Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Thursday 8 May 2008

Although we weren’t due to fly out until 1.18pm today, the very helpful desk staff at the Kellogg Conference Hotel took me very literally regarding wanted to save money on the trip back to the airport and, instead of booking a taxi for us at 11.00am, we were asked to be ready for a shuttle pick up at 9.00am. Not quite the relaxed morning I had in mind but it was half the price, so it all worked out in the end.

It turned out to be a good day to leave, as the weather has turned drizzly and we would have just been killing time wherever we were. We had plenty of time to wander around the airport and Jill was tempted to buy a brooch of prancing horses. Unfortunately, the plane was too small to warrant a walkway, so Jill had to clamber up (and down again) a dozen or so steps to the main cabin. Very awkward. The whole flight was like being in pea-soup and we didn’t break through the cloud until we were just about touching down in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. More drizzle. According to the radio reports, this pattern is due to stay around for and 6 days or so.

Although I booked another hire car to drive from Pittsburgh airport to Johnstown, I was pleased to have done the convertible ‘thing’ in Atlanta/Warm Springs in the sunshine. This time, we just have a basic Nissan Sentra – 4 door / 4 cylinder sedan. Once again, Jill expertly navigated us through heavy Pittsburgh city traffic (although it was only 3.30pm) and out the other side on a series of freeways. We were also snagged by numerous road works which slowed us down so that we didn’t arrive at our “Holiday Inn Express” hotel until 6.00pm. However, apart from the weather, roadworks and anxiety about driving on unfamiliar roads, we enjoyed the lovely scenery all around. Lots of treed hills and wide rivers. Very green.

The hotel is standard but clean and comfortable AND free wireless internet connection. Oh, and it’s right next door to the John P Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute where we have a full day scheduled tomorrow. We had the pleasant surprise of being greeted with a ‘gift pack’ each, containing a greeting card, information about the Institute, two PPS DVD’s (one on Yoga for PP patients), and 3 books which will be a great addition to our library - two I’ve read and one I haven’t, called “Living with Polio: The Epidemic and its Survivors” by Daniel J Wilson. There was also a treat that looks like two cakey biscuits (or cookies) jammed together with a thick layer of peanut butter. So, the neuro and cardiac specialists still have a way to go in providing a team approach to “whole health” messages, I’m thinking . . . Mind you, after a two hour drive, a sugar/fat fix can be very tempting.

The VERY BEST thing our friends at John P Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute did was to leave an electric scooter for Jill to get around on. She is happy, happy, happy. We wandered next door to a bar/diner place for dinner which was fine except that they don’t seem to have the regulation of no smoking in eateries here. Maybe because it’s predominantly a bar, I’m not sure. I just know I came out smelling like an ashtray – Yuk!

So, tomorrow we’re looking forward to meeting up with our generous benefactors for a grand tour of the Institute. More soon.