The "We'll Call The Trip a Sucess!", edition.

Good morning!  We're back on the desert. And guess what?  I've spent most of life in the Midwest.  And I was quite happy to return to the desert. Lol. Our last day in Champaign was cold and wet and windy. And we didn't have jackets. Or long sleeves. Or closed toe shoes (well I didn't have closed toe shoes). I was cold for the last 24 hours. :-(  I turned on the heat in the hotel room. Hey. It got down to 52 degrees. Brrrrrrr. And did I say it was raining and wind?  Raining hard!  And of course that was the night Shawn's friend invited us to her Hawaiian luau. Arghhh. This is the second time I've somehow managed to delete paragraphs. Save often. 

The luau was held in a garage on a wet and windy and did I say chilly, evening. Brian and I were the oldest folks there, except for a couple of archeology professors who looked like they may be older, but who can tell anymore!  Lol. The talk was archeologist talking archeology. But Shawn's friends did come and introduce themselves to us. Very nice. And they love Shawn. :-)  Anyway.  Shawn allowed us to us to leave after a while as long as we would pick her up. We were all on that. Anything to get out of the cold and windy garage.   lol. Got back to the hotel and turned on the heat.   

Prior to the cold and windy day, we had a great trip. But any time we spend with Shawn makes for a great trip. We admit to being those parents. We travelled cross country just to hang out with our kid.  However and whatever she wanted to do, that's what we did. Day one was grocery shopping. You know we have to fill the refrigerator and cupboards of our grad student!  We even shopped for the grandcat. I also fixed her a fairly large pan of the Gruyere macaroni and cheese. We also prepared a Greek pasta salad and had the fixings for the baked beans. The next day, she fixed lunch for us. A linguini, roasted pepper, Brie dish. Was delicious!  

She took us to several local restaurants. And a really nice cheese market. The cat food came from a horse feed store. Lol. We clearly got the most comprehensive tour of Champaiin-Urbana that we'd ever seen. Lol. I also learned why my first choice hotel was booked so far on advance. UIUC was hosting the regional games for the NCAA baseball tournaments. And the hotel is just blocks from the athletic complex. Oh.  Saw the presidents house..mansion. And am always tickled seeing stores backed up by cornfields!  

Dialysis went pretty smoothly while there. I had to use the bed, instead of the chairs. I need to have the ability to lay prone if my blood pressure drops. It kinda helps stopping me from passing out. But the treatments ended up being mundane. Which is great!  After the last treatment we needed to discard the needles. You know sharp pointy hazmat things. The Davita clinic in Champaign agreed to discard our needles and leftover supplies. When we arrived with our stuff, I was greeted by a tech who remembered when I visited. She greeted me with a hug and a kiss. :-)  

Leaving Illinois. was just as much as a nonissue as leaving Las Vegas. Thrifty car rental got that 99 pound box on the shuttle bus. It's to big to fit under the luggage rack, so it was just in the middle of the bus floor. Lol. Eh, I am positive that that's a safety hazard, but......  Anyway. United took care of everything, all of our medical equipment. We were not charged for anything that was labeled medical equipment, including our portable dolly/cart to lug the box. All total was 4 checked items. No charge. When we landed in Las Vegas, the wheelchair guy actually took me from the gate, to the baggage claim area...and the United area is in another terminal altogether. And we rounded up a skycap who assisted with the dialysis machine. They took us directly to car and loaded the car. Whoo hoo!  All we need now is Dad's hired guy to unload it this morning. And we'll do treatment this evening. I can travel with this thing with planning and I'm raring to go on another trip!  

We had a great time with Shawn. The weather was great through Friday, but it didn't make any difference.  We spent time with our kid. She's doing great. She's formulating her thesis. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when she submits it. She'll get her masters next year, on the way to the PhD. She's happy, she's excited. She loves archeology and all of the possibilities. And you know, if she's happy, I'm happy. Looking forward to seeing her again 

We made it home. We unpacked, the went to the hot tub in the moonlight. <wink! wink> I'm digging the desert!  Lol. It was 100 degrees when we landed and it felt so good.  I'd been cold for the previous 24 hours, including in the airplane. lol. Hot here again today and I'm not complaining. Back to the schedule this week. Water work out this morning, resume our painting classes this week and planning for a trip to visit friends in LA in July!  Have a fabulous day. And here's hoping the Midwest dries out and gets warm!!!  

Photo of UIUC sign and an image similar to the kid's apartment. Imagine a cat in the window!