Bob pulls into the driveway exactly at 5:30 am Monday July 31 2006. Talk about being on time. It must be his analytical research background showing through. We gassed up at the Hess station on East Ridge Road and headed toward 490 West to Buffalo. Traffic was light all the way to Buffalo. We made good time and beat the morning traffic. The weather was hot and muggy. We were traveling in style, Bob’s 2003 pickup (with air). It is a standard 5 speed. Bob asked “can you drive a standard”. I said “Sure, I can drive anything, I got my license out of a Cracker Jacks Box”. It must have been real assuring to Bob that if I drive, I could drop the engine at anytime. I have not driven a standard in about 20 years-- it was my wife who taught me and I didn’t earn any certificates. We are in BIG Trouble.
About 20 miles outside of Buffalo we switch positions and I took the driver’s side. I said to Bob, “This should be easy. It’s like driving a bicycle. You never forget”. Well, I start out in first, then I shift to second using the clutch as we pulled onto the thruway (I 90). When it was time to shift into fourth, things began to happen. I could not find fourth. I guess in the parking lot, doing a once over with the gear shift was not enough practice. The engine started screaming!!!!! An eighteen wheeler was coming up fast and I was only doing about 40 mph. The truck quickly moved into the fast lane and passed us as if we were standing still. Bob at this point was taking everything in stride. I manage to get it into fifth gear and slowly creep up to 70 mph. Bob said to me “I know you like to take shorts cuts. I guess you are not used to driving a 5 speed.” I was so embarrassed my face turned a bright red. Hey! I never said I was good at it. He only asked if I had driven a standard before. I didn’t lie. Well within the first hour of driving, I got used to it.About 2/3 to Pittsburgh we stopped and switch again. I became the copilot again. I was counting my lucky stars that Bob took control into Pittsburgh with all those hills and red lights. I was starting to have an anxiety attack just by thinking about how stop/start on an incline, using your clutch, brake, and gas pedal all at once. My hands are sweating as I type this.
Anyway, we made it to the Hillman in good time (10:30 am). We signed in and stopped in the research and resource center. I introduced Bob to Joyce and then proceeded to outpatient center. We signed in again and waited for the nurses to draw blood and get my vital signs including my weight. Everything was fine. I was then sent back to the waiting room where we met by Heather. We talked about what was going to take place over the next two days, and that she would show us where we would receive the chemo on Wednesday. But first Pam would need to do a once over. Listen to my lungs and heart and pulse. Pam also felt my tumors and asked “if they seemed to be the same size or are they growing?” I told her that my wife thinks that they seem to be the same size. It seemed to be encouraging. We will know something after the CAT scan on July, 17, 2006. That is when I get scanned again.
About 20 miles outside of Buffalo we switch positions and I took the driver’s side. I said to Bob, “This should be easy. It’s like driving a bicycle. You never forget”. Well, I start out in first, then I shift to second using the clutch as we pulled onto the thruway (I 90). When it was time to shift into fourth, things began to happen. I could not find fourth. I guess in the parking lot, doing a once over with the gear shift was not enough practice. The engine started screaming!!!!! An eighteen wheeler was coming up fast and I was only doing about 40 mph. The truck quickly moved into the fast lane and passed us as if we were standing still. Bob at this point was taking everything in stride. I manage to get it into fifth gear and slowly creep up to 70 mph. Bob said to me “I know you like to take shorts cuts. I guess you are not used to driving a 5 speed.” I was so embarrassed my face turned a bright red. Hey! I never said I was good at it. He only asked if I had driven a standard before. I didn’t lie. Well within the first hour of driving, I got used to it.About 2/3 to Pittsburgh we stopped and switch again. I became the copilot again. I was counting my lucky stars that Bob took control into Pittsburgh with all those hills and red lights. I was starting to have an anxiety attack just by thinking about how stop/start on an incline, using your clutch, brake, and gas pedal all at once. My hands are sweating as I type this.
Anyway, we made it to the Hillman in good time (10:30 am). We signed in and stopped in the research and resource center. I introduced Bob to Joyce and then proceeded to outpatient center. We signed in again and waited for the nurses to draw blood and get my vital signs including my weight. Everything was fine. I was then sent back to the waiting room where we met by Heather. We talked about what was going to take place over the next two days, and that she would show us where we would receive the chemo on Wednesday. But first Pam would need to do a once over. Listen to my lungs and heart and pulse. Pam also felt my tumors and asked “if they seemed to be the same size or are they growing?” I told her that my wife thinks that they seem to be the same size. It seemed to be encouraging. We will know something after the CAT scan on July, 17, 2006. That is when I get scanned again.
