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You may (or may not) have noticed that I haven't posted in a while.
In part, it's because I haven't had much to say. Life, such as it is, proceeds apace (or at a virtual standstill). Nothing exciting or new to report, and while I have thoughts about it all, none of them are really new.
In part, it's because I was biting back what I did have to say. ( A page or so on a topic which was intended to be a brief aside... )
The other part of what's kept me from writing is - and this will be shocking, I'm sure - fatigue. I spent the last couple of weeks pushing my schedule around faster than usual so that I could be awake during the daytime for next week. (And, somehow, hopefully the three weeks after that. Not sure how I'll maintain that, but I'll do what I can.)
Because...
I'm leaving tomorrow to drive to California.
An old friend called up a few weeks ago to say that he has to drive a moving van to Berkley. He wanted some company for the trip. We talked it out over a series of phone calls, and I agreed. Unfortunately, we have to make the drive in 6 days (500 miles/day), so there won't be time to see the people or places along the way.
But... I then have a few days free, and a one-way ticket home from California isn't cheap. (And, for some stupid reason, they won't let me use frequent flier miles for a one-way ticket. And I don't feel like wasting the miles for a return leg that I'm not going to use.)
So... I'm going to double back. Take a day to rest (and maybe have lunch or something with some family friends who live right there), but then get out of California quickly, in memory of my old vow never to set foot there again. Day of driving. Day to tour around with a friend in Oregon. Day of driving. Day to poke around Idaho and then see my old college roommate (who now lives in Idaho with his family, though I haven't seen him since the wedding). Short drive to Yellowstone. Day or so to see what I can there. And then...
I'm not sure. Was going to try for Mt. Rushmore. But that would leave me in South Dakota, which is very firmly flyover territory. Turns out it's hard to get a good flight from flyover territory. Flights from Rapid City, SD aren't cheap, and they leave at 6am or 10pm. The very little in between is ridiculously expensive. And I'd have to change planes two or three times.
And I'd be flying home just about the same time that the rest of the family will start the drive up to Massachusetts for the annual family vacation there. I figure I'll have my suitcases already packed for the trip west and a day traveling is a day traveling, so I might as well fly there. But that's one more connection to a small (though reasonably busy) airport.
So I'm considering trying to fly out of Denver (one less connection, anyway) or Salt Lake City or something. Or maybe fly halfway, take an overnight, and finish the trip the next day. (Which might, ironically enough, mean staying over in New Jersey.) Gonna go take another look at the map when I'm finished posting this.
It'll be fun. It'll be exciting. It'll be tiring. It'll be something of an expense. And I'm sorry for all the people and places I won't be able to see. But I'm looking forward to it. And I'm sure I'll take plenty of pictures. I won't be online much, but maybe I'll have more to say in the time that I am. We'll see.
But that's my update for now. Where I've been and where I will be.
Back home in September, with some decisions to make, perhaps some new projects, and a giant looming question mark of a future. But never mind that. I should get packing. And planning. Oh, and a gallon of distilled water which I forgot to buy yesterday.
See ya.
In part, it's because I haven't had much to say. Life, such as it is, proceeds apace (or at a virtual standstill). Nothing exciting or new to report, and while I have thoughts about it all, none of them are really new.
In part, it's because I was biting back what I did have to say. ( A page or so on a topic which was intended to be a brief aside... )
The other part of what's kept me from writing is - and this will be shocking, I'm sure - fatigue. I spent the last couple of weeks pushing my schedule around faster than usual so that I could be awake during the daytime for next week. (And, somehow, hopefully the three weeks after that. Not sure how I'll maintain that, but I'll do what I can.)
Because...
I'm leaving tomorrow to drive to California.
An old friend called up a few weeks ago to say that he has to drive a moving van to Berkley. He wanted some company for the trip. We talked it out over a series of phone calls, and I agreed. Unfortunately, we have to make the drive in 6 days (500 miles/day), so there won't be time to see the people or places along the way.
But... I then have a few days free, and a one-way ticket home from California isn't cheap. (And, for some stupid reason, they won't let me use frequent flier miles for a one-way ticket. And I don't feel like wasting the miles for a return leg that I'm not going to use.)
So... I'm going to double back. Take a day to rest (and maybe have lunch or something with some family friends who live right there), but then get out of California quickly, in memory of my old vow never to set foot there again. Day of driving. Day to tour around with a friend in Oregon. Day of driving. Day to poke around Idaho and then see my old college roommate (who now lives in Idaho with his family, though I haven't seen him since the wedding). Short drive to Yellowstone. Day or so to see what I can there. And then...
I'm not sure. Was going to try for Mt. Rushmore. But that would leave me in South Dakota, which is very firmly flyover territory. Turns out it's hard to get a good flight from flyover territory. Flights from Rapid City, SD aren't cheap, and they leave at 6am or 10pm. The very little in between is ridiculously expensive. And I'd have to change planes two or three times.
And I'd be flying home just about the same time that the rest of the family will start the drive up to Massachusetts for the annual family vacation there. I figure I'll have my suitcases already packed for the trip west and a day traveling is a day traveling, so I might as well fly there. But that's one more connection to a small (though reasonably busy) airport.
So I'm considering trying to fly out of Denver (one less connection, anyway) or Salt Lake City or something. Or maybe fly halfway, take an overnight, and finish the trip the next day. (Which might, ironically enough, mean staying over in New Jersey.) Gonna go take another look at the map when I'm finished posting this.
It'll be fun. It'll be exciting. It'll be tiring. It'll be something of an expense. And I'm sorry for all the people and places I won't be able to see. But I'm looking forward to it. And I'm sure I'll take plenty of pictures. I won't be online much, but maybe I'll have more to say in the time that I am. We'll see.
But that's my update for now. Where I've been and where I will be.
Back home in September, with some decisions to make, perhaps some new projects, and a giant looming question mark of a future. But never mind that. I should get packing. And planning. Oh, and a gallon of distilled water which I forgot to buy yesterday.
See ya.