Friday, July 30, 2004

BRB

In the morning, we'll be loading the buggy and driving toward Michigan where we'll spend a week playing euchre, dangling our toes in Lake Huron, and sipping cans of Miller Genuine Draft with family.  It's not a reunion, exactly, because the Mueller side of the family has never organized such things until now.  We'll stop for a night's rest in Sheboygan, Wisc., visit with bunches of extended family, fuel up, then finish the drive on Sunday with the Seattlers who are flying into Milwaukee before turning north along the lake shore.

From Drummond Island, we're tripping to Mt. Pleasant and Muskegon, then back to Kansas City where, if we hold up, we'll load a truck and drive another 18 hours to Syracuse.  Altogether...3,093 miles of driving in the next two weeks. Sad to say, I expect to be mostly disconnected for the next two weeks.  I called a few places on the island and found one spot--North Haven Rentals and Gifts--with a leased-access dial-up connection.  c15 per minute.  No wifi?  What kind of uncivilized place is this?!  How will I keep my blog?  A blogger's worst fear: seclusion (granted, though, I won't be secluded in a strict sense, since there will be family).

No telling whether I'll manage to find a connection or whether I'll have time to write an entry in the next two weeks.  The land line (and DSL connections) are already scheduled for shutoff; this computer--the desktop--will be in a plastic bin soon.  And sp&m will probably stink up this joint; ignore that.  On this vacation (before lugging all the boxes and bins), I'll try to be patient, distract myself from the e-w(m)ithdrawals by reading, scour the stuff I'll be teaching from in the fall, veg.  Then I'll return, and this brief *pause* will be off the bottom of the page in no time.

Bookmark and Share Posted by at July 30, 2004 7:39 PM to Travelog
Comments

Oh, just enjoy all the tripping and talking, Derek. This seems to be the most down time of the year, with lots of blogger folk on the road and on vacation and getting psyched for the return to the lists in a few weeks.

Several summers ago, I did 3209 miles from Palo Alto to Lake Louise in Alberta, through Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and back to Cali. I did that trip all alone in eleven days--and loved it. Gave a paper at an ADE seminar in the middle of it, making it all deductible.

Looking forward to the Syracuse reports.

Posted by: John at July 30, 2004 9:29 PM

Thanks, John. The trip to Michigan was far more enjoyable than the move to New York (even though that's the deductible segment of the tour). Something about driving such a big truck on such little roads gave me a renewed appreciation for truckers and the work they do. It's nothing I'd want to do very often, and it's most definitely a relief to have it unloaded and returned.

Posted by: Derek at August 14, 2004 12:38 PM