Day 1: Sunday, September 23, 2007
We left Muscle Shoals, Alabama at 7:45 A.M. and arrived at London Corbin Airport in London, Kentucky Airport at 10:25 A.M. to leave for Delaware. The airport is at Address 566 Hal Rogers, Dr. London, Kentucky.
Our pilot is a doctor from Athens, Alabama.
He is a pilot of a small 4-seated airplane.
Hubby drove us to the airport where he helped us load the airplane.
My granddaughter’s wheelchair had to have some screws taken out because it would not fit into the airplane.
Hubby removes the screws so the wheelchair would fit.
I sat in the co-pilot seat beside the pilot and we talked about his family.
The pilot has six children; two of his children are in college.
The pilot dropped us off in London, Kentucky, where we took another flight in a small 6-seated jet.
This pilot was very business-oriented.
He and his wife are both pilots and do a lot of flying for Angel Flights.
Before we got on this jet, we ate a snack of Yoplait, bananas, and soda and we fed my granddaughter some milk and changed her diaper.
My daughter called the Ronald McDonald House, they had no rooms available at this time.
She is to call back when we land in Delaware.
I am on Weight Watchers, I have used 12 points today.
For the day, I have eaten two protein bars, one Yoplait, one banana, one apple, salad, water, and a soda.
My daughter is reading the first Harry Potter book.
I am reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone; my granddaughter is laughing and playing during our flight.
The flight is very comfortable and smooth and we have a good view of the D.C. area.
We arrive at the Delaware airport and the pilot’s wife greets us.
Her husband assembles my granddaughter's wheelchair and loads it into his wife's vehicle.
My daughter called the RMH, and they have a room ready for us.
We landed at Delaware Auto Court Airport at 235 Du Pont Hwy New, Castle, DE 19720.
The directions from Delaware Auto Court Airport to Ronald McDonald House are:
We turn right north on Du Pont Road for .5 miles, to right on Harding for .8 miles, and to exit 4 RT-48 toward Penngrove.
We rode down Woodstown for .4 miles to exit 1A to merge onto 1-295 South toward Delaware Del. Memorial Bridge, for 21.8 miles.
Turned at I-76 crossing over to New Jersey for 9.2 miles to South St .3 miles to South 38 Street .3 miles to East Chestnut Street south for .1 miles at 3940 Ronald McDonald House.
We arrive at the RMH my daughter goes inside to register us.
We load our luggage onto a cart, and we thank the pilot's wife for bringing us to the RMH.
The next day we discover that we have left my granddaughter’s tray in her wheelchair in the pilot's wife's car.
She brings my granddaughter's tray to the RMH the next day.
In the RMH, we take the elevator to the second-floor room number 14.
I feed my granddaughter a can of Pedi Sure, and we walk down the stairs to get some lunch.
My daughter ate pasta, and I ate an apple.
My daughter has a headache and she needs some medicine to take.
We walk down to 40th and Market Street to “The Fresh Grocery” to buy medicine for her headache.
The address for the “The Fresh Grocery” is 4001 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
We continue walking down 40th Street past McDonald's and down toward the University of Philly.
We walk down Woodland Avenue which is a walkway through the University.
We walk past many buildings including the Burrison Gallery, Community Education Center, Drexel Museum and Rincliffe Gallery, Design Arts Gallery, and the Esther M. Kline Art Gallery at UCSC.
We walk past the University Museum of Archaeology, University City Arts League, West Philadelphia Culture Alliance, Bains Cheese Stae, and Del, Bassett’s Original Turkey, Eat at Joes, Wawa, Ace-Pizza, Boston Market, College Pizza, Domino Pizza just to name a few.
There are lots of nut trees nut on the university lawn such as oak, chestnut, and walnut, the street is cascaded with signs made by the students for upcoming sorties, elections, and events.
After a couple of hours of walking, we head back to the RMH for supper.
After supper, we socialize with another residence of RMH, and we retire to our room.
