Throughout the day I had updates from the ladies… at 5:00 they were in Michigan, having visited Tanya and Fred, now again headed westward
At 6:00 they were near the Indiana/Illinois state line… stuck in traffic caused by a serious accident…
By 9:20 they were at the hotel, near O’hare, checking in…
I had left work a bit after 4:00 pacific time, headed home for the ride to the airport… the trip was slow… nearly an hour for what is usually 30 minutes, and occasionally less. I changed, grabed my bags and was off to the airport with Tina and Emma…
I rush to check my bag ($23.00 please) then make a quick trip through security… then rush to the gate, only to find that my flight, scheduled to board in about 15 minutes will instead board in an hour and 15 minutes… I retreat to the bar… order a beer and take out a book.
The beer is good, the book better (Sandstone Spine by David Roberts, a story of trip, a hike along a ridge in search of Anasazi… I see a summer trip in the book)
I set check the airline’s website on my phone, set the alarm on my phone… I drink another beer… I read more… the alarm goes off… I move to the gate where our plane has arrived… I board, find a place for my bags and sit down… The people who follow me aboard are not all as lucky… the space in the overhead bins is fast disappearing… they are offering to gate check bags… the dreaded announcements are starting… one bin nearby won’t close… the owner of the offending bag rearranges it and it now closes… the gentleman nearby, hoping to place his smaller bag in that bin once the oversize bad is disappointed.
I say to the “Stew” (aka flight attendant) “I bet you love this part of your job….” She “Uh Huh….”
You can either fight it and get mad or laugh at it… I choose to laugh.
We are now over the Sierras at about 37,000 feet… There is still significant snow below… the weather is broken layers of clouds and fog, soft grays in the failing light… About 8:00 we cross over into Nevada… I take a few pictures, then shut down the computer to read and hopefully take a nap.
They made up a half hour in flight. I won the luggage lottery… third bag off… after wandering about O’Hare looking for the shuttle stop I made it to the hotel about 1:30… A quick nap… Up again at 6:00 local time (4:00 pacific) and armed with a cup of coffee, and fortified by a quick shower, we are off…
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
First report from the road
Just in, as of 7:36 am Pacific time the girls were crossing the Ohio boarder, having rendezvoused at Dulles, and driven across Maryland and Pennsylvania... That's 4 states before 8:00 am (well, it's 11:00 where they are) They still need to cross Ohio, dodge into Michigan for a quick visit, across the top of Indiana then into Illinois before they stop for the night.
Here in California I am packed, the boarding pass is printed, and I am off to work for the day...
The photo is from the last trip to Chicago, three years ago... enjoy...
Randy
Thursday, May 6, 2010
A new journey begins
It started about 11:00 this morning (pacific daylight time)… again about an hour ago… and will again tomorrow about 8:00 pm…
This morning, Steph left California Maryland, her home for the last year, where she lived with Kelly, her cousin’s wife… and their children (her cousin Fred, and Kelly, Hallie and Noah) by car… headed for Lorton
This evening Kellie, her best friend left
Early tomorrow, very early, Steph will leave Lorton and rendezvous with Kellie of California (the real one)… then together drive west, across
Tomorrow evening I will leave
Together the three of us will continue west… eventually landing in
In between we plan on visiting at least one railroad museum (Mid-Continent in North Freedom Wisconsin), the Corn Palace in Mitchell South Dakota, before stopping for the night at Chamberlain, South Dakota on the Missouri River…
The next day (Sunday) we continue across
The nest day (Monday) we rejoin I-90 westward… leaving to visit Devil’s Tower National Monument (Where Close Encounters of the 3rd kind was filmed) then back to I-90 to the Little Big Horn Battlefield… then on to Billings Montana, before dropping back down to Cody Wyoming, our stop for the night.
The next morning (Tuesday) we have a short drive from Cody into and about
The following morning (Wednesday) we are off to the south to Grand Tetons… Mountains, views, wildlife…. And
Thursday will be a long hard drive, just short of 950 miles… at best a 12 hour drive, likely much longer... our target is home…
I am packing, clothing, two cameras, a computer, and lots of CD’s… The music will be important…
We have a plan (by now you probably have guessed that.) We have visited AAA for guide books and maps. We have used Google maps planning routes and diversions… We have visited web sites… for attractions, for national parks, for hotels…
We are off.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Live music and a new hat
A couple of Sundays ago T & I found our selves at the San Gregorio General store for a concert… The store is on the “coast side” of San Mateo County… a strangely rural area isolated area surprisingly close to Metropolitan San Francisco Bay…
The Band was Houston Jones, a local band which is difficult to categorize… they call their music “High Octane Americana”…. Their history may explain it all (or completely confuse…) three members were previously with the Waybacks, a newgrass/folk band… they added a gospel singer, and an accordion player… The result is spectacular… of course they are damned good musicians, which doesn’t hurt.
