Great news: I never shared the fear here, but after Dad was released from the hospital last month, his follow up chest x-rays weren't clear. When I landed at O'Hare after the recruiting visit to SC with Curly, my brother Pat texted me: Can I call you?
=Not a good sign. The doctor had said the day before at the follow up, that maybe it wasn't pneumonia - maybe it was cancer. Remember Dad had 20 inches of his large intestines removed in July? He couldn't tolerate the cancer meds afterward. So, now the doc wondered if the cancer had spread to his lungs.
He had another x-ray that Wednesday. Pat texted me on Friday while we were driving to Florida. NOT CANCER. The pneumonia took a long time to clear. Phew. Nana will be lost without Dad, so this was a relief on so many levels. That was a great way to start our trip.
We ended our trip on a different note.
Coach insisted we stop at a Comfort Inn south of Louisville. I was annoyed. I'd hoped that since we left at 6 am, we might be able to push through and get home that night. We'd driven for like 14 hours. What was 5 more? Plus we had Curly and Tank, who were both willing to drive a shift.
Tensions were a tad elevated for various reasons.
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| Coach left this on our bathroom counter top a few days later. Hello, PTSD. |
When I crept back into the room, Rae was asleep on the pullout and Kay was asleep on a stack of couch cushions. Were they asleep, or were they suffering from a heat induced coma? Because the room was still SWELTERING.
Coach and Tank were sharing a bed. Tank was awake, lying in a pool of sweat. Coach was asleep until I announced that there was not a chance in hell (and by the feel of things, we were maybe in HELL) that I was gonna sleep in a room with broken AC. I tried to mess with the thermos in the dark. Curly, who was wide awake in the bed she and I were gonna share, mouthed the words WHY'S IT SO HOT IN HERE?
I went downstairs to the front desk, explained the sauna room. The guy told me to give it 2o minutes.
Me: Well, we checked in almost 2 hours ago, what's 20 min gonna do?
Photo from my fired up walk.
When I got back to the room, Coach was getting dressed. By the time I finished brushing my teeth, Coach returned: WE HAVE 10 MINUTES TO MOVE OUR STUFF TO 317. (from 205)
He woke up Kay and Rae. I started gathering chargers and bags and food from the fridge. It was still a scramble. Curly noticed that Kay was lingering. Rae had followed Coach out of the room.
Curly: Go, Kay. Room 317. What are you waiting for?
Coach, who'd popped back in the room to grab another load: Where's Kay?
Tank and I stared at him: She left a few minutes ago.
Great, now we'd lost a child in the Comfort Inn that was anything but comfortable. By the way, the hallways were like 55 degrees. I considered sleeping out there.
Coach raced up to 317 using the stairwell. He wasn't sure where his phone was, so I had no contact with him. I took the elevator to the lobby. Tank took the stairs to the lobby. When she wasn't in the lobby, Tank ran back up to room 205. He called my cell as I was waiting for the elevator to go back up.
Tank: Got 'er.
Turns out, she'd gotten dressed, or at least put a shirt on with her pj bottoms, and grabbed her toiletry bag. Then she went to the lobby, thinking it was morning. When no one was eating breakfast, she went back up to room 205. Tank found her staring at the door to 205, head tilted to one side. He escorted her up to our new room and eventually everyone fell asleep, compliments of blasting AC.
We made it home late afternoon, and we shared the story of confused Kay several times that weekend.
*****
Ever stayed in a room with broken heat or air? We had no AC in August in Boston the year we visited before dropping Lad off at college in New York. We suffered through. Ever have a kid become confused and wander a hotel half asleep? Ever walk 3.5 miles outside of a hotel room to cool your jets? Do you agree about where to stop on a long drive, or how many rooms to secure? Does your spouse critique your driving with nonverbal cues? Tell me I'm not alone.
Good on you to get a new room. One of the joys of hotel rooms is turning the AC down to 65F and sleeping great. We've had to get 2 rooms unless there was a big enough suite. One room we had for 6 was 2 queens and a pull out queen couch- perfect. Last summer, when we pulled over late at night just to get some sleep to stay safe ( 8 hrs in, 8 hrs left), the room had only 2 queens for 6 non-small people. One kid slept at the bottom of the two shorter kids' bed, one on the floor with all the pillows, and adult in other. We all slept terribly, but 4 hours were enough to have us safe to drive.
ReplyDeleteAnd I often won't drive with husband in passenger seat because he is such a crotic- amazing how much they can convey without words.
mbmom11 - The heat in that room. I could not believe that an adult couldn't figure out that this was not a viable option without me there to insist on it. This room had 2 queens (I think they were doubles maybe) and a pull out couch. Kay and Rae are too big to fit on a couch pullout, so Kay slept on the couch cushions arranged on the floor.
