Saturday, March 20, 2010

Americas (It's about time)

I visited America for a month and a half in January and February. It was quite the experience. My travel schedule took me from Palermo to Boston by plane, Boston to Dunkirk and back by car (thanks for driving, Jon), Boston to Maryland by plane, Washington DC to San Francisco and back by train (four days and three nights on the train each way), Maryland to Florida by plane, then San Francisco by plane, back to Boston by plane, and then home by plane. Not to leave out water transportation, we did take a ferry across San Francisco Bay. It was exhausting, it was fun, it was sad, it was bittersweet, it was frustrating. It has taken me a month to be ready to even write this much about it.

I took a bunch of pictures, but many were from the train which actually travelled too fast to allow me to take good pictures. Oh well.

When I arrived in Boston, I picked up my rental car, in which Jon and I were going to drive to Dunkirk, picking up Jess on the way, to empty out the storage shed Fran and I had there. The car was a Lincoln Navigator, a little larger than I was used to, so before leaving the airport grounds I test drove it into a van operated by the Boston Fire Department. The replacement car was a Lexus, not quite as big, but just fine, thank you.

Jon did all the driving from Boston to Dunkirk, and we met with the Mancuso clan for dinner. It was good to see everyone, and good to see Jon and Jess interacting with their aunts and uncles and cousins, and most especially with their grandfather Sam, who is 93 years old and still up and about and wondering what he will plant in his huge gardens this year for his vegetable stand.

After loading up the car and then unloading it into Jess's car and then Jon's apartment, I was off to Maryland after meeting up with my friend Phyllis Blumberg in Boston for lunch one day, and my nephew Jacob another day. Jon's cats were wonderful hosts
my visit, and I appreciate the fact that they allowed me to stay with them.

In Maryland I stayed one night with my friends Eric and Carol Chandler, then we drove into the capitol and boarded our train for San Francisco. Fortunately we had booked first class cells on the train, so we had our sleeping quarters and bathrooms in our own little rooms, with about the space for a queen size bed in total. It was difficult for me to turn around in the shower, but somehow we managed the trip, and were able to memorize the menu in the dining car after our third meal on board. I guess taking the train across the country is something everyone should enjoy, just for the variety of scenery that is possible, however I did find the quarters cramped, and there was little to do but read and look out the window. Perhaps it would have been better if they had some sort of excursion fare where one could stop for a day or two in the various cities we came to. I did get to see Ottumwa, home of Radar O'Rielly from Mash, which was about as close to a thrill as I got on the ride.
On the return trip, when we got to Reno there were avalanche warnings for the Burlington Northern tracks we were using, so we were rerouted on a more northern Union Pacific track line, and then when we got to Denver (early) there had been a derailment on the tracks ahead, so again we headed a bit north for the run into Chicago. We arrived in Chicago too late to make our connection, so they put us up in a very nice hotel, and we left the next day. It really was a minor inconvenience, and I really did enjoy the luxuries of a large hotel room that night.

The view of the buildings in Chicago at night from the window of my room was nice, and I tried to take a picture of it, but I was unsteady enough, and there was enough that it did not come out. Or maybe it was Christmas and I just did not know it. At any rate, I sort of like the shot I got of it.
I escaped Maryland about twenty four hours before they got socked with two feet of snow. I count my lucky stars. So it was off to Jane and Woody's place in Fort Myers, Florida. I had a relaxing week there, and we spent time at a slough near their condo, as well as a short drive around Sanibel Island with its wonderful Ding Darling Bird Sanctuary. I also got to see my friend Ted Walbourn and his wife Joan from my work time in Fulton, as well as Susie Mitloff and her husband from my high school days.

My flight from Tampa to Atlanta on the way to San Francisco was cancelled, and I was rerouted through Minneapolis. Again, I narrowly missed a storm by getting the rerouting, and was able to get to the west coast to spend some more time with my friends Carl Buchin and Claudia Valas. By this time I think I was so multiply jet lagged that I did not have a clear idea of where or when I was, and I think I left the camera in the suitcase the whole time.

I do know that I eventually went back to Boston, and flew on home two days later. I found America somehow changed. Some of the paranoia seems to have lifted. I also found it more materialistic that I remembered, but I think perhaps that is more my memory than any real change. I am proud to say that other than two sandwiches from Subway (which, by the way, were rather good) I avoided fast food for the whole trip, and my feet did not enter a single McDondald's, Burger King, Carl's Jr., Sonic, Wendy's, or other purveyor of questionable edibles.

So home again home again, just in time for the last of the winter rains, and the first of the sparkling clear, warming days of spring.

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