life in the old lane

The DC area saved winter for me. Yesterday it rained, sleeted, snowed etc. Today it is just cold and windy. I have sequestered myself in The Old Bat Cave. 

But, it hasn’t been all bonbons, beer and binge watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer… I have been working on The Taxes. 

Mr. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said: Taxes are the price we pay for civilized society.

Well, I don’t exactly feel like I am getting my monies worth. I haven’t noticed much civilized about our society in recent months. 

And, why am I doing The Taxes? Don’t I have a tax guy? Well, I am somewhat like the ladies who clean their apartments before the maid comes. I do The Taxes and give The Taxes to the guy to check. Then the guy does The Taxes. And gives them back to me to check. It was quicker when I did The Taxes myself. But, if I live long enough – some day I’ll not be able to deal with The Taxes and by then, the guy and I might have established some sort of workable tax preparation plan. 

And tomorrow is daylight savings time. Isn’t that about the silliest thing ever. Here at The Asylum there is the concern that one might not be around to collect that lost hour in October. 

Well, I think it is back to The Taxes. Then yoga. And dinner. 

Note to Carlton: I just finished springing the clocks forward. So, know that you were missed today. Especially today.

A very dull quiet day at the asylum. I processed the mail. Except for the tax stuff. I put the tax stuff in a nice pile. And that is it. But, the good news is, my room is all sort of tidy and normal. Oh and tomorrow is “maid day”. And I do love maid service. 

I will now do some yoga and try very hard to not drink my way into AA or eat my way into Weight Watchers (I wonder is it called WW?) – both of which are a distinct possibility here at the asylum.

Most of the world celebrates 4/20; the asylum celebrates 4/01 everyday except Sunday. 4:00 PM being when our bar opens. 

 

OK, I am back home. Got everything unpacked and washed today. Stuff is still drying. Everything that is dry has been put away.

One of the zippers on my rolly suitcase jammed while in Grand Canyon. Today, with good light and needle nose pliers – I got it working again. Which is good- I always look at new luggage. But, I really like what I have. I know where everything goes.

Tomorrow – I attack the paperwork. And maybe Friday, start on the taxes.

Yes, the flower really is green. And speaking of colors – Harlene: That image of the Mississippi the other day wasn’t B/W. It was just a really gray day. And, the river looked really gray as well. I think that it would look more brownish on a bright sunny day. 

Surprise Surprise: The Asylum had really good tacos at dinner tonight. The asylum is starting to grow on me. We have about 500 residents in two connected apartment towers and there are about 500 folks on the waiting list. They must be doing something right.

I very uneventful last day on the train. But a very fine sleep last night. I usually sleep really nicely on the train. Carlton and I spent 4 or 5 happy summers living and working at Harpers Ferry National Park. The town still looks sweet from the train.

A friend from the asylum picked me up at the Metro – so no bus action this trip – and took me by Trader Joe’s where I got coffee, beer, yogurt and oranges. Then back to home. I did nothing unpacking-wise. I did not look at the mail. I drank coffee, ate cookies, did yoga and went to see how my 11 square foot “garden” wintered. Had dinner. Salmon, green beans, wine (free wine night!), birthday cake and ice cream. And coffee. 

The chives look ready to harvest. 

Tomorrow. Unpack. Laundry. Look at mail. Plan next escape.

The major stop today was in Kansas City. Lovely old station. Being tired of train food – I picked up an excellent scone for breakfast. 

Always fun to cross the Mississippi. This was late morning.

Then arrive at Chicago Union Station at three in the afternoon.

The highlight of my afternoon was using one of the showers at Union Station. After my very fine shower, I talked to a couple of nice ladies.  One my age was heading to New Orleans for food, shopping and gambling. The younger to DC for The Day without women March.

Now, I am on the train heading back to the Asylum.

Hopefully, I get enough signal soon to link the Mac to the iPad and update the blog. Ok, the signal fairy just blessed me with a little window of connectivity. So, I’ll just blast the out.

I had a lovely day on the train. It was about an hour late arriving at Flagstaff. Amtrak sent me several texts telling me about the lateness. So, I hung out at the saloon for a little longer. True to the manager’s promise – coffee was waiting for me. And not just any coffee, but Starbucks – Pike’s Peak with a note telling me to take as much as I wanted. 

As soon as I was settled on the train, I had breakfast. Then a little nap. Looked out the window. Read a book. And some how or the other, the train got back on schedule and arrived in Albuquerque early. So, I had a nice walkabout in the train station neighborhood. 