DeleteThe body language is so irritating when I'm driving. I'm a good driver and he does some of the same lane changes that I perform, so what the what? Hypocritical.
One room for SIX people? I'm not surprised it was warm and getting warmer. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteOn a solo trip--either to Kentucky or Illinois--I was supposed to stay in a Best Western. It got good reviews on TripAdvisor, but when I got into the room, I lost it. Not only was the entire floor like a sauna, my room was, too, and it had actual spider or cobwebs on the windows behind the drapes. I immediately went back to the front desk and told them I was checking out. The receptionist didn't seem to care as I detailed the problems with my room. I fled to a Hilton that was a parking lot away. Luckily, I got a room. The front desk clerk apologized that it wasn't very spacious, but when I got up there it was cool, clean, and very nicely decorated--and plenty big for just me. I was thrilled.
Poor Kay! That's a lot for someone half-asleep!
Nance - it had two beds and a pullout, but still! It was hotter than hell when we walked in. On the way to FL, I insisted on 2 rooms. Not sure why Coach thought I'd be OK with 1 room. It was silly.
DeleteNot sure I ever posted about a horrible hotel experience Mini and I had when we were on a college visit when she was a senior in high school. We still laugh about it. I might have to share the ordeal. It is so laughable.
Yes - I think Kay was half asleep and she'd just gone to sleep. She seemed to be functioning fine, but whoa - not quite.
I was in a hotel fire as a kid, so I know about Hotel Hell! LOL! Also stuck on an Amtrak train with no AC in June as a kid. Our family vacations were interesting. Traveling can bring out the worst in people. I remember being at a gas station in Columbus with our 1 and 3 YO daughters and I was ready to kill my husband. He went into the mini mart and bought me a 6 pack of beer to 'calm me down.' Good times!
ReplyDeleteIOW, you are NOT alone!!!
Bijoux - A hotel fire. Yikes. We had a fire alarm in a hotel when we were staying with the 2 boys we were planning to adopt. That was nuts. Middle of the night. I was on an Amtrak train with no heat - from Buffalo to Chicago our first Christmas after we got married. Coach pulled out the bathroom rug that had been on our registry that we'd been gifted for Christmas to wrap around my legs. Awful. The beer purchase is hilarious.
DeleteOh, I have stayed in my share of terrible hotels. A Best Western in Newport RI that we wound up calling "The Worst Western" - doors that wouldn't lock, bathrooms that wouldn't flush, a strange and terrible smell in the hallways. A hotel in St Louis that we woke up to a soaking wet floor (and all of our stuff on the floor was soaked) because the room above us flooded. A hotel we stayed at after a wedding that caught on fire at 4 AM (heck of a hangover that morning). I am the critic for driving. I don't think my husband brakes early enough, and it makes me crazy. As a result, I do a lot of the driving.
ReplyDeleteKara - Another hotel fire. That's so scary. A soaking wet floor. Noooo! A bathroom that won't flush - that's a recipe for disaster. My husband doesn't brake early enough - or speeds up in traffic for the 3 seconds like it looks like things are opening up, but NO.
DeleteWe have yet to take a long road trip as a family. A 30 minute drive can feel like hell on earth so we are a ways from being able to drive further with the kids (and yes I know if we drove long distances they would eventually get used to it and be better travelers but we are not car trip people in general!). So I never drive when Phil is in the car! If we did a long trip, I would, but he's the driver. He drives me to work on the days I go into the office since we both work downtown. With my PTSD, even being a passenger in heavy traffic is triggering so I tell him I'm going to close my eyes to keep my stress levels down, otherwise I am terribly reactive for no good reason as Phil is an excellent driver!
ReplyDeleteLisa - If you can avoid long car rides with kids, then your living your best life and I don't think that's a bad thing. A 30 min drive feeling like hell on earth: that's so funny. How great that the two of you can carpool together for in office days. That makes so much sense. I like to get things done in the car when Coach is driving - checking emails, or reading blogs, etc. Dang, that PTSD is rough. Not surprising. xo
DeleteOh, you are not alone! My husband tells me how fast to go, which lane to be in, "Go around this guy," I get so frustrated! And yes, he also wants to save money so gets one hotel room. One time we were in New York and he got one room for the 5 of us. For 4 days. Deep breath! :) As we're getting older I now tell him we're going to splurge on a hotel room! I fight for something nice and I won't back down.
ReplyDeleteGlad you all made it home safely.
