Road Trip: Meeting Archer

        The schedule for the next few days was going to be very Omaha-centric and that's going to be understandable as the post moves along.

We spent much of the morning, lounging around the hotel, waiting to hear when to go to the hospital. 

Yes, I said hospital.

Cherie and I were in Nebraska to welcome our first grandchild and it was a surprise a few months back when we received the news.

You see, we were young parents when we had our first child and it was unexpected through the years that we would be older than most to have our first grandchild.

We received the call that we could go to the Omaha Women's Hospital a little before lunch and we maneuvered our way across town to reach the hospital and a very modern facility.

Being modern wasn't a surprise, the large amount of parking close to the building certainly was!

We waited inside a very modern and spacious waiting room and there were only two other people in the room.

Of course, this being life, we were trapped with this older fellow who "regaled" his companion (and sadly we heard it all) stories about his farm life, including gems such as his use of animal waste to increase yield and gelds his animals.

Fortunately, he was gone after thirty long minutes and between Ryan's occasional appearance to keep us updated and talking to Cherie, I survived the king of neutering.

The time moved by quickly and eventually, we received word of our first grandchild's arrival.

We had some time to spend before going to see Archie and had a surprisingly good meal at the hospital cafeteria while we waited.

The meal at the cafeteria wasn't only good, but it was one of the highlights of the trip as Cherie and I reflected on our life together with thoughts and memories of both of our children as kids and adults.

I felt really good about Cherie and I's life together with so many wonderful memories from our family.

Once we moved to the maternity ward, our life was going to be different.

After hanging with Archie for an hour or so, we returned to the hotel and when we were starting to get hungry, we walked next door to King Kong, a Greek restaurant with huge and tremendous hamburgers.

We got our meals to go and returned to the hotel with these massive sandwiches!

King Kong has four locations, three in Omaha and one in Lincoln, and with several statues of giant gorillas outside is exactly what you would think a King Kong restaurant would look like!

The burgers come in four sizes ranging from a half-pound up to a two-pound burger!

I ordered the second (one pound) and it was so huge that I ate it in two meals!

We would return again to King Kong before we left Omaha and I couldn't speak more of our food there!

The day started as so many had and ended with Cherie and I as grandparents.

I can't lie and say I wasn't surprised when we were told Archer was on his way but even though we live so far away, it's a different feeling now.

It's hard to believe that he's two months old now and it's easier to handle the distance for now, realizing he wouldn't know us anyway but I do wonder how easy it will be in the years to come.

I grew up seeing my grandparents in Ohio once a year and the results were mixed.

I was close to my grandfather and more distant from my grandmother but when you see people seldom, it's a big deal when you can see them but you lack the everyday familiarity that comes with living closer.

It'll be interesting to see how everything plays out and I'm looking forward to the ride.

I'm continuing the Omaha series when I have time but my writing time has lessened recently, so not sure when I'll have another installment.