When we got finished with day one of the Hillman visit, we were lucky to get into the Shadyside House on Centre Ave. We made reservations weeks in advance, but they don’t know if they have any openings until the day of arrival. This is because, when you get accepted into the house, you can have unlimited stay as long as you need it. Some patients stay for months beings stabilized for organ transplants. This house is run by volunteers and the price is very reasonably. They gave us a tour of the house. The office, the parlor and the kitchen were all on the ground level.The kitchen was enormous with two of everything, industrial stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers, and coffee pots. I was in heaven. We were given a basket for dry food and labels to label our food that we purchase for our stay. Our number was 102, which corresponded to our suite. The suite consisted of a bathroom, a single bedroom, and a living room with a pullout couch. Bob insisted that I take the bedroom.
It was now going on 2:00 pm and we were dying for lunch. So I pulled out my Mapquest directions on how to get to this restaurant that my sister Kathy suggested. The name of restaurant was Primanti Brothers located in the “Strip District Market Place” Only 3.11 miles from the Hillman Cancer Center. They are noted for the largest sandwich in the City of Pittsburgh. To get there, we have followed the oneway streets. So, as we turned onto Penn Ave, we saw a lot of rundown industrial buildings and shops. All if a sudden, something caught my eye. I took a second glance. There, on the side walk, a man with a black bikini top on and shorts working as a street vendor. I quickly point it out to Bob. It was quite the sight. He looked like a short Italian with dark hair and olive complexion and this skimpy black bikini top with makeup and all. We both burst out into laughter. It was a good thing the windows of the truck were closed. I almost wetted my pants. Well, with all this distraction, we missed our turn and had to loop around again. I had trouble getting the image out of my mind for hours. We finally found our way to Primanti Brothers and walked in.We sat down at the counter, and began to read all the choices on their menu on the wall. There were too many choices and the counter person started to get irritated because we were taking so long to make our decision. So, to break the tension, I told him we drove all the way from New York to try the best and biggest sandwich in town. He was not amused. I think it was the heat and humidity of the day was getting to him.
It was now going on 2:00 pm and we were dying for lunch. So I pulled out my Mapquest directions on how to get to this restaurant that my sister Kathy suggested. The name of restaurant was Primanti Brothers located in the “Strip District Market Place” Only 3.11 miles from the Hillman Cancer Center. They are noted for the largest sandwich in the City of Pittsburgh. To get there, we have followed the oneway streets. So, as we turned onto Penn Ave, we saw a lot of rundown industrial buildings and shops. All if a sudden, something caught my eye. I took a second glance. There, on the side walk, a man with a black bikini top on and shorts working as a street vendor. I quickly point it out to Bob. It was quite the sight. He looked like a short Italian with dark hair and olive complexion and this skimpy black bikini top with makeup and all. We both burst out into laughter. It was a good thing the windows of the truck were closed. I almost wetted my pants. Well, with all this distraction, we missed our turn and had to loop around again. I had trouble getting the image out of my mind for hours. We finally found our way to Primanti Brothers and walked in.We sat down at the counter, and began to read all the choices on their menu on the wall. There were too many choices and the counter person started to get irritated because we were taking so long to make our decision. So, to break the tension, I told him we drove all the way from New York to try the best and biggest sandwich in town. He was not amused. I think it was the heat and humidity of the day was getting to him.
Anyway, we finally decided, Bob was going to have the famous fish sandwich and I was going to try the cheese steak. The # 2 best seller. Well we had a bird’s eye view while he was making the sandwiches. Now the fish was huge, but then he served it with french fries, coleslaw and tomato (on the sandwich!!!!!!) I know it sounds strange it is downright different. The sandwich was about 5 to 6 inches tall with fries sticking out that looked like a pile of railroad ties. The slaw was oozing out.
It took great concentration and two hands just to pickup a half of the sandwich. It reminded Bob and I of a Nick Tahoe garbage plate. It surely filled us up to the point that we ended up skipping dinner.We tried to walk it off, by going into shops and taking in the sights. It was too hot to do any real exploring so we headed back to the Family House to settle in until it cooled down.Around 8:00 pm we took a walk to local grocery store to get some fruit and apple pie to supplement our stay at the house.We began to crash, so we called it a night around 9:30 pm.