It has been a long day we are so in need of rest.
The description of our room: two queen beds positioned across the room from one another, a round table with four chairs, a dresser, a nightstand with a radio clock on top, a fireplace, and a door leading onto a veranda.
In the joining room was a day bed, a cabinet with a TV, DVD player, we had our own bathroom, which had a dressing table, shower, and tub.
We all slept in one large bed; my granddaughter snuggled up next to her mom and went right to sleep.
Day 2: Monday, September 24, 2007
We had to be up by 5 A.M. Eastern time for each of us to take a shower, and eat breakfast, so we could take the shuttle downtown for Meadow’s doctor's appointment.
My granddaughter drank a can of milk in the room.
My daughter and I eat breakfast in the dining room. We ate oatmeal, apples, grapes, and strawberries and I drank a soda.
My granddaughter ate a few goldfish.
In the waiting room, my granddaughter watched The Big Red Dog on television, while we waited for the shuttle van. The van will be leaving at 9 A.M. and returning at 2 P.M.
To get a little exercise, I walked up and down the stairs three times.
The Ronald McDonald House was an old mansion, that was purchased by a man who had a son with cancer, he gave the old mansion to the Ronald McDonald Foundation.
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| Ronald McDonald House in Philly, PA |
We were loaded in the RMH shuttle van and we were taken downtown to the Wood Building Children’s Hospital.
We saw several police vehicles at the hospital’s emergency room entrance, a police officer had been shot in the face during a routine traffic stop.
The officer did not die.
There is a lot of violence going on in Philly, Philadelphia.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, PA is in the Wood Building.
Information about the Stroke program that I copied online:
“The Pediatric Stroke Program at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is among the first programs of its kind in the United States. We provide comprehensive assessment and treatment for children and infants who suffer from strokes. We are dedicated to increasing awareness of childhood strokes, preventing a repeat stroke, and minimizing damage from the first one.”
The team includes Rebecca Ichord, MD, Julie Neitzke, RN BSN, Susanne McDonough MSQ, ACSW, and others. The Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia is located at 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
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| My Granddaughter in front of Children's Hospital In Philly |
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| My Granddaughter & her mom in front of Children's Hospital In Philly |
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| My Granddaughter & her mom in front of Children's Hospital In Philly |
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| My Granddaughter & her mom in front of Children's Hospital In Philly |
The doctor, Rebecca Ichord examines Meadow, she calls in her team of professionals, and they examine my granddaughter
Each member looked at my granddaughter’s Medical records, and each member of the team gave their recommendation of what therapy my granddaughter would need.
My daughter was told, to keep her daughter in her AFOs, to get a wristband for Meadow's right hand, and for Meadow to get lots of physical therapy.
The doctor Rebecca Ichord said, Meadow was born with narrowing vessels in her brain and she would probably never have another stroke.
My granddaughter was weighed, measured, put into a waiting room, and examined but no needles or punctures.
She enjoyed this exam.
We ate lunch at a deli across the street from the Children’s Hospital.
My daughter and I split a vegetarian sandwich, we each had a chocolate-covered strawberry, we split a cookie and some chips, and we each had tea.
My granddaughter drank her milk and ate some snacks.
We caught the 2:30 P.M. shuttle van back to Ronald McDonald House.
We rode back to the RMH, we were hoping for some free tickets for things to do in Philly.
They had no free tickets, but they had a token to ride the bus downtown.
A volunteer named Fran loaned me her senior bus pass.
We walked down to 39th and Chestnut Streets where we took the Septa bus.
We will be getting off the bus at 16th Street at Liberty Square.
The bus systems in Philly are well-equipped to handle people in wheelchairs.
As we prepare to board the bus, the bus driver lowers the lift, when it is level with the road he gets out and wheels my granddaughter onto the ramp, he then raises the lift to the bus level, wheels my granddaughter into the wheelchair spot and he bucks and straps her down.
