The Great Midwest Adventure - Edition II

I made it to Columbus, am happily ensconced in my room at the Crown Plaza to let "the experts" know I made it. Since they never read a thing I write, I can make a couple of small confessions.

First, those skycaps I bragged about tipping are in short supply. By the time I arrived in Columbus, I had a major ache in my neck from carrying around what amounted to two 50 pound weights. One nice man volunteered to get my carry-on luggage out of the bin somewhere back there in the bowels of the plane. When he pulled it free, it almost took him down with it!

"What have you got in there?" he asked. "My concealed handgun and my license to carry it," I smartly replied. "I am an undercover Federal Marshall." He handed me that carry-on so fast you would have thought it was a hot potato. I thought he was going to salute.

Anyone in their right mind can tell I am not a Federal Marshall. Do I look like Mariska Hargitay in Law and Order? That only happens in my dreams! But he looked so stricken, I shook his hand and told him the Federal government was very appreciative of his help.

He probably thinks he is going to get a glowing letter of commendation from his congressman. When I was waiting for THE REST of my luggage, I heard him whispering to the guy he was standing by and looking my way.

At the airport, I met a very nice young man who just graduated from high school. He is carrying luggage for people to earn money for school. He plans on being an Architectural Engineer. We had a nice chat while we spent 23 minutes waiting for the luggage carrier to roll the Big Brown Suitcase around. He pulled that sucker off the bin, dropped it on the cart (literally), and pulled the cart with all of my belongings, including my purse, across the street to the rental car company.

I tipped him well and told him I hoped he had a clone in another part of Columbus, and with my rental car map in hand, I left the airport.

It wasn't too long before I was lost, so I decided to take desperate measure. I found a gas station, asked what their address was, typed it into my GPS on my ipad, typed the address of the hotel in the other blank, and hit "SEARCH."

In a few seconds, there was a big blue blinking dot on the GPS map. It was me in my little blue Honda Civic right there on the map with an orange variety of routes leading to the Crown Plaza! I looked at the blinking blue dot, put that Honda Civic in gear, and started down the route that was marking the way to the hotel. So between glancing at the blue dot to make sure I was on the correct path, and other drivers honking at me to get moving, I made it to the Crown Plaza.

Guess what? There was no clone of Tim, the skycap, although I thought there was. There was a young man in a short sleeved white shirt, navy blue Bermuda shorts with a lanyard around his neck. I asked him if he was the bellman, and I thought he was going to choke. He was a guest. Oops!

So, I hauled the cart to the rental car, and winched Big Brown from the trunk, amazingly. Of course that did not help my shoulders and back which were already in dire need of a good rubdown, but I won't be telling that to the home team.

While I was dragging the cart down the hall and to the elevator, I met a very nice couple from Ohio. Their granddaughter is McKenzie Fruchey from Fayette County who exhibited the Grand Champion Market Lamb at the 2011 Ohio State Fair. McKenzie has had an outstanding career exhibiting lambs and steers. She exhibited the Grand Champion Market Lamb at the 2011 American Royal. In 2012 she exhibited the Grand Champion Steer at the Ohio Beef Expo, the Reserve Grand Champion Steer at the Michigan Beef Expo, and the Grand Champion Steer at the 2012 Clark County Preview Show.

McKenzie won steer showmanship today in the 18 Year Old Division. (Don't let Ryan Rash hear that, he will be lobbying for a showmanship division for every year. He thinks it is more meaningful than having the Grand Champion Steer.)

Mckenzie will exhibit a Crossbred steer and a Maine Anjou Steer tomorrow at the Ohio State Fair. Her grandparents are extremely proud, as well they should be.

When I asked where she was going to be attending college, her grandmother told me that she was going to "a little junior college in Illinois". She said that she and her husband were not familiar with the school until McKenzie decided that is where she wanted to go.

I grinned and told them that I bet it was Blackhawk. They looked surprised. I then said, and I bet she is going to judge livestock, and they were even more surprised that I knew that. We have a lot in common, the people from Ohio and the people from Texas. We all appreciate good livestock judges and respect the students who wish to be on judging teams. I am going to meet McKenzie tomorrow, and I look forward to it.

I like Ohio. The people are friendly. They have been hit by drought this year like we were last year, and when I look at some of the 70, 80 even 100 year old trees who look like they may not recover from the summer, it breaks my heart. I know how devastating it was for us.

Tomorrow I plan on getting a look at Ohio State as well as spending a lot of time at the 2012 Ohio State Fair. Be watching for my next update. I am "On the Road Again" and loving it!

Right now, I have to go place a Ben-Gay Pain Relieving patch on my neck! But don't tell the boys!

Cherie