With the help of the staff at Shady House we planned Day 2 as explore Pittsburgh day.
The only thing I had to do is take my patrin on time and fast 2 hours before and two hours after taking the drug. I can do that with my trusty phone alarms.
So, I got up at 5:15 am and went down to the kitchen to make some breakfast and have coffee before my cut off time (6:00am). I had a little fruit and some famous homemade banana bread that I brought from home. I tuned on CNBC Financial News and had a leisurely breakfast. Bob came down about 6:30 am and we hung out until we were ready to start our little adventure.
First on the agenda was how to get to Station Square. It is located on the other side of the river. There are shops, the incline up to the top of Mt. Washington and or the Gateway Clipper Fleet (sight seeing on the 3 rivers of the city’s water front). So, we wanted to catch Mass transit (a Bus) to downtown to the T station. Only one problem, which bus and which station? So, we walk a half a block to the first bus stop we saw on Centre Ave. As a bus pull up, we ask the driver if the bus goes downtown to a T station? He asks us “Where would you like to go?” We say “Station Square”. He says, “This is the wrong bus, you need Bus 71A Negley to Downtown.” So we get off and wait for the 71A to arrive. It shows up in less than five minutes. We are now at the beginning of our great adventure. As we get on the right bus we ask the driver to let us know where to get off to catch the T to Station Square. He said “Sure”. We stick close to front of the bus so we can hear the driver yell out our stop. It was a local, so we made many stops along the way and arrived at the T station. I think it was called the Mellon Arena Station or Grant Ave Station. Who knows!!! All we know is that it goes to Station Square.It was early, you know Bob, he loves to walk. So we decide to take a detour downtown and walk around. It is about 9:30 am. Bob is not used to seeing skyscrapers up close and walking downtown. So, it was a new experience for him. Not too much green open space in the city. We ended up walking right into the Business District with all the banks and major corporations like Seagate Technologies, Ariba and many more. We also found some very old churches dating back to the early 1700’s. We walk until it started to get warm, so we headed back to the T station. It was about 10:15 am. When we got to the station, we proceeded to find our departure platform, we think. There was only one other person on the platform, a Asian person sitting on a bench about 20 feet away. So I approached him and asked, “Is this was the right way to Station Square.” He looked up at me as though I had three heads and mumbled something. I looked at Bob and we just walked away to give him some space. I guess we will have to wing it. So the train pulls into the station and we literally run to the first car which has the conductor in it. As we get on the train, I ask the conductor if this train goes to Station Square. He replies “Yes, the first stop after we pass over the river.” We had made it to our first of many destinations of the day without a scratch. So far so good as our adventurous day unfolds.We jump off at the first stop and walk down the river front with shops and restaurants. We stop to talk to an art student taking photographs of a spraying fountain keeping beat with the music that was piped in loud speakers along the walk. Her assignment was to try different shutter speeds and see what effects they have on the moving object. We told her that we work and had worked for Kodak and asked it she was using Kodak film. The answer was YES!!! exclusively. 400 speed black & white.We proceeded to move on were the Gateway Clipper Fleet were docked. It is the only way to see the city. We approached the booth to check out the ferry schedule. The next sightseeing trip was scheduled for 11:15 am on the Keystone Belle. (Capacity: 400) It is the newest addition to the Gateway Clipper fleet entering service on the three rivers in 1999. The Keystone Belle is a 120 ft. long, 35 feet wide all-steel paddlewheel style riverboat. Plus it is air conditioned on two decks. Yeh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We start boarding about 10:50 am. There is a photographer that tries to take you picture in front of a mock wheel house. Bob and I desperately try to avoid having our picture taken. We tell the young lady that we are escaped convicts and don’t want to be on “America’s Most Wanted”. Well, it doesn’t work, she takes the picture anyway. Bob is looking down and I pull my hat over my face. It was a great piece of work. We board the vessel and go directly to the top air condition deck. We find a place to sit and cool off from the heat. It is now about 90 degrees out with very little breeze.The tour takes about an hour and it lets us escape from the heat. We see quite a few bridges and buildings. I could name them to you but you might fall asleep. We are now approaching lunchtime and are thirsty from all that walking. We stop at the Pittsburgh’s Hardrock Café for a cool one (Ice tea, and not a Long Island Ice Tea) before proceeding to the Monongahela incline. Basically, it is a gondola that takes you to the top of Mount Washington. The view is spectacular. Our quest at the top is to find the Monterey Bay Grotto where we will have lunch. It has one of the best views of all the restaurants on top of Mount Washington, overlooking all three rivers, both stadiums and Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle. It is suppose to have the freshest fish in Pittsburgh.
