Days in the mid-west 3/4/10

You haven't heard from me in a while. I'll tell you why. I've spent myriad days in middle America. Not much to talk about. I've seen it and done it all. But one thing I cant say is I never want to go to Hays Kansas again. Unfortunately, we had four nights there. The pleasurable stay began at the worst Ramada Inn I've ever seen. Although everyone was excited because the hotel boasted an indoor water slide we were thoroughly disappointed. The inside of the hotel was dark and scary. Scary like The Shinning. They put us off of a hallway that smelled like burning, 35 degrees, and disintegrating wallpaper. We get into our room and there were holes in the wall and the room smelled funny. Our company manager had us moved and although our new room was nicer the heater was like a space heater with exposed elements that were red as hell. And it had burn marks. We went to the restaurant in the hotel that was lit like a hospital room. Even though the restaurant was dirty and empty they offer rack of lamb on the menu. I opted for grilled chicken. Al, Kirsten, Jenny, and I choked down our dinner and a lot of liquor. After a while I noticed it was poker night and ended up hanging out with the locals. I lost seven dollars but had a lot of fun. The next morning proved to be a godsend. We went to a new hotel!!!! Yeah! For the rest of the time in Hays anytime we mentioned the Ramada we got responses like... "Oh dear God", "That's a blemish on our community", "I'm so sorry", etc.

We moved onward to Skokie Il and ventured into Chicago for a day. It was brief but nice to be near a big city. I got to catch up with a good friend of mine that I hadn't seen in almost five years. It is crazy the amount of quality people that I've met in my life. This trip has allowed me to reunite with many of them.

So... we are now in Belcamp MD, just outside of Bel Air and Baltimore. Actually it is our day off and I slept till 1 pm. Booya!! We are going to see the Crazies tonight and I am very excited. If you don't know anything about the movie, it is a remake of a 1973 Romero film. It followed his classic 1968) "Night of the Living Dead". If you haven't seen the original you must. His films all have a strong political undercurrent. The original Crazies is about a chemical warfare spill that sends the people of a small town in PA into violent tantrums. Romero is a producer on this remake and it was shot in Iowa!!!! I've heard nothing but good things about the 2010 version but am still a little weary.

So there you have it... I've now caught you up to speed. Unfortunately I have no pictures right now... but we are heading into Manhattan and then down to Florida in time for my birthday (March 20th). Needless to say I will have more photos coming soon. Hope you all are well. Peace!!!