Raincharm’s Weblog

3 days in a row on the road. Unusual unless it is part of a road trip.

Today’s is flying to Michigan! A relatively short trip for Michigan, so I tried packing into only a backpack. I fit it all in, but it is tight. Still I think for this time it will be better. And I did put the flight essentials, book and drink, into a small bag for the seat since the backpack fit in the overhead bin.

Carl drove me to the airport. Dropped me at arrivals, no stress there, but the escalator to the level with security was out of service. Not a big issue for me, I just had the backpack.

But the woman in front of me had a large bag and large purse. And more importantly, pointy dress shoes. She tripped on one step, falling forward. She caught herself, and I caught her large suitcase. I offered to carry it, but she tried to soldier on. When she tripped the second time, the woman behind me swept by me, grabbed the large suitcase and carried it to the top of the flight. The next level up did have a working escalator. I think the woman was perfectly capable of managing her bags, but the extra inch or two from the shoe point was enough to throw her off. But her outfit was very nice looking.

Yesterday’s travel was driving from Eugene, Oregon to Seattle. About 5 hours. This followed a walk/hike in the woods with lots of remembrances of our friend Dan.

Dan was such a nice man, and he cultivated friendships broad and wide. As a salesman for outdoor equipment, that meant traveling all over the country. But more importantly, he gave his time and listening skills to those in his community. Luckily for us, we got to meet many of his friends when they would be “dragged” to Seattle for a baseball game or kids soccer tournament. Our house was a landing site for travelers needing a place to hang out for a day or two or three.

We are lucky to have made it into his orbit, originally through his friendship with Carl’s college roommate, who lives in California. The web of life is wide and intricate.

This opportunity and need to gather led to the first day of travel, driving from Seattle to Eugene. This trip took longer, Friday afternoon and evening through several metropolitan areas at or around rush hour. But the four of us from Seattle, Carl, Kevin, Mark, and I made it to our AirBnb where we met up with Chris, Carl’s aforementioned roommate.

Our foray into the city for dinner was complicated by 1) Friday night in a college town and 2) the Oregon Ducks home football game scheduled for the next day. But we persevered and eventually had dinner.

Breakfast the next morning was from a bakery that Dan frequented. The food was so good, although the larger than normal crowd led us to decide on to-go food so we could better control our timing for the days events.

A different AirBnb for the next few days. Seeing family, and maybe a friend or two from the old days.

This entry was posted on November 12, 2023 at 8:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.