So, I got up at 5:15 am and went down to the kitchen to make some breakfast and have coffee before my cut off time (6:00am). I had a little fruit and some famous homemade banana bread that I brought from home. I tuned on CNBC Financial News and had a leisurely breakfast. Bob came down about 6:30 am and we hung out until we were ready to start our little adventure.
First on the agenda was how to get to Station Square. It is located on the other side of the river. There are shops, the incline up to the top of Mt. Washington and or the Gateway Clipper Fleet (sight seeing on the 3 rivers of the city’s water front). So, we wanted to catch Mass transit (a Bus) to downtown to the T station. Only one problem, which bus and which station? So, we walk a half a block to the first bus stop we saw on Centre Ave. As a bus pull up, we ask the driver if the bus goes downtown to a T station? He asks us “Where would you like to go?” We say “Station Square”. He says, “This is the wrong bus, you need Bus 71A Negley to Downtown.” So we get off and wait for the 71A to arrive. It shows up in less than five minutes. We are now at the beginning of our great adventure. As we get on the right bus we ask the driver to let us know where to get off to catch the T to Station Square. He said “Sure”. We stick close to front of the bus so we can hear the driver yell out our stop. It was a local, so we made many stops along the way and arrived at the T station. I think it was called the Mellon Arena Station or Grant Ave Station. Who knows!!! All we know is that it goes to Station Square.It was early, you know Bob, he loves to walk. So we decide to take a detour downtown and walk around. It is about 9:30 am. Bob is not used to seeing skyscrapers up close and walking downtown. So, it was a new experience for him. Not too much green open space in the city. We ended up walking right into the Business District with all the banks and major corporations like Seagate Technologies, Ariba and many more. We also found some very old churches dating back to the early 1700’s. We walk until it started to get warm, so we headed back to the T station. It was about 10:15 am. When we got to the station, we proceeded to find our departure platform, we think. There was only one other person on the platform, a Asian person sitting on a bench about 20 feet away. So I approached him and asked, “Is this was the right way to Station Square.” He looked up at me as though I had three heads and mumbled something. I looked at Bob and we just walked away to give him some space. I guess we will have to wing it. So the train pulls into the station and we literally run to the first car which has the conductor in it. As we get on the train, I ask the conductor if this train goes to Station Square. He replies “Yes, the first stop after we pass over the river.” We had made it to our first of many destinations of the day without a scratch. So far so good as our adventurous day unfolds.We jump off at the first stop and walk down the river front with shops and restaurants. We stop to talk to an art student taking photographs of a spraying fountain keeping beat with the music that was piped in loud speakers along the walk. Her assignment was to try different shutter speeds and see what effects they have on the moving object. We told her that we work and had worked for Kodak and asked it she was using Kodak film. The answer was YES!!! exclusively. 400 speed black & white.We proceeded to move on were the Gateway Clipper Fleet were docked. It is the only way to see the city. We approached the booth to check out the ferry schedule. The next sightseeing trip was scheduled for 11:15 am on the Keystone Belle. (Capacity: 400) It is the newest addition to the Gateway Clipper fleet entering service on the three rivers in 1999. The Keystone Belle is a 120 ft. long, 35 feet wide all-steel paddlewheel style riverboat. Plus it is air conditioned on two decks. Yeh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We start boarding about 10:50 am. There is a photographer that tries to take you picture in front of a mock wheel house. Bob and I desperately try to avoid having our picture taken. We tell the young lady that we are escaped convicts and don’t want to be on “America’s Most Wanted”. Well, it doesn’t work, she takes the picture anyway. Bob is looking down and I pull my hat over my face. It was a great piece of work. We board the vessel and go directly to the top air condition deck. We find a place to sit and cool off from the heat. It is now about 90 degrees out with very little breeze.The tour takes about an hour and it lets us escape from the heat. We see quite a few bridges and buildings. I could name them to you but you might fall asleep. We are now approaching lunchtime and are thirsty from all that walking. We stop at the Pittsburgh’s Hardrock Café for a cool one (Ice tea, and not a Long Island Ice Tea) before proceeding to the Monongahela incline. Basically, it is a gondola that takes you to the top of Mount Washington. The view is spectacular. Our quest at the top is to find the Monterey Bay Grotto where we will have lunch. It has one of the best views of all the restaurants on top of Mount Washington, overlooking all three rivers, both stadiums and Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle. It is suppose to have the freshest fish in Pittsburgh.
