Headin' East

Well my long awaited trip to Cape Cod is approaching. I leave Seattle on the red eye, Wednesday night, and arrive in Boston at 6:45 a.m. Thursday. As mentioned before, I'm in first class for this part of the trip b/c I want to be comfortable. And, in the unlikely event that the plane gets to the gate by 6:15, I can be first off and get on the 6:30 a.m. bus to the Cape. But I'm sure that I'll get in after that one leaves, so I'll have to wait around at the airport for the 7:30 bus, which gets into West Barnstable at 9:20 a.m. I think everyone will agree that flying east is a very grueling task because of the time difference. I'm not a huge fan of the red eye, but it's the most efficient way, time-wise, to go from here to there, because you can hopefully get some sleep. And no one can come pick me up at Logan Airport....furthermore, I wouldn't ask anyone too. Those highways and tunnels are a complete clusterfuck. Even with the new and allegedly "better" road construction, it's a complete mystery to me. The best way to get from the airport to the Cape is on the Plymouth & Brockton bus, a method of travel of which I am a very seasoned traveler. In high school and college, my friends and I used to take the bus to go shopping in Boston, and when I went to school in Boston, I'd take it to go home for long weekends and short vacations.

I hate to fly, I really do. I always start getting uneasy feelings about the flight and the plane and terrorists and so forth. Thank god for tranquilizers. And my extra special traveling partner, pictured above, Lucky. When we found out that my dad had cancer, I went to the Cape in April of 2003, basically to say goodbye. I was a complete mess, and on top of it, stressed about the flight and having all those same uneasy feelings I get every time I fly. About a week before my trip, I came home to find a package from Liz. Inside was a gift bag and inside the gift bag was this little Beanie baby doggie that her son Ryan picked out for me. He wanted me to have it for good luck, a safe trip, and also because we'd just gotten Pepper and he knew I'd miss her. I don't think that Ryan will ever know just how much that gesture meant to me. I think he was like 9 years old at the time. The kid has a HUGE heart, which is a testament to his parents and their families. Liz & Jim - ya done good with both kids! So I take Lucky with me every time I travel now, be it by plane, car or ferry. He's gone to Canada with me every year, and to the Cape w/ me every time too.

At least my cousins will be there. And I heard that they are bringing my 94 year old Uncle Dick down from Boston to see me too. He's actually my great-uncle (my nana's brother), but because he lived up the street from me, he was always more like a grandfather. Don't know if we'll have time to jam in every single thing that we'd like to do. Ideally, Paul & Sharon would like to take us all out four-wheeling at Sandy Neck Beach. That'd be a blast. I've only done it once before, gone all the way out to the end. It's only accessable by 4-wheel drive vehicles, or an extremely loooooong walk. Paul wants to take me for a spin on his Harley. I'm just playing it by ear, and prepared to be really flexible, esp. since Di will have all 3 kids w/ her too. The important thing is to spend time with them, not what we do or where we go. It'd be just as good to just sit around the kitchen table and shoot the shit and laugh for hours on end too!

I'm one of these super weird people who has to come home to a clean house after I go away. My spring cleaning is going really well. It took me all weekend, but the kitchen looks like a million dollars now...but for the ugly dark brown 1970's-era cabinets. Ellen sent me a "sticky" on Facebook that says, "A clean house is the sign of a wasted life". I cracked up when I saw it.

So I expect I'll be pretty homesick....not just for Brian and my sweet doggies, but for my life, house, region, sports teams, and yes, even my pain in the ass stressful beyond belief job. I just hate being away from the west coast. I'll miss you guys and will try to check in from the library in Sandwich.

Hey Fen, thanks for the book!!! I'll be taking it with me for sure.

See ya'll when I get back!!