Then a very late lunch – which will suffice for dinner – more looking out the window and napping. 

We just arrived in Colorado. Where we are going about 3 miles per hour. Seems like there are “signal problems.” 

Chicago mid afternoon tomorrow. Then on the  Capital Limited at 6ish in the evening for the last night away from The Asylum.

Can not say that I am all that excited about getting back. Time to find another trip to take.

I completely enjoyed my time on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is just a big hole in the ground. But, it is a really fine big hole.

And then it was back on the shuttle to Flagstaff. And, my hotel room over the saloon. Actually over 3 saloons and under the “Zane Grey Ballroom and Bar”. It seems like it is going to be a fine place for the night. It is only 10 minutes from the RR Station. I’ll be leaving at 0500 hours for the station and the manager said it would try to remember to set the coffee to be ready 0500. 

I stashed my stuff in my room and went walkabout. Flagstaff is a great little town. With lots of my favorite things.

Now that it is dark outside – think I’ll go check on the nightlife. Well, the very early in the evening life. Don’t think 7PM is “nightlife”.

 

I made it up in time for sunrise. And, a little 7 mile walk/hike seem like a good idea.

The mule was going down to phantom ranch at the bottom. I am going to hermit’s rest. Which is mostly flat and you are never more than a mile from a bus.

Lots of trees, ravens, elk scat, snow,ice, mud, great views and almost no people.

Carlton would have hated the trip. It costs too much. It wasn’t easy getting here. I ate in restaurants. And went on a bus tour. But, I am pretty sure he is happy that I made the trip. But I am dam glad that I don’t have to turn in an expense report on the trip to him.

After my long day, l am staying in tonight and will have a granola bar for dinner. 

Back on the bus to Flagstaff at 10 tomorrow. 

This was supposed to be a rest day for me. Well, the Fitbit says 6 miles. The legs sày climbing.The lungs say 7,000 plus feet. 

It started out easy with a bus tour. Then a little 2 mile stroll that got out of hand.

The weather is chilly but interesting. There has been unlimited sunshine. The wind is what makes it really unfriendly. I am glad that I got to see the snow. 

I took lots of pictures today, but not with the phone.  

And, frankly, I am too tired to pair the camera and Shamu the Phone to transfer some images to Shamu. I am too tired to do much of anything. Think I’ll make a cup of coffee and hop in bed. 

Photos when connectivity returns. 

This is what I see when I wake up this morning. People hopping in the snow.

Soon enough, I am one of the people in the snow. And it is 6 degrees. By and by, the shuttle bus arrives and in a couple of hours, I am at the Grand canyon, enjoying a massive breakfast. Have to be all fueled up to brave the cold. 

I put on all my clothes and out I went. 

Crappy connection. No surprise

I’ll post this and try to edit the post. It might be ugly. 

Well there just isn’t enough signal to post the last picture. 

So far so good. It is really cold. And connectivity is crappy. But the vistas are great, there are stars, my room is fine, the food is great.  If it doesn’t get colder than today, it will be all good. 

At 2:30AM, I can upload the last picture. 

It was an action packed day. Plane, 4, busses, 2 trolleys and 2 trains. Fitbit says 6.35 miles. And now I am on the train in LA, waiting for the bar car to open. 

Almost out of battery. So, that’s it for today.

Nice surprise – friend Billy called at 6am and hauled me for one last beach walk, talk and coffee. 

I have since then attended to to mail and donate piles. And the trash, pack, leave piles are 95% done.

I just finished off the last of my food – a peanut butter and banana sandwich. 

All the travel documents have been printed. And the toys are being charged. All the empty spots in my luggage have been filled with my favorite granola bars. Plenty of audiobooks and Kindle books are downloaded and there are a couple of 1950s sci-fi movies on the iPad. If I am bored – it will be because a Carrington like event. 

Here is the plan: Fly out at 9:45 to LA. Fly LA to San Diego. Train back to LA. (don’t ask. plane ticket craziness.) Train to Flagstaff. Bus to Grand Canyon. 3 nights in Grand Canyon. Bus to Flagstaff. Overnight over a saloon. Train to Chicago. Train to DC. Metro. Bus. Walk. Home. 4PM March 7. The Goddess willing. 

The Blog will be updated as often as connectivity permits. I think that even cell is iffy in Grand Canyon. 

Time to charge up the Airness…