Monday, April 29

The purpose of this trip was to take my sister, Nancy, and her husband, Marlin, to Cleveland Clinic for his six-week checkup following complicated heart surgery. He was hoping to get permission to drive – and sit in the front seat of a car – following this checkup.

I took this picture as the sun was rising while we headed west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike – about an hour after we picked them up at their house.

Sunrise beauty about 6:30 am.

One of our first views of a Cleveland Clinic building.

From the Internet: Cleveland Clinic’s main campus consists of 41 buildings on 160 acres. Today, with nearly 1,400 beds on Cleveland Clinic main campus and 5,895 beds system-wide, Cleveland Clinic is one of the largest and most respected hospitals in the country. There are also locations in Florida, Canada, and United Arab Emirates. A new location is planned to open in London in 2021.

After checking into our motel, we took a shuttle bus to the Clinic. Notice Marlin and Nancy to the right of the person in the red coat. People in red coats were there to assist visitors in finding shuttle busses and locations in the hospital.

If you have been to the Cleveland Clinic, you will recognize the “Welcome Wall.”

Marlin and Nancy had more than an hour and a half before his first appointment, so took us to several areas to familiarize us with the hospital while we waited on them. In this photo we were on the roof top looking over the city of Cleveland toward Lake Erie.

We could see the lake just above the tree line. It is the light blue area between the trees and sky.

Next we went to the third floor where they showed us a comfortable waiting area that overlooks the main entrance and valet parking – an interesting, continually moving view. There is a similar waiting area on the second floor.

The view.

This style shuttle bus became quite familiar and comfortable to us during the next few days – from hotel to hospital, then from hospital to hotel.

A few of the drivers remembered Nancy from their three-week stay six weeks earlier.

By the time we got back to the ninth floor of our hotel it was raining and we knew in our hearts that we would not be going home following his appointments the next day, because Marlin’s blood pressure was quite high. Because of that he could not complete his Monday tests and therapy for his heart.

Day 2 in Cleveland tomorrow.