Thursday February 20 - TCP and on to Cleveland

Tuesday was a very busy day. The overnight snow had made both activities doubtful but in the end it all worked out!!

It was a cloudy start but the sun broke through to make it a lovely afternoon and NOT so cold!!! Nancy said she could pick me up at about 1 pm so I did get my trip out to TCP. 

It is about a 30 minute drive into the country from East Lansing and the house is fairly isolated. As well as the house, there is a large garage with an upstairs area as well and also a barn.

I visited all the areas and gave Nancy a hand collecting dirty towels etc for the laundry as well as helping with the water as she fed various groups. in all the areas there were a mix of friendly cats and shier cats. 


The house though is where the cats just go mad for the attention, they love to be loved!! Katy was so funny, putting her paws on my chest and head butting my chin!! But she had such a lot of competition!! 

The house cats are so funny, they will go outside with you but then go back in when you go back in!! Monty in particular loves to do that!

Anyway, Nancy took me back to my hotel and I waited for Robyne to pick me up so we could go out for dinner. She is chatter number 16 I have met on my travels so far and was coming from the Ann Arbor area. 

She brought me some duct tape to protect my limping suitcase as well as a lovely soft travel bag for some overflow I now seem to have!!. 

We had a wonderful dinner at Stillwater completed by an Ultimate White Russian!!!!! I thought it was appropriate with the Winter Olympics in Russia!!! I must thank Robyne for the meal, the goodies and coming over to meet with me!! A wonderful night out to end a lovely day.



Yesterday, I was supposed to be on the train to Chicago to go to Cleveland, but the train was broken so by bus we travelled. It turned out to be an OK trip with a very good driver. that was after the taxi did not turn up so the wonderful manageress of the hotel took me to the station in her own car and then gave me a hug as she left me!!! I have met so many good people!

We passed through some fairly heavy snow and at one point the sun was trying to break through. There were several layers of cloud and it looked like an eye of blue sky trying to break out of a cave of cloud, it was very beautiful. 

As we progressed, the sun came out and it was blue sky all around, a gorgeous day. There was lots of wet areas of road with the snow melt!

All in all, it was a very pleasant trip, saw things I did not see from the train and we stopped at one of the Indiana state rest areas! We also went through Michigan City the home of a nuclear powered power station! As we approached Chicago I could see why the Willis Tower is so dominant of the landscape. I did not get that same feeling from within the area but from a distance wow!! My, it was tropical, 53 degrees, I cannot handle all this heat!!

The saga of my debit card continues after several emails. They have now blocked my card even though they have not said if it is a fraudulent transaction. If I want to withdraw the balance of money I have I have on there, I can ring from the ATM, this will cost me as it is not a toll free number! I am not very oppressed and will be ringing up when I get home to complain. My next trip I will either request a second card or just bring cash!

Oh, and I just thought I would let you know that I wrote some of this at a Starbucks not very far from Union Station in Chicago!

The train was on time although there was so much confusion in the lounge as those who were lining up for another train were asked to sit down. Also, it would appear that the train that did not run for us this morning was still adrift and anyone wanting East Lansing, Ann Arbor etc were told they would have to travel on another train and then they would have a bus laid on. Some of those people ended up on our train and would get off at Toledo.

I had a senior sitting beside me until the first stop and she was quite delightful, enjoying joining me playing a couple of games on my IPad. We had a really good chat and I thoroughly enjoyed her company. She is from somewhere about 100 miles south of Denver!!

As is the norm on these trains there are no notices after 10 pm, the quiet time. We were asked to turn off sound on electronic devices and, if anyone wanted to make a phone call they were asked to go to the lounge. However, there is always one person who thinks the rules do not count for them!! Nuff said, oh and it was a younger male!

The train, after the good beginning, ran true to from and was one hour late into Cleveland. So by the time I collected my bags, found a taxi, got my room sorted, had a shower and hit the sack it was just about 4 am!!!

After about five hours sleep it was a sluggish start to the day. I rang and ordered a taxi for the airport tomorrow and then contacted the hotel I will stay at on my return here. They said it was fine to leave some things there, great! I have some things I do not need in Canada and have a couple of those really big grey post bags so they were duly filled and sealed up!! The weather was not very good today, raining but not too cold so I wore my rain jacket for the very first time!! I went to the hotel via, yes you have guessed it, Starbucks number ???? That served as breakfast and then on to the hotel, people really nice and helpful again. Also, found there was a CVS store almost next door so got some of my sparkling water I needed.

As I walked, or tried to, back to the hotel I came to the conclusion that while the roads get cleared no-one really cares about the poor pedestrian. There were many places where there was thick icy snow with water on top and I nearly slipped several times. Then I rounded a corner to find the footpath totally closed for some construction so ended up amidst the traffic for a while!! Because there are piles of snow alongside the footpaths there is nowhere for the water to run off, hence large pools (dare I say even lakes) of water. If there is a lot more rain life is going to be very interesting!

I wandered back to my present hotel which is almost beside a large sports venue, Progressive Field, I am sure the locals will know what goes on there!! I packed, again, and then finished the blog, lots of sneezing here as cold number two has developed!! Good timing Janet!!