let's hit the road

It seems like it's been about 20 years since I've typed the following words, but in actuality, it's been only 2: After just one more day of work, I'm setting off for Canada.

To be sure, I'll actually be setting my GPS for Middlebury, VT, at about 4:00 AM Tuesday; but, after spending about three days there, it's off to glorious Magnetawan - the home-away-from-home that I was unable to get to last year, and which I've sorely missed for the last 700+ days.  It will be a different town than I remember, largely because the Downtown General Store, the anchor of Magnetawan, Ontario's business district for as long as anyone can remember, was completely destroyed by fire last summer in what appears to be a case of arson.  Due to the difficulties in zoning, registrations, and other political things, the store is not going to be rebuilt; and life on Ahmic Lake may never be the same for the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of summer residents.  Be that as it may, the charm of Ahmic lies in the beauty of the area, the relationships among the lake dwellers and the regular townsfolk, and the relatively carefree days of summer in the lakes region of Ontario.  No matter how many times I visit (but for the skip last year, this would have been my 20th summer on the lake), I am always awed by how fantastic I feel after my first dip in the lake, and I'm always worried that I'm going to do something foolish like call my boss and tell him that I'm never coming back.

We make a cute couple, eh?

I will, of course, be coming back to Duluth again this year; but not before making a stop in Waukegan, as I mentioned in my last entry.  My plan at this point is to leave Canada on the (early) morning of July 12th and travel to Illinois Beach State Park for a few days of camping, rehearsing with the Chicago Brass Band, watching Amy play in a few gigs, and hopefully getting to spend some time with her when she's not gigging.  Her schedule sounds like it will be fairly busy for the three days that I'm in Illinois - busy enough so that I briefly considered not making the trip.  "Briefly," however, is the key word.

Amy, by the way, did indeed make it down to Atlanta last Friday night.  On Saturday, we spent some time at a local AT&T store - she needed a new phone and some gizmos to go with it, and I get a pretty hefty discount on the gizmos - and then I introduced her to the magic of the south's most established eatery (Waffle House) before dragging her with me to a performance by the GBB at the annual International Euphonium Institute.  It wasn't the band's best showing, but I didn't embarrass myself, which was nice.

We'd planned to spend last night watching movies, but both of us were pretty wiped out by midnight and we ended up falling asleep halfway through the first one we started watching (My Cousin Vinnie).

Today found us at the Georgia Aquarium, where we wandered around looking at fish and taking pictures for several hours before I rather unwillingly took her to the airport for her return flight to Illinois.  I received a message from her as I began writing this that she's landed in Milwaukee and will be home in another hour.  Good news there.  I still don't trust planes, though I know I'll be on a few of them as this year winds down.

I know I've already gotten slack about updating this blog again, but I'll do my best to at least get a few paragraphs in each day during the vacation - at least as long as I've got internet access.  Unlike my days at home, there should be plenty to write about while I'm away.

For starters, I can fill y'all in on my trip to Gettysburg (last week).  I probably should do that now, but I'm getting ready for a trip, you see.  I'm sort of busy.

TWD