Is That Near Cincinnati?

Geri's hometown is a metropolis compared to the Ohio town my family is from, but it's still not one that most people have heard of.

As we tell people about our trips to the Buckeye State we're also finding some general confusion about the way Ohio has chosen to place its cities and just how far away we are when we visit.

There's Cincinnati (where turkeys don't fly), which is technically part of Ohio but if you look at the map you can see it is actually attached to Kentucky. In fact, what you can't tell from a static map is that Cincinnati is slowly making it's way over the border. Up and to the right is Columbus, appropriately named after the guy who sailed the ocean blue in '92. I say "appropriately named" because Columbus the City is surrounded by a highway that allows the uninitiated to circumnavigate it for hours before they realize what is happening and exit in The Bahamas. A smaller city that figures prominently for us is Dayton, which is where the Wright Brothers chose not to fly their first airplane. Dayton is up and to the left sightly of a line drawn between Cininnati and Columbus. Way up top is Toledo, which is really a part of Michigan (I mean, c'mon), and finally Cleavland which is unmistakably Ohio but is hiding behind lake Erie.

I have created a Google Map which lays out all the important locations for us. If you click here you may get to see it.

I'll also lay out the locations here for clarity:

• Highland District Hospital - This is Geri's hometown hospital and where the twins will be born and stay until they are released to us if everything goes according to plan.


• Cincinnati Children's Hospital - We've never been here. They don't do birthin' no babies, but they do handle all kinds of babies born early. If the twins are born before 35 weeks at Geri's hospital then this is the place to which they would most likely be flown.


• Kettering Memorial Hospital - Just south of Dayton. We hadn't heard of this place until Dr. Banias sent us there after the ultrasound. His practice is just around the corner.


• Miami Valley Hospital - Don't get excited. This is Miami, Ohio, not Florida. Just a little less south of Dayton than Kettering. Neither Geri's doctor nor Dr. Benias have privileges here. However, they have a very well respected Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)and fast helicopter service. So if Geri is in pre-term labor we can't stop, and if we have the option to move Geri from her local hospital to a hospital before she delivers, this is where she'll go.