My granddaughter keeps trying to take the bus driver's cap off his head.
The people on the bus all clapped when the driver completed his task of loading and strapping my granddaughter into place.
We met many nice people on the bus.
There was this one woman who said, “Once she went to volunteer at the hospital to hold the babies but they would not let her because she did not have insurance. She said they missed a great opportunity.”
When we were on the RMH shuttle van, we met a couple from a small town in Saudi Arabia, their little girl had a bone marrow transplant, she was just 17 months old.
At the RMH Lora talked to a girl who had a baby in the children’s hospital he had been there for seven weeks.
Her son has a rare disease, he needed surgery on his intestines. She had another son with her, he stayed at the daycare at the hospital, while she stayed with her baby.
On our first day at RMH, we met a couple from Wisconsin, they were oriental, and we ran into them again at the Fresh Grocery on 40th Street.
At the stroke clinic, we met a little girl who had the same birthday as Meadow and she was the same age.
She seemed to be normal except she had a large head.
We stepped off the bus and we walked to the Liberty Bell.
It was almost closing time and we still had to go through security.
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| Liberty Bell |
We walked across the street to Independence Hall on Chestnut Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets.
It was also closing time; the wheelchair area was closed so my daughter and granddaughter could go inside.
I walk into Independence Hall and I listen to the curator talk about the Hall.
Independence Hall was constructed between 1732 and 1756 as the State House of the Province of Pennsylvania, it is a fine example of Georgian architecture.
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| Inside Independence Hall |
In this building, George Washington was appointed a commander in chief of the Continental Army in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. The American flag was agreed upon in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781, and the US Constitution was drafted in 1787.
History of the Liberty Bell:
John Pass and John Stow cast a new bell in 1873, using metal from the first liberty bell from London, England. But in 1846 a thin crack began to affect the sound of the bell and it was repaired and cracked again when it rang for George Washington’s birthday celebration and it has not rung since.
It weighs 2000 lbs. and is made of 70% copper and 25 % tin; it has a small amount of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold, and silver.
At Independence Visitors Center, we bought tickets to ride the duck, it will be leaving at 6:00 P.M.
We had some time to kill we walked to Christ Church Burial Ground Cemetery, to visit the graves of Benjamin, Deborah, and Francis Franklin.
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| Grave of Benjamin and Deborah Franklin |
Deborah Read Franklin the daughter of John Read 12/8/1669 a carpenter from London, England, and her mother Sarah White Read from Birmingham, England.
Franklin and Deborah’s son Francis Folger Franklin born 10/20/1732 died 11/21/1736, he died of smallpox at the age of four.
Deborah Read first married John Rogers and was widowed in 1727, she married her first love Benjamin Franklin 1730.
Benjamin and Deborah had two children their son Francis died but their daughter Sarah married a Bashin had she had seven children.
The estate of Benjamin Franklin was left to her.
We returned to the Independence Visitor Center where we were loaded into the duck.
The DUCK is an amphibious sightseeing tour that takes about 70 minutes.
It goes through the heart of Philly, Pa.
It cruises in the Delaware River along the Philly waterfront.
We saw old warehouses that have been converted into condominiums, costing 1,000,000 and there are several of these.
We also saw an old sailing vessel, the USS Delaware, and the Eastern State Penitentiary, which is a landmark, noted for its architecture and notorious breakouts.
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| Inside the Duck |
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| Life Jackets overhead in the Duck |
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| Riding the Duck |
One famous inmate was Al Capone who spent nine months in the penitentiary.
The Penitentiary is located between Twenty-first and Twenty-second Streets in the Fairmont section of Philly along the Delaware River.
We also saw two large skyscrapers purchased for casinos by Donald Trumpet.
The DUCK goes from water to land, we ride by Betsy and John Ross home their upholstery business at 239 Arch Street.
We pass 126 Elfreth Alley in Philly, PA 19106 known as the oldest residential street in the country.
It houses about thirty homes dating back to the 18th and 19th century.