Cindy - If Coach did that (and he does sometimes tell me I should be driving x amount, or why don't I use the cruise, etc), I would pull over and just sit there. Prob ask him like he's a toddler: are you done? Coach once got us a hotel room for a weekend away to MI - all of us in a suite with 2 beds (there were 8 of us). The pullout couch was a twin. It was awful. One bathroom - that was the worst part. One bathroom for 8? That happened to be the trip when I tried to help Mini learn to use a tampon as her brothers were pounding on the bathroom door WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG? I agree, at our age - we need to splurge on hotel rooms.
DeleteOMG, the Airbnb I was in this past weekend had a sign on their thermostat that said "keep at 76 degrees." LOLOLOLOL. That'll be a no from me, dawg. I moved that sucker down to 70 at night and slept like a BABY.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your dad is okay! What a scary phone call to get!
Stephany - The manatee airbnb had notes on limits to the AC temps. Bah ha ha.
DeleteYeah, my dad is almost 86 and he's had a few health issues, so I'm bracing for the worst - but that news was a nice break.
Oh I’m glad the years of crappy motel rooms are done, but there were many in the past. We used to drive straight through to FL when we had a house there (24 hr drive) but when we decided that was too much so would stop to sleep for 4 or 5 hours. Some of those places -yikes. But never again. When I rarely stayed in a hotel back in the day when it was me & 4 kids my daughter slept with me and I put the 3 little boys crosswise on a queen. Worked great. However I can’t imagine 6 full sized people in 1 room!
ReplyDeletePat - OMG we've stayed in our fair share of nightmare joints. I remember sleeping the kids sideways in a bed so we could fit 3 in one bed. The weekend Coach booked all of us in a one bedrooms suite was the worst. 8 of us (pre-girls) - one bedroom with 2 beds and a pullout that was a twin size. What on earth? The single bathroom for all 8 of us was horrid. Since I insisted that we get 2 rooms on the way to Florida, not sure why he thought I'd be OK with one room on the way home.
DeleteThere's no way we all would have shared a room; six adult-sized people and one bathroom? never gonna happen. Thank goodness you guys moved! That was ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI don't recall losing a kid in the hotel, but lordy Kay! She must have been sleepwalking.
My husband just acts like no one can drive as well as he can. It's annoying. He doesn't usually get dramatic about my driving because The Driver Rules Everything.
I'm SOOOO happy to hear the good news about your Dad! That is wonderful and worthy of a celebration.
Suz - It was too small of a space for the ages/sizes of people in our group. Coach was stepping in it left and right. I might never agree to take a long road trip with him again, and that will end up costing him - because airfare! Weird that there were no other rooms but then there was?
DeleteCoach needs to adapt that rule: The Driver Rules Everything. It makes sense. I don't mention the issues I have when he's driving, do I? Nope. (do you like how I answered that for you?)
Yes, that was great news. His heath isn't the greatest, but sheesh - lung cancer? That would've been so awful. Hoping he keeps plugging along. His mind is going strong.
I would be more willing to stay in a room with broken heat, than no AC. After the disagreement about whether to keep driving or find a hotel, you must have been sending serious THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT vibes to Coach. In his defense, 19 hours of driving in a day would be a LOT.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the good news about your dad.
Jenny - You are so right. He was stepping in it left and right . . . driver critique, not discussing whether or not to drive a little longer, reserving one hotel room vs two. I angry walked the 3 miles in front of that hotel and then?! THEN?! I find them sleeping/trying to sleep in a hellish 85 degreed room? Nope. That was the last straw.
DeleteThanks, yes - that was a relief.
I hate hot hotel rooms, and we find most of them too hot to sleep in. Hotels in China are terrible for that. Hotel doonas are also another pet hate of mine, especially if the beds aren't made with a top sheet, so you can easily throw it off and sleep under that.
ReplyDeleteMelissa - A hot hotel room is a form of torture. I don't have any interest to visit China, so I am happy to avoid their hot hotels.
DeleteAt home, I did not have AC and I usually slept with no heat. I prefer a cold room with lots of blankets to the opposite. However, we were lucky to only have a few days over 80 degrees and I had a house built in the 20s with nice thick walls. BUT I was at a guesthouse at the beach in Thailand with the girls and someone must have tried to turn the AC up and accidentally turned it off (it was still blowing, but no cooling effect) and we slept hot that night! The next day I checked the remote and realized that the little snowflake (cool) was not on! Also I was traveling with one 12 yo with eczema and one 15 yo with hormones and the attitudes were on the edge. I definitely felt like taking a walk to get away from them at times!
ReplyDelete