Travel Follies Begin Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will begin a series of trips, one business, one pleasure, then another business, that will keep me out of my bed until Wednesday the 22nd.  I shall do my best to provide those among you without interest in politics and pop culture with sufficient travel oriented fare whilst on the road.

Leg one is to San Diego, where I'll stay until I hop on Thursday evening's redeye.  This is business, though it will be cut with much pleasure, as I'll dine with LtCol Waggoner and his family Monday night (steak, natch), then with a colleague on Tuesday night (San Diego Yacht club, I say old sport), and then one of my best friends from Navy days on Wednesday night (Ruth's Chris--he has some "certificates").  Thursday's agenda will include spending the day at the Surface Navy Association's "West" forum, held right down on the San Diego waterfront--which enables me to get my ship fix in.

When I land at Dulles on Friday early, I'll then drive to BWI to start the pleasure part of the trip.  I'll hop on a flight to Raleigh and rent a car to drive to my ancestral homeland of Clayton, where we will with great ceremony, fete my sainted mother on the occasion of her 80th Birthday.  The whole clan will be there--and I hope to run into the Hammer while in his home state.  I'm staying at a little B and B in town there, so I'll make sure and give you the lowdown on the important things (breakfast, specifically).

On Sunday morning, it's up and at'em, to fly from Raleigh back to BWI---and then BWI to Providence.   I'll rent another car there and drive down to Newport, stopping along the way in Jamestown for dinner with a wonderful friend I acquired when I began to squire the Kitten.  There's another just like him there in that quaint little town, but he and his family will be on vacation.

After dinner, I'll drive down to Newport where I'll spend the next three days "war-gaming" with a bunch of really smart people.  Then its back to the airport Wednesday afternoon for BWI, and home somewhere around 830PM.

For those of you asking why I didn't do the flights more elegantly, the answer is because of the personal nature of the trip in the middle and my not wishing to get on the bad side of Mr. Obama's IRS.

The entire ten days is going to spring from one carry-on....as I have moved to the next level of cube packing efficiency.  Unfortunately, my loudest, most colorful pants---suitable for Newport--are also my largest, and so they will stay on their hangers, shamefully reflecting their circumference while I wear more sedate, better fitting things.

Oh--full travel rig in the morning.