Every day people who built and sustained the city of Philly restored the Elfreth Alley in the late 1950s.
John Gilbert and Arthur Wells, the first owners combined their properties to make a small subdivision in the William Penn block area.
After our 70-minute ride, we returned to the Independence Visitors.
We proceeded to walk down to Chestnut Street to catch the bus back to the RMH.
The trip was an uneventful one and we reached our destination.
We proceeded to get off the bus and we walked a couple of blocks to the RMH.
At the RMH Lora makes taxicab reservations for tomorrow, for a taxicab to take us to the airport.
I returned Fran's Bus card, and my daughter settled the room rental.
They did not charge us for the room because they said, “We did not give you any tickets to any of the downtown events. “
We were hungry after our eventful day.
We went to the kitchen to see what goodies that were left from the evening meal.
We ate, and we went to our room where we packed and went to bed.
We will have to be up at 5:25 A.M.
Day 3: Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The next morning we each took a shower and cleaned the room.
I fed my granddaughter some milk, dressed her, and put her in her wheelchair.
My daughter gives Meadow her medicine in her GTube.
We load the luggage onto a cart and take the elevator to the first floor where we wait for a taxi.
For breakfast, we ate a bowl of oats and some fruit.
The taxi arrives, while I am in the restroom.
The taxi driver takes us to the Atlantic Airport.
My daughter gives the taxi driver, who cannot speak English, a $10.00 check written by RMH.
The driver drops us off at the airport and he leaves.
My daughter went to the restroom when she came out of the restroom, I said you need to check us in, that is when she found out we were at the wrong airport.
The pilot is called and he said stay where you are I am on my way.
The pilot picks us up at 7:55 A.M. at the Atlantic Airport, in Philly, PA.
The pilot says I will be flying you to Clarksville, West Virginia.
We sat in the back of the airplane which had six seats.
When we are up in the air, we can see a lot of houses in the city of Philly.
We arrived at 9:30 A.M. We saw lots of hills and mountains over the state of West Virginia.
Our flight time was one hour and a half.
My granddaughter was in a very good mood last night, she was even pulling up on her own.
We are taxing out on l33-15, C.L. North Philly Jet Ctr. 24 runway Angle Flight.
I sat in the co-pilot seat next to the pilot.
My daughter and granddaughter are in the back.
The back windows are covered with foil to keep out the heat.
It was very hot in this airplane the sun was beaming down on the plane.
The view is awesome all the mountains of West Virginia.
Walton’s Mountain.
I looked at the land below, it looked like squares and rectangles with a hint of green, and brown.
The earth is dotted with houses, and twisting and winding interstates.
The pilot talked about his family, he said that most of his children did not like to fly.
He said that he enjoyed doing Angle Flights and he had flown many.
We land at the London, Kentucky Airport.
We take a restroom break and change my granddaughter’s diaper.
We board the final airplane that will be taking us to the Muscle Shoals airport.
Our pilot greets us and we leave for Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
The pilot has a small airplane, it is very hot, and there are lots of bright white clouds, which have been blown in from a storm that is brewing in the Gulf, which causes the airplane to bounce about.
Memphis, Tennessee Airport had radar problems which caused our flight path to be changed many times.
When we arrived home I found out later that this problem caused everyone flying in the Eastern area to be affected.
When we landed my daughter told me that she was frightened by this flight and that she had prayed all the way home.
I am sitting up front as a co-pilot talking to the pilot.
The pilot talked about his family, he said that all his family was musicians and that most of them were engineers.
The pilot said, “ I have been flying for many years, I love to fly for Angle flights.”
After we arrived at Muscle Shoals Airport we thanked our pilot for the flight.
We leave the airport with my daughter's husband and we stop at Sweet Peppers food for supper.
I ordered two boxes of meals to go.
Hubby picks me up at my daughter’s house.
We eat the two boxed meals that I bought at Sweet Peppers.
I had a great trip, glad to be home.
