The Burrow

(This follows a piece of yesterday's post .  Reading that will fill in any gaps.) All the relevant parties being vaccinated and on vacation and available for hugging, it was time to buy tickets to see our grandchildren.   My excitement was tempered with the overwhelming number of choices and decisions to be made.  Which airline?  Which airport?  Which days?   I gathered my thoughts and my phone as TBG watched the NFL Draft, hour number nine zillion and twelve, and failed dramatically to purchase round trip airfare on Allegiant.   Yesterday's post was written before I rewarded myself by opening the tabs and choosing flights and dates and seats and once again being rejected. After the third time the laptop reset itself to the box for my email and refused to accept the reservation, I began to take things personally.  The Live Chat Now  told me it was my devices' faults and not their system at all.  Sometimes people have to clear ...

  Hotel Alert A daily destination amenity fee of USD 32 will be added to the room rate. I was proud of the discounted flight I found to take me to a Cornell alumni leadership conference in Las Vegas this month.  I opted not to choose a seat, not to bring anything that didn't fit in the space it would share with my toes, to board last, and not to ask for anything extra.  It's a two day trip; I don't need a lot of clothes. I'm a small person; I don't need a lot of room. The flight is short.  I'll be fine. I researched the least expensive way to book the hotel, combing through all the travel sites and the AAA and the hotel's direct website.  Cornell's group rate was the least expensive so I booked the room the way I could have done before an hour's stroll through the interwebs. It wasn't going to cost me very much to figure out how to increase the membership of the Cornell Club of Southern Arizona, of which I am now the president. I was flying ...

The well dressed businessman, the one who knew it was Tuesday because he was leaving O'Hare for work, boarded with four others who looked just like him. The rest of us, First Class and Elite and Sapphire and Gold were a motley crew. In full Summer Vacation Mode, we moved at a different pace. We were free.  He was not.   TBG and I found ourselves seated next to him, aisle and middle to his window. He was not displeased.  Then a mom with two pre-schoolers hoisted her roller bag into the bin above us and swiftly, cleanly, with little muss or fuss, settled herself and the kids and their snuggles blanket and backpack-cum-bear and Snow White into the row behind us. In complete sentences, the big sister was narrating the experience with the delighted excitement only a four year old feels while anticipating the Food Cart.  The worker bee by the window sighed a sigh which could have propelled the plane on its own. The mom was smiling and gentle and in cha...

Warning to Parents: Do not make random promises to your children.  You will be expected to adhere to them.    Long, long ago, in a house far, far away, I told Little Cuter that when she had children she could host the holidays. Until then, she'd have to travel to her parents.  I said it.... I'm sure I did.... it sounds like me.... I'm not disputing the evidence.... I'm just whining about the consequences of a one-off remark made to quiet a kid who didn't want to travel.   TBG and I are packing our polar fleece and our heavy socks and our turtlenecks this week as a result of that conversation.  We'll be joining the throngs at O'Hare on Saturday, leaving the sunshine and 70's, arriving to rain and 40's.... then snow.... then 30's and 20's and clouds...lots and lots of clouds.    Only the presence of a granddaughter could induce me to get on a plane right now.    My house is a disaster; the library and the kids' roo...

It's not the prettiest part of the desert, nor the pretties part of the Golden State. Still, it had its moments. The road is straight and flat, even as it goes up and down for miles  The crags of Arizona give way to softer hills in California. The scale of the roads expand, too.  The trucks are lost in the immenseness and closeness of the hills. The road steepens, and the Runaway Truck Ramp signs begin to appear.  They are on both sides of the road, with blockades where there isn't enough room to slow down.  I'm not sure how effective those metal barrels would be. There wasn't anything on the other side of that ramp, either.   The San Joaquin Valley feeds America. The greenery is an overwhelming contrast once you come down into the valley. Trees and more vines   and more trees line the roadside.   So does James Dean.   There are also oil rigs, dipping and raising and dipping a...

Big Cuter's friends are getting married. TBG and I are the only parents of friends who were invited.  It's an honor we couldn't refuse and so, today, Mr. I Hate Hotels and I are packing and planning for a road trip. He's got a brand new BMW 435i, dubbed FlapJilly's Uncle Beemer by Little Cuter, which is clean and shiny and ready to roll.  His knee is acting up, he's anxious about travel, and I'm trying to ignore the angst and concentrate on the adventure .... and on the love at the end. It's been much too long since I've seen my son; I'm looking forward to lots of big hugs and long talks and leisurely walks.  He has no compunctions about straightening my gait and complimenting me when I self-correct; it's physical therapy with lots of love and it makes me very happy. It's a two day drive to Carmel, the destination wedding's destination.  We cross Arizona, eschewing the no-tell-motels in Quartzite.  On our first drive to Tucson ...

It seems to be a year for weddings.  The kids' friends are hovering around their 30's, and biology seems to be catching up with them.... or is it the opportunity to register at Bed Bath and Beyond that's feeding the frenzy?  Whatever the reason, my mailbox has been filled with invitations.  We're the only "family of friend" invitees to one event; we're beyond flattered to have been included. Little Cuter's old soccer buddy is marrying her girlfriend and thought that TBG and I would enjoy the celebration, too.  In the midst of all this carrying on, I'm going to be practicing my grandparenting skills.  There are so many places to be, and all of them are filled with love. We'll meet Big Cuter in Carmel for his friend's wedding.  There were a range of hotel options presented to us, and, since I live with a pool on the edge of a golf course, there was no reason to stay at the country club resort.  We chose a smaller hotel in downtown Carmel,...

