Things went downhill from there. We missed the turnoff for the complex completely, and ended up taking an impromptu tour of the surrounding neighborhood in an effort to get turned around. It was not a pleasant neighborhood.

"Think this guy will mind if I turn around in his driveway?"
"Those look like bulletholes in his pickup truck. Better try the next one down."

When we finally reached the complex, the office was nowhere to be found. We pulled into the gas station across the street, and I tried calling the phone number on the ad; frankly, if I'd squinted, I would have been able to read the number on the sign across the highway. For some reason, though, the phone insisted that the call was a long distance one. I used a calling card, and found myself speaking to another property management company altogether. Guess what? There was, in this complex, only one three-bedroom unit, and it was occupied. Baited and switched!

We didn't want to waste the day, and since the apartment tour had been the only item on our agenda, we decided to make the most of our excursion, finding new places and new diversions. After a brief stop for brunch at Denny's, we were off.

And then, a bowling alley for pinball. This was to be a recurring theme throughout the day. Pinball was the arcade game of choice for us and our college friends; many an afternoon was spent hanging out at the bowling alley in Morgantown, having lengthy "Cueball Wizard" and "World Cup Soccer" tournaments. Though the pinball scene isn't nearly as good in Toledo, Eric has recently made it something of a mission to locate all possible sources in our surrounding area. Our road trip provided him with further opportunity to reach this goal.

Luckily, we're both pretty decent with the silver ball, though Eric can beat me hands down most times, so a few quarters can go a pretty long way. Unfortunately, there seems to be a trend among pinball operators in this area to disable replays, or to replace them with "Extra Ball" rounds. Most annoying. We also found more than our fair share of broken machines, which is always a bit heartbreaking, especially when the infirmity goes undiscovered until after we've plunked in our money.

We traveled north, ending up in the heart of downtown Toledo. I was hit by a sudden inspiration: why not view another apartment? There was a high-rise apartment complex in which Eric had been interested for some time; since we were in the area, we stopped to have a look.

The building was locked; the sign said "Weekends by appointment only." There was a phone number! We rushed across the street to a pay phone to "make an appointment." On our way, we nearly tripped over a homeless man sleeping by the phone; I began to have second thoughts about the apartment. Right now we live in a very nice, fairly affluent area - a nice place in which to raise children. Downtown Toledo offers relatively little to beat the serenity of its suburbs; the streets are dirtier, and the crime rate is higher. Is this the are in which I'd want to start a family?

Nobody picked up the phone, so our decision was made for us. We wandered down to the waterfront to look at the boats on the Maumee River. A man stood behind us, yelling into a cell phone about investment properties in the area: "It's a beautiful spring day, and there is nobody down here! Prices are rock bottom!" His yelling was disturbing another homeless woman who was trying to catch a nap on the warm grass beside the river. We walked on.

I wish I had some sort of psychological insight into the weekend, some sort of lesson learned, or some single thought that rose above all else. I don't. It was nothing more than a day during which we stayed busy enough to avoid all real discussions of anything deep, or anything intellectual. When I was trying on my sixth ill-fitting bra, I think I came close to an epiphany, but that may have just been an underwire.