March 8, 2002
"Temperatures Are Flaring"
| Once again, we had another sleepless night. Mary awoke
around midnight and, finding herself in a strange place, started screaming.
John and I took turns sleeping in the room with her, during which time she was
up and down all night long. Given that she normally sleeps peacefully all
night long, we knew that something was wrong with her. In the morning, we awoke early and started packing up the car, for it was time to return to Columbia, to say our good-byes to the family before flying back to Phoenix. In order to take the most direct route back to Columbia, we decided to take US 321 south through Gastonia towards York and Chester. After Chester, US 321 would finally intersect with I-77, which we would then take south into Columbia. The trip, for the most part, was uneventful…until lunchtime. We arrived in York around noon, but we were unable to find a restaurant - we learned that "business loops" were not "business loops" in the same sense as those in Arizona. A "business loop" in Arizona took you off of the main highway through a business district of restaurants and gift shops, before depositing you back on the highway. The "business loops" that we encountered during our trip took us through residential areas, without a single restaurant to be found! We finally found a BBQ buffet and pulled into the parking lot, but when we discovered that they were crowded and did not take credit cards, we decided to leave. It wasn't until we reached Chester that we finally found a fast food restaurant. We stopped there for a bite to eat before we continued on our journey. It was nearly 2:00 p.m. when we arrived in Columbia. Instead of going to Lotte and Richard's house, though, we stopped at the shopping mall first, to buy Aunt Lotte a birthday present. While we were there, Mary was exceptionally cranky, as she had been for most of our journey. In fact, she didn't perk up until we finally arrived at Lotte and Richard's house, just in time for happy hour. Lotte and Richard were celebrating, having just gotten Joshua to take a nap. They had been having quite a time with him, mainly because he had been sick for the duration of his visit. He had also just hit separation anxiety and was clinging to Aunt Lotte wherever she went. Upon awakening from his nap, he followed her around the house, no matter where she went, and if she stopped, he attached himself to her leg and would not let go. He was miserable, not only because he was sick, but also because he missed his Mommy and Daddy. Poor little guy… Mary, on the other hand, was just as miserable as Joshua was. During the evening, she came down with a fever of 102.8° - probably the highest temperature she had ever had in her life. We immediately gave her a tepid bath and some Children's Motrin to soothe her fever, and then we put her to bed around 8:00 p.m. John and I stayed up late, socializing with Lotte and Richard and all of their guests: Rick and Shirley, and Grandma and Grandpa Chakowski, too. By the time we went to bed, we were ready to pass out from exhaustion; at that point, I needed a vacation from the vacation! Return to Southern Comforts. | |
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