Day #18- Second Verse, Same As The First...

...a little but louder and a little bit worse.  Well, today was one of those dejavu sort of days.  We woke up, had our coffee, and were planning to head to Pittsburg for the night and our tour.  A little drizzle out, but that's ok.  I run out to the car to grab something, and the moment I did- BOOM!  That loudest thunder we had ever heard the other day?  Silly me.  That was the tiny baby brother of this thunder clap.  Before I could even shut the trunk, the skies opened up.   In the few steps back to the hotel door, I was drenched.  I come back to the room, looking like I fell in a well, and Loren decided to check the weather while I used all the towels to dry off.   100% chance of thunderstorms and a flash flood warning.  Great.  We had already paid $70 for our hop on, hop off tour.  I guess we could have just hopped on and road around the city in the rain.  But that did not sound very appealing.  I attempted to get the tour refunded via the internet, but nope.  It wasnt 24 hours in advance.  So, always the one to do the dirty work, Loren swooped in.  He found a number and called the place.  Something they dont advertise is that the company has a weather center.  They check the weather themselves and if there are storm warnings like we were under, it is their policy to give a 100% refund.  The representative still tried to reschedule us, but really did not put up much of a fight about the refund.  If you have never used Viator when traveling,  check them out.  We have used them many times and have never had a bad experience.  
So now the next question.   Do we move 30 minutes down the road just to pay twice as much for a room to sit in all day?  Nope.  After yesterday's drama with the room, we were very happy with the end result and decided just to stay here, safe and sound.  Good thing we did because the rain did not stop all day.  Not just rain.  We were glad our room is in the basement  because it sounded like we were in the middle of a tornado.  Oh, just for clarification, I tend to exaggerate a tad from time to time.  While the hall our basement room is on does look like The Shining, if you look out our window, we are on ground level- not the dungeon. The hotel is on a hill.  You drive up to the lobby, which seems to be the first floor, but it is really at the top of the hill.  Our room is in what appears to be a basement, but is really just built down the side of the hill, so it is just down a floor.  Anyway,  I say all of this because we honestly did think we were in a tornado and wondered where we would go.  Turns out, we are just fine.
So, what did we do all day you ask?  Well, nap of course.  Also, Loren never travels without his xbox.  This is great because we have all the streaming services at our disposal.   I have come to learn that one fun thing about him being younger is that he missed all the 80s music, tv, and movies that I love so much.  I have been working on fixing that problem.  Today we marathoned most of the first season of Family Ties.  Loren went from cringing every time the theme song came on to doing a duet with me each time.  We are ready to take our show on the road!  Haha.  Yes, we have fun together, even on dreary days like today.
One of the episodes was about Steven Keaton (the dad, for those who dont remember) finding out that his dad had cancer and was refusing treatment.  Steven told him all about the Mayo Clinic and how they could help to extend his life while looking for a cure.  This episode hit way too close to home.  It was filmed in 1982.  37 years later and we still have no cure.   How is that possible?!? 
Anyway, tomorrow we head to Michigan.  It will be a different visit from what we usually do while we are there, but I am glad we are going.  It is my second home and where I leave a little piece of my heart each time I have to leave, so regardless of the circumstances,  I am happy to be going "home".  I am sure we will have plenty of road adventures tomorrow, so stay tuned!