At the top, we pay for the incline ride and ask the toll taker for directions to the restaurant. He said, “Just follow Grandview Blvd for a mile, pass the Duquesne Incline and it is located on the sixth floor of the high-rise on your Left”. The directions sounded easy. Just follow the yellow brick road. He forgot to tell us it was all uphill. We also need directions on how to get down and back into downtown using public transportation. The cost of our transportation back to the city, a mere $2.25 with a transfer. What a deal!!!!
Once we got our tickets, we started the one-way hike to our lunch destination. There were quite a number of observation posts along the way. By the time we reached Monterey Bay, I was drenched with sweat. I looked to the hostess, like I had just gotten out of the shower. Bob fared much better. He is in better condition than me. We were escorted to a window seat and the view was the best I have ever seen. The first thing I did was to dry off with an extra linen napkin. I was drenched. Bob ordered a nice cool one (beer) and I stuck with the ice tea. It was unlimited so I must have drunk at least a gallon by the time the meal was finished. The fish selection was quite extensive. It was recommended that the seared tuna was fresh. So Bob order the seared tuna with a black peppercorn sauce and glaze carrots. I on the other hand had my sight set on Maryland crab cake with a side of coleslaw. It was one of the best seafood meals that I ever had outside the coastal restaurants. By the time we finished lunch it was going on 3:30 pm. So we headed back to the Duquesne Incline and took it down to street level. The toll taker came out of his booth to show us how to catch the bus back into town. We had two options, the first option was to look through a glass, through a box, at a mirror on a post aimed down the street. When you see the bus in the mirror you push a button on the wall and it signals the driver that there is a pickup. The second option was to stand outside and show some leg and push the button on the post, and if you are lucky, they will stop. We opted for the second option. We tried it and the first bus that came stopped. We asked a woman that was waiting also for the bus if they always stop, or did we get lucky. She said, “We got lucky.”
So now we are on the bus but we did not know were to get off. The kind women that help us show some leg told us to get off at the Hilton downtown. So now we get off the bus and like typical tourists we pull out our trusty maps to get our bearings. Well that did help. So we approached a transit cop and he pointed us to the T station at Wood Street.We entered the station and there were racks of maps for all the different routes the mass transit has. We were looking for Shadyside or Hillman Cancer Center. We wanted to figure out our route before it got dark. So, we walk a round a ten block radius looking for our bus stop. Each bus stop has a list posted on them which bus route numbers are picked up there. So just match the bus stop with the route number. It wasn’t so easy. We walked to quite a few bus stops until we found the right one. Now we had to memorize the location and it relationship to the Roberto Clemente Bridge. This is the bridge they close during baseball games so spectators can walk across to get to the game. Yes, We also caught a ball game too. What a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We did make a stop at the local Starbucks to cool off and get a pomegranate smoothie. We had time to kill. The game did not start until 7:05 pm. The gates open at 5:30 pm so fans can watch batting practice and get autographs of the players. We just wanted to get in our seat and rest. We thought about getting drinks but the prices were outrageous. (3 bucks for a bottle of water and 6 bucks for a beer) And it was in a plastic cup. The lady in front of us kept us cool by spraying herself, which in turn sprayed us with a fine misting fan. It was a good game but the Pirates lost to Atlanta by the score of 4 to 2. As we headed back over the river, back to downtown after the game, the water price had drop from 3 bucks to a dollar. What a scam!!!!!
As we reached our bus stop, the bus (81B) appeared within minutes. We got on and got back to Shady House by 11:00 pm. By now we were hungry. We did not eat at the park because I was in fasting mode between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm. So we took a detour to Ritter’s Dinner open 24/7. This is where all the locals hang out. The food is good and the price is right. Bob was being good, so I suggested the Greek salad. Dee had tried it there once before and said it was delicious. I on the other hand, I wanted a BLT with home fries. I miss my starches at home. They raise my blood sugar so I only eat them on special occasions or when my wife is not looking. You guessed it, I am BADDDDDD!!!!!
We were in bed by midnight.
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