Exodus; Part 1

Hello Friends,

We are back from Elyria, all three of us. I may have to break this one down into a couple of entries as there is much to tell and there are also some damn phone photos that went MIA. GAH! I hate that blackberry!

But where did we leave off? Thursday was the big day as far as Donovan and I taking the bus from Pittsburgh to Elyria. Mike dropped us off at the brand new Pittsburgh bus station, which is lacking the, how shall we say? "patina" of the old one but which is fairly soulless and purposefully uncomfortable. At first it was a bit rough as I was loaded down with a suitcase, a lunchbag, a stroller and a kid.
I'd like to send a shoutout to the 20 something "hippie" kid with his dreads and his American Eagle Shirt that said something like "Send Her Love Letters," and his peace sign necklace and his two little hearts tattooed on his ankle--he gets an extra mention for standing directly behind me and watching me drop things without ever offering to help. Who did help? The blind guy and the lady with the three kids. ANYhow, while we were in line a gentleman ahead of us picked a little stuffed puppy off the floor and handed it to Donny. I said thank you but that it was'nt ours. "I know," he said, "I was killing time playing the crane game over there and I won it. He can have it." Of course, being Donovan, he would'nt take it at first. The guy put it on my suitcase and Donny kept coming over to look at it or poke it or pet it. Finally he took it and it was his buddy for the whole trip. Thank you, Mr. Stranger, for the gift that kept the kid quiet and happy for roughly 5 hours!

I'd like to think that 28 months of daily bus rides prepared the kid for our trip but I have to be honest and say that getting him up super early made him just limp enough to sleep on me until Akron and then quietly play with his puppy and drink some milk until Cleveland. Note the super sleepy eyes. This photo was taken before we had even pulled out of the Pittsburgh station.

The Cleveland busstation is also sad but at least its authentic, with its 1950s art deco aluminum lettering and oversized diamond patterned linoleum. Also, it has a huge expanse of floor for little kids to run around in.
One little boy who was tearing up the joint stopped long enough to ask me if he could give Donovan a little bag of fruit snacks. I thanked him and said yes. Donny politely ate one while the kid was watching but then would'nt eat any more. He polished the rest of the bag off a couple of hours later: one more snack to add to the He Might Just Eat This list! Thanks hyper little 8 year old kid!

We got to Elyria just fine my Mom and sister met us at the bus "station." They took the luggage and Donovan and I walked the 4 blocks home. It was a lovely, lovely summer day and the walk reminded me of how big the sky can be. I'm not saying Elyria is an offshoot of Montana or anything but, really, the sky was so blue and the clouds were so big and white--Oh, Ohio; sometimes I forget how much I miss you.