Wanted to go on a hike while on vacation, something usually done at a national park. But there's a lack of those in Connecticut, though there are plenty of state parks. We chose Sleeping Giant. Again, a place we all had a vague recollection having gone, but couldn't remember any specifics.
D's pretty much covered the hike in his essay. The trail's about 1.6 miles up and back. Verdant, shady, and increasingly humid. Until reaching the "castle" at the peak, where a nice breeze accompanied the hazy view of New Haven.
Some snacks up there, then picnic lunch at the base. Stopped for homemade ice cream at a little roadside stand, 'cause you can do that in New England.
Spent the afternoon catching up with Joan, and the evening with John and Darlene. Telling stories of the move, the new house, and extracting promises to visit.
Managed to sneak in a quick look at the old library, the Cora J. Belden Library.
Day 8: Fresh Fruit; Olde Houses; More Art
Started out early-ish in the morning, off to pick fruit at
A quick walking tour around Old Wethersfield; M+D now volunteer at the Wethersfield Historical Society, so D was able to give a more historical overview of the area than I ever had. Mostly, nice stroll, again reveling in the New England-ness of it all.
We managed a quick visit to the New Britain Museum of American Art. Turned out to be a real treat; one of the highlights of the museum is its illustration collection, those folks I'd read about/studied from the golden age of magazine illustration.
We grabbed some pizza and had a farewell dinner at G's
Day 9-10: And Then It All Went Awry
Had an afternoon flight out of Bradley, with a tight connection through DFW. Minor delays getting out, but that's to be expected these days. Some more travel time added as we had to reroute; but we were assured that every flight was affected, so making the connection shouldn't be a problem. Dashed to my gate with time to spare to discover that my flight was cancelled. As was one of the two others to Albuquerque that evening. As were a whole bunch earlier in the day. Seems they had some storms and shut the entire airport down for an hour in the afternoon, delaying, stranding, and redirecting planes throughout the system.
Waited 'til sometime after 9:30 to discover I wasn't going to make standby on the 6:35. So, waited to get rebooked (and a hotel), waited to get to the hotel. Did meet and commiserate with a nice couple on the way back from the Con.
Up at dawn, after a couple hours sleep, to try my luck on standby again. And I made the second flight out, along with a whole bunch of others waiting for the first available seat. Made it into work in the afternoon, but it made for a long day.
2 comments:
yeah, yeah, yeah, that's all terrible but what is the readout from the Con?
Crowded. They were returning to Baltimore from a vacation in San Diego. Not realizing the Con was that week (and now understanding they couldn't get a hotel room in the city), they only managed to get a pass for one day.
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