We had seen them a couple times before… once in a small club in Redwood City, the second time at a house concert (in a garage)
This seems to be the new face of music… bands self promote with their own websites, with You Tube, Facebook, and Myspace… they perform in small venues, even private homes… there isn’t a traditional record company involved…
So we find our selves headed to the coast on a Sunday afternoon… it was a pretty day, no fog, just a hint of chill in the air… we arrive to find one table (of the 6) left in the store… we grab it… The general store is unique… once a classic general store, it is now more of a bar (famous for their bloody marys) book store, clothing store, with snack food… It’s the kind of place were bicyclists and motorcyclists stop while out for a ride. They have live music on weekend. The band sets up. The band plays. We enjoy… They pass a jar for tips for the band… we feed the jar... we buy a couple of drinks each… and a new hat. I have been in search of a new hat since I lost my favorite in Buenos Aries last January… the old hat was a green felt fedora… the new hat is brown oiled canvas… Time will tell if it will ever be THE hat… but its at least a good hat for now.
I will be back on the road again next week. Steph and I, with guest traveler Kelly will be driving from Chicago to San Mateo, via the Black Hills of South Dakota, Yellowstone and Grand Teton… photos will be taken… trip reports will be posted… I will take the new hat.
I fly out Friday night…
Saturday, April 24, 2010
awakening from my winter hibernation...
OK, I have been distracted… I have ignored the blog and you my readers…
Now it is spring and I find myself awakening…
I’m back….
Work has been overwhelming… an excuse, but a valid excuse…
The local church… Catholic… a true community diocese is holding its annual carnival… I took photos… We are back… enjoy…
More soon
Saturday, March 20, 2010
A fine weekend in Southern Maryland
Friday, March 19, 2010
I have spent 4 days in self imposed exile inside libraries… good libraries, great libraries… finding treasures… but now it is time to escape… to go outside…
Here in Washington DC it the weather is spectacular… It is spring… a spring made better by the contrast to the hard, record breaking winter… I missed the winter, but am enjoying the spring…
The daughter has been spending time with me in DC… We ate lunch today on the patio at the Poet and Busboy… chasing Anthony Bourdain… She had to leave for Maryland early, and the kids needed care, so I continued my research alone…
Tomorrow I join her and Kellie and kids in Maryland for the day (and night) then return to Virginia for a last night before heading home…
Now Saturday…
I am up, I am showered and dressed… I am packed… and most important I have a cup of coffee…
The car is packed I’m ready to go… (oh no, we are resorting to song lyrics again) but there is a problem… the phone/GPS filed to charge overnight… The technology is failing me… My target, southern rural Maryland, is a convoluted place… and the GPS would be useful, but I have a map, (and strangely a compass) and know how to use them…
Bye, Randy
I have spent 4 days in self imposed exile inside libraries… good libraries, great libraries… finding treasures… but now it is time to escape… to go outside…
Here in Washington DC it the weather is spectacular… It is spring… a spring made better by the contrast to the hard, record breaking winter… I missed the winter, but am enjoying the spring…
The daughter has been spending time with me in DC… We ate lunch today on the patio at the Poet and Busboy… chasing Anthony Bourdain… She had to leave for Maryland early, and the kids needed care, so I continued my research alone…
Tomorrow I join her and Kellie and kids in Maryland for the day (and night) then return to Virginia for a last night before heading home…
Now Saturday…
I am up, I am showered and dressed… I am packed… and most important I have a cup of coffee…
The car is packed I’m ready to go… (oh no, we are resorting to song lyrics again) but there is a problem… the phone/GPS filed to charge overnight… The technology is failing me… My target, southern rural Maryland, is a convoluted place… and the GPS would be useful, but I have a map, (and strangely a compass) and know how to use them…
Bye, Randy
Friday, March 19, 2010
Modern Travel and the Equine Paradox
Monday, March 15, 2010
I still like to believe that there is glamour in flying… we are leaving on the big jet airplane…
its a view which is hard to defend…Instead, we fight traffic, look for a place to pull over, jump out as the traffic cop shoes the cars away… to the check-in counter… Then security, and with it access to the sanctuary, we approach the alter… we take our shoes and coat off… we pass through the portal, always deferent to the high priests of the temple…
What ever the imagery, it is lines… frustrated people, clueless people… all working their way through lines… to the machines… load your stuff into the bins, remove shoes, jackets, bracelets, watches and jewelry… pass through the security scanners, the portal… the sound of the buzzer signals that you are unworthy… retreat back through the portal, try again… Meanwhile your belongings are being scrutinized by the priests and priestess… will yours pass tests… or will it too be sent back, to be dissected and inspected, leaving no part untouched…
I pass through the portal on my first try, apparently worthy of flight… the women ahead of me is pulled aside, isolated in her glass cage… Was she less worthy? What sin did she commit which resulted it the purgatory of the glass cage…. We fellow pilgrims take pity on her, gather her belongings and set them aside for her to reclaim, should she be released….
