME is actually a small little place, just over 60K population and it is known for a lot. But they are so proud that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born there they put a rock where his house was before it burned down during one of the three fires that destroyed the town. On the other hand, if you keep looking at the feet at the top of the picture, you will see a man walking down the street in a kilt. Not even Tartan or anything other than a guy in a kilt.

SEE? What did I tell you.

If I had knowledge, I could discuss the architecture I snag, but I just love interesting buildings. So you have to look at them too.  Well, you don't have to. But you never know when I might add something interesting or say something memorable, so you are pretty much stuck. And face it, we knew it was going to be that way when I started this, now didn't we?

According to the young man giving us the trolly tour, the larger the house, the less time you were likely to spend here. One of the houses could have been Bette Davis'. I don't think I actually saw it. But apparently Dana Merrill, (probably the wrong spelling but I'm not on a real computer so I'll fix it later) former spouse of Ms Davis and notorious  town imbiber once came home to Portland from NYC via taxi and attempted to pay for the ride with one of Ms Davis' Oscars.  I think that is where the former spouse part came in.

Anyway, this was mostly to tell you a lot of these grand old homes are just "summer places."

Yesterday, Change of Plans

The whale watching cruise was cancelled. So we replaced it with a trolly tour of Portland, birth place of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I got some great pictures, which I'm downloading now, but we'll have to see if the cruise is on for today before I can post them. We extended our stay at the Fairfield, thanks to the ever efficient sales staff, for getting us an room that didn't break the bank.

We just got word that the Wale Watching Cruise is a go for today. So I will hopefully have some impressive shots for you when we get back this afternoon.

This time, pictures with the story to follow...

It is late and it took forever to load two days worth of pictures. So I'll share the pictures and tell you the tale tomorrow after the whale watching cruise. Maybe before, it depends on how late I sleep in. It is my honeymoon after all. I get to sleep in if I want to. Sheesh, quit nagging. Here are the pictures already.

Gray skies are gonna clear-up, put on a happy face. The next morning we woke up, we were still in a tiny room, with a little rock hard bed with no electronic entertainment. CaDiva tried to shower. Let's just say, we have a much better idea of showering in a Class B motor home will be like. 

We went downstairs to a well appointed breakfast. Fresh fruit with yogurt, potato and cheddar quiche, good coffee, choices of juice (well orange or grapefruit ... so in many worlds that would be a choice) little breads (zucchini, apple, blueberry and such) all homemade. We visited with several people, the night before and this morning. They are quite open at B&Bs. A couple of ladies (looked like sisters, but so do CaDiva and I) from Harrisburg PA, shared our lament at not seeing the episode of NCIS with the Ducky flashback. At breakfast we visited with a retired couple from the DC area. He was former navy and they had been stationed in Hawaii at some point, and knew the Virginia Beach area quite well. We got a chance to talk to a couple from Scotland (you know I love the accent.) And there was another couple, I don't know where they were from, but they drive through Iowa on their way to one of the Dakotas. I was actually amazed at how many had Iowa connections. Someone worked with someone who was from Iowa. A daughter married a man from Iowa. 

The hostess at the B&B (oh, yes, I avoided calling them Bob and or Joanna) warned us all about the rotary and how the construction would never be finished in her lifetime. Translated to the Midwestern, that means the freeway exit is being rebuilt and it is going to cause traffic back up until who laid the rail. Anyway, she pulled out an illustrated map to route us to B&Js while avoiding the points of contention.

Then CaDiva got to see that "road" we drove down to get into the B&B. She was very impressed with herself, as was I, that she managed to get into the parking lot in one piece. No wonder she didn't fall into Canada by mistake. Although we later slipped into New Hampshire without knowing it. But that is a story for later. 

We saw the Best Western we had hoped to stay at on the way. And B&J was practically around the corner. We had a wonderful time, Thank you 2nd Temporary Boss for the lovely gift. It is set up to accommodate the massive crowd of visitors, which included a lot of Bonnet Ladies and their Menfolk.

I had the Chocolate Therapy small cone. CaDiva chose the Buzz Buzz Buzz Coffee small cone. Neither were terribly small and CaDiva even passed on her Starbucks on our way to Maine. 

The ladies from Harrisburg told us the Vermont Country Store (it is their Annual Pilgrimage) was surrounded by Antiques Shops and other Stores so we decided we would reroute. We headed straight to Maine and would backtrack to Weston on our way to New Hampshire. But, of course, We had to visit the graveyard of lost flavors first. We walked the way, but CaDiva found we could get the Highlander up there so I didn't have to walk back. Fortunately, we agreed only one of us could be stoved-up at a time, and my hips had trumped her back that morning.

I remember Wavy Gravy fondly, but some of the flavors didn't even live out of their first year, as proven by Economic Crunch. (Oh that was bad. Apparently my mind is too much on current events. I almost said Economic Growth didn't even last a year. Damn those political ads.)

And so we were off again. The sun was so warm, we actually turned on the AC in the Highlander. We had clouds, but they were the beautiful kinds I have to resist from spending my entire day snapping, since even the digital camera can hold only 32gigs of data and I do love a good cloud picture.

We drove through the White Mountain Forest and somehow ended up in New Hampshire without ever realizing we left Vermont. I guess they don't all put a big old bridge between their states like New York to Vermont and New Hampshire to Maine.

We did see a lot of evidence of why they call New Hampshire the Granite State.

Off to whale watch...more later.

This one was hard fought, but I finally snagged a shot of it for the Signs You Won't See In Iowa Thread. I'm hoping for Bear Crossing on our way to the Vermont Country Store.

Watch for this to be added to the signs you won't see in Iowa thread.