The show must go on!

Thanks to everyone for the all the well wishes, emails, phone calls over the past two days. When you are down on your luck, these words of encouragement certainly help. But you also get to see / meet people who provide great help.

The fire department people from IN/KY who came to the scene of the accident were so nice. Once they determined that no one was hurt, they switched to party mode. Engaged me in a conversation on my trip, petted Apollo and hung around until the cops showed up. I don't even know their names, but they have my sincere thanks.

The cops were their professional self. And friendly, once they knew that it was not a crime scene - just an accident. The tow truck drivers were also super friendly. After my car got towed, a 2nd guy stayed around in another truck and gave me and Apollo a ride to the lot. Apollo was taking everything in his stride, charming everyone quickly! Sundar had to rearrange his schedule to come down to pick me up. The lot closed at 5 pm, yet the girl who was in the shed / work area stayed until Sundar could come 5 / 10 minutes past their closing time to pick me up. Again, the folks of Jefftow, Jeffersonville, IN have my thanks.

The AAA claims rep did a fine job to get the paperwork done. But the adjuster, Walter, understood the situation that I was stranded thousands of miles from home on a fancy road trip with a dog. What would normally take several days, he expedited it to make a determination on the fact that the car was a total loss in a day. And was also a great help in figuring out the next steps. Walter has my sincere thanks!

What was to have been an overnight stay now has become a multiple night stay in Cincinnati. Comfortable with dogs, but not necessarily 100% dog lovers, Sundar and Uma were so nice to adapt to Apollo. The guys has a way with everyone and quickly charmed them and has made himself very comfortable in their home! It was great to see Neha and Apollo spend time together. Very much like my own girls, Jana and Kavya playing with the boy in the evenings. We did go for couple of nice runs in Cincinnati while waiting to sort things out.

Jaya mentioned right after the accident that I must go on with the trip. Sundar was equally certain that I should continue the trip. And so many of you have shared the same opinion. The show must go on! Not on a Porsche - there is no room for Apollo to travel comfortably :) - but in a rental vehicle. BTW, it wasn't easy to do a one-way car rental. But I think we have managed to do it.

We hit the road tomorrow morning. We have done 18 states so far and intend to complete the remaining 30.

Cincinnati pics