We made these plans three months ago.  I bought the airline tickets on Southwest, taking advantage of the lowest fares I'd seen since we've been traveling from Arizona to Illinois.  I've promised that visiting our grandchild will be effortless, carefree, easy-peasy. Checking two bags, having no carry-ons, not worrying about overhead space, B12 and B13 on our boarding passes... I did everything I could to remove the stressors from my reluctant traveler's path. I want him to travel with me.  I don't want him to worry. I want him to know that visiting the kids can be stress free.  So, I planned ahead. We discussed the advantages of a car service versus renting our own vehicle. Living in the suburbs, the kids depend on Bessie, their Hyundai.  We couldn't be stranded. Relying on a taxi would quickly tax the budget.  I watched the online offers, crawled through websites of car rental agencies, clicked on the banners scrolling across the screen, responded to t...

When travel is easy, I wonder why I ever stay home. There was no traffic on the way to the airport, the parking attendant picked up my car keys before I could leave them on the ground in the lot, all the boarding pass kiosks were available, and the gate agent let me walk down the jetway earlier than everyone except the First Class passengers so that no one would bump my still vaguely-unstable-on-uneven-surfaces self. With only one-third of its seats filled, the plane was blissfully peaceful.  Everyone had room to spread out, and the only baby on the flight screeched once and then was silent.  The flight attendants were helpful and unobtrusive, the tail winds got us into O'Hare twenty-nine minutes early, and no one was stupid about getting bags out of the overhead compartments.  I was in the car with Seret and Mr. Dreamy Cakes, on our way to Little Cuter and SIR, in no time.  The traffic was moving, the roads were dry, and we didn't get lost.  Not once. My ...

I set the alarm. I never set the alarm. I'm retired. I don't schedule early morning appointments on a regular basis. I sleep until I'm not tired and then I rise and shine. This morning, the alarm roused me from a wonderful dream, a green dream, a forested walking dream. I was bitter about the interruption but excited for my trip. I'm on my way to BlogHer'12; at least, that's the plan. Shower, dress, grab a Kashi Bar and toss the rest of the box into the carry-on because there's room and mini-bar snacks are expensive, and I'm out the door with TBG allowing me to heft my own bag into the trunk. I'm travelling alone; I have to be able to handle its weight. He's taken to driving me to the airport. We've made those trips optional since he was working and travelling and I refused to drag the kids to and fro for those extra 45 minutes of bonding time. Off-site parking at the Tucson Airport cost $2.88 per day in the summer t...

I am at my gate 2 hours early.  Hileman-time we call it, and it's a source of amusement to our family and friends.  We are never running through airports, a la O J Simpson.  Instead, we stroll and snack and observe...... ....the lady two chairs down who is checking the Lotto numbers with her phone on speaker.   "The winning numbers for the game you have chosen are:.."   Her tickets are strewn on the armrest of the chair.  She played several games and I heard all the numbers.  I tried to type to you but it was just too distracting. ....the gentleman in the row behind me whose customer support team is not meeting their quota and "it's my bad because I should have done it myself."   He's sharing sales figures and company names and I wonder if his supervisor would be pleased to know that I am following his dealings so closely.  He's got his hand in front of his mouth the way football coaches cover their play calls on the sidelines, but I'm he...

Typing that title, I remember standing at the blackboard (in the dark ages, before white boards were replaced by smart boards) and arguing with the teacher that traveling had 2 L's, not one.  I was fairly adamant about it, as was she.  Richard Levine opened the dictionary and told us that we were both correct as I watched the teacher shake her head and erase my extraneous (in her eyes, at least) L.  She was the teacher, she was in charge, what did we know, anyway?  Fifth grade was a hard year. Travel(l)ing with a leg and a half is hard, too.  Brother and 2 of the 3 women in his life took me to the National Zoo on Friday morning.  It was 60 and sunny in DC; the rain clouds were gone by the time we met up at my hotel and it was a glorious day for a walk.  By the time we got to the end of the hotel's approach road (it was much too long to be called a driveway) I was exhausted.  We piled into a taxi to save my hip for the hippos.  $10 to...

We had tried to go to the Academy of Sciences on Monday.  Using the handicapped parking placard I'd cleverly remembered to bring along this time, we secured a spot and followed Big Cuter's directions on the pathways and there we were at the Bandshell, looking out at a plaza that had been a parking lot before the renovations began as we were leaving the state in 2006.   You may remember the Bandshell from J'Lo and Matthew  McConaughey 's  Wedding Planner , one of our favorite San Francisco love stories.  It was the setting for the bride-gets-into-the-taxi scene toward the end. But we didn't want music.  We wanted Natural History right up until we hit the ticket booth and saw that it would be nearly $60 for us to enter.  That wouldn't get us into the special beastie exhibit.  That required its own admission fee.  We grimaced.  We groaned.  We turned away.  My heart was just a little bit broken.  Taking Big Cuter to a museu...

http://www.hoteltravelcheck.com/sfo/san-francisco-conservatory.html It was built from a kit.  Seriously.  The original purchaser died before he could put it together but a consortium bought the kit from his estate and erected this confection in Golden Gate Park.  The flooring must have come with it. The grates are good for drainage but interesting terrain to navigate as a tri-ped. It didn't matter to the boys that it was rainy nor that it would be humid inside.  Big Cuter had picnicked and run by the building often enough to be intrigued, and TBG was so impressed with my stamina and mobility that I do believe he would have walked around Stow Lake with me had I asked.  Luckily for all concerned, all I wanted to do was go inside that white birdcage and walk around.   The special exhibit was on poisonous plants.  Did you know that Abraham Lincoln's mother died after ingesting a poisonous plant?  I'm sure you have no idea how many murders wer...