I am back home on the compound with HA, Luna the Big Dog™, and the chickens and the sheep.
Allow me to recount the trip:
- Drive from the compound to KOA.
- Fly from KOA to SMF with my younger son. +3 time zone hours east.
- Night at Holiday Inn Express Natomas.
- a very nice property
- ate at a Mexican Sushi fusion restaurant
- Fly SMF→PHX.
- My brother picked me up at PHX and dropped me off at friends’ house in Oro Valley.
- Two nights with my friends in Oro Valley.
- they’ve been friends since 1975!
- got to see their cool community
- Friends drove me to my brother’s house in Tucson.
- visited the mission
- Brother drove me back to his house in Phoenix
- biked to a local grocery store
- had my prostate procedure
- the first few days were awful; mostly because I have a kidney condition which precludes taking ibuprofen
- improved rapidly after that, but we won’t know the effect for a couple of months
- kicked around Phoenix while recovering
- not much bothered by the heat, which got up to 110°, but I was recovering and not working; took walks in the early morning
- took my first Waymo ride
- visited the Phoenix Art Museum
- visited the Heard Museum
- visited the Arizona State University Art Museum
- Fly PHX→MSN
- stayed at the Aloha Inn (seriously!)
- it appears to be run by some creative folk, who are actively rehabbing it as I might do, often repurposing mass-market consumer gear (door locks, security cameras, phone system) rather than buying commercial purpose-built but expensive items
- drove each day to Verona, where my older son lives and works at Epic Systems (the electronic medical records behemoth)
- got to tour the Epic campus
- was there for Epicnic, the annual company picnic; I’d guess there were 15,000-20,000 folks there
- got to celebrate fathers day with my son
- saw a community theater production of Annie — it was quite good!
- stayed at the Aloha Inn (seriously!)
- Van Galder motor coach from Madison, WI to ORD (Chicago O’Hare Airport). Two time zone hours east.
- a night at Quality Inn, O’Hare
- Chicago L Blue Line to Millennium Station
- South Shore Line electric train to South Bend Airport. One time zone hour east.
- picked up in South Bend by my old friend Jonathan, who took me to the Indiana Dinosaur Museum
- we talked at length about his latest mental health care delivery projects — cool stuff
- I had dinner at Tikka Taco Twist, an Indian-Mexican fusion restaurant
- a night at Quality Inn, South Bend Airport
- South Shore Line back to Millennium Station, Chicago. One time zone hour west.
- due to a train derailment, South Shore Line service was suspended for at least a full day just after I made my transit; whew! disaster narrowly averted
- Chicago Metra to the newly-opened Obama Presidential Center
- A tasteful and decorous public space; worth a visit if you’re nearby.
- Metra ride back to Millennium Station
- Chicago L Blue Line to ORD
- a night at Quality Inn, O’Hare
- Fly ORD→SEA. Three time zone hours west.
- rushed to make my connection
- Fly SEA→KOA. Three time zone hours west.
- plane boards late
- man across the aisle on his phone, flags down a flight attendant
- “my wife and child are supposed to be with me; they called from the gate saying they’re not letting anyone else board”
- flight attendant leaves to check it out; returns saying “maintenance is working on a problem below; we’ll resume boarding shortly”
- my take: an engine was loose and has been fixed but they’re waiting for the Krazy Glue to dry
- they then ask us all to leave the aircraft, say “we’re looking for another one”
- ultimately, we arrive in KOA on a different plane, over three hours late
- HA and Luna the Big Dog™ meet me at KOA and drive me home.
Needless to say, I arrived rather exhausted.
A fine trip, but it’s good to be home.
—2p