Day 37 - Aug 7

Mom flew home today for much needed time at home. She had a bit of an adventure on the way. Didn't look like she'd make it to the airport because of traffic. Then she was bumped off the flight because it was overbooked. Police, security and bomb sniffing dogs showed up at the gate shortly after the plane departed because a passenger, already headed to Vermont, accidentally left a bag at the gate. After five hours at the gate and a security sweep of the area, she finally boarded a flight and an hour or so later saw the beautiful waters of Lake Champlain and the green mountains of Vermont.

Jake and I had a bit of fun ourselves. Going to the national zoo sounded like a good idea, but how to get there. A cab was called, it showed up half an hour late (this is becoming a pattern for us and cabs) and Jake transitioned from his wheelchair into the cab. Doesn't sound like too big of a deal, but it was the first time he's transitioned from the chair into a vehicle. We take such simple acts like getting into a car for granted, but moving from a wheel chair to a car when your legs don't work is a big task. He did it well and we were go'in to the zoo, the zoo, the zoo, how about you....

Elephants, orangutans, lemurs, snakes, lions, tigers, and bears, oh my. A komodo dragon, jelly fish, snapping turtles, zebras, monkeys and a family of gorillas too. These critters and more were on our tour of the zoo today. We worked our way from the highest elevation to the lowest as we worked through the zoo. The walk was good, although warm. At the end of our downward journey, we pressed our way back up the hill. It was a hike.

I called the taxi company that dropped us off and requested a ride back. Oooppppsss. The zoo is outside of their "territory," kind of like animals that mark their turf, so they can only drop off but not pick up. I scrounged up the number of another cab company and they were on their way - and on their way - and on their way. After about an hour of waiting, I received an automated voice message informing us that the cab had arrived - only, it wasn't anywhere to be seen. Called the cab company again and was assured it would be there in five minutes. Ten minutes later I called the cab company and was assured it was on its way. Another ten minutes went by and we headed to the main road to flag down any old cab.

Every time I flagged a taxi it would pull over about half a block away and someone else would jump in. Gesh. A couple of local police officers were close by and I enlisted their help. The next available cab was soon at our doorstep and we were on our way back to Walter Reed with a driver who had served in Vietnam. Jake and the driver had a good chat until we arrived back where we started.

After an hour of relaxing in our room, we were on our way again in a bus to Silver Springs for a good steak. Jake hasn't had a steak in months and found his rib eye to be juicy, flavorful ... fantastic. The strawberry shortcake desert wasn't anything like the way mom makes it, :( but it was a nice close to our day of being out-and-about. We are now settling in for a long-summers nap.