I, having found worthy, gather my belongings, repack the stuff, then rush towards the next test… the next portal, the gate… Here, it is not a test judged by the high priests… here it is a competition among the masses, to board, to find space for the stuff, the too much stuff we carry aboard… Into the final temple… the plane.. where we can sit and rest, until rest itself becomes an ordeal…
Of course, once again, I am flying my beloved Virgin Airlines… so once aboard I will be bathed in the cleansing red and purple lights… music at ready. But having planned sufficiently, I have time before boarding for a last beer… It’s a long night aloft… I have a cold… and beer and cold medicine have great powers to assure a pleasant sleep while flying… Tomorrow I will awake in DC… Washington DC… claim my rental car and go off on my adventure…
But first, I must drink my beer, save these words of wisdom, turn off and pack my computer and head for the gate and another line…
Now Friday, March 19th…
I have been busy, very busy… I have eaten corned beef and cabbage in the presence of people wearing green... I have haunted libraries and museums and dusty places with secrete knowledge, in search of that knowledge… I have found things I was looking for… but I have also found knowledge best forgotten… my favorite so far…
Drum roll…
“Professor George Bartholomew’s Equine Paradox”…
More later,
Randy
I still like to believe that there is glamour in flying… we are leaving on the big jet airplane…
its a view which is hard to defend…Instead, we fight traffic, look for a place to pull over, jump out as the traffic cop shoes the cars away… to the check-in counter… Then security, and with it access to the sanctuary, we approach the alter… we take our shoes and coat off… we pass through the portal, always deferent to the high priests of the temple…
What ever the imagery, it is lines… frustrated people, clueless people… all working their way through lines… to the machines… load your stuff into the bins, remove shoes, jackets, bracelets, watches and jewelry… pass through the security scanners, the portal… the sound of the buzzer signals that you are unworthy… retreat back through the portal, try again… Meanwhile your belongings are being scrutinized by the priests and priestess… will yours pass tests… or will it too be sent back, to be dissected and inspected, leaving no part untouched…
I pass through the portal on my first try, apparently worthy of flight… the women ahead of me is pulled aside, isolated in her glass cage… Was she less worthy? What sin did she commit which resulted it the purgatory of the glass cage…. We fellow pilgrims take pity on her, gather her belongings and set them aside for her to reclaim, should she be released….
I, having found worthy, gather my belongings, repack the stuff, then rush towards the next test… the next portal, the gate… Here, it is not a test judged by the high priests… here it is a competition among the masses, to board, to find space for the stuff, the too much stuff we carry aboard… Into the final temple… the plane.. where we can sit and rest, until rest itself becomes an ordeal…
Of course, once again, I am flying my beloved Virgin Airlines… so once aboard I will be bathed in the cleansing red and purple lights… music at ready. But having planned sufficiently, I have time before boarding for a last beer… It’s a long night aloft… I have a cold… and beer and cold medicine have great powers to assure a pleasant sleep while flying… Tomorrow I will awake in DC… Washington DC… claim my rental car and go off on my adventure…
But first, I must drink my beer, save these words of wisdom, turn off and pack my computer and head for the gate and another line…
Now Friday, March 19th…
I have been busy, very busy… I have eaten corned beef and cabbage in the presence of people wearing green... I have haunted libraries and museums and dusty places with secrete knowledge, in search of that knowledge… I have found things I was looking for… but I have also found knowledge best forgotten… my favorite so far…
Drum roll…
“Professor George Bartholomew’s Equine Paradox”…
More later,
Randy
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