A Boston Diversion ... of Sorts

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A Boston Diversion ... of Sorts

No weekend getaway this past weekend. Well, we got away, but not for R&R. When your sister is moving and asks for help, there’s only one thing to do! This weekend we headed north to Boston to help Lin move. We had planned to leave at 0300 on Sunday morning in order to get there and return the one-way rental car on the other end by 4pm later that afternoon. Gone are the days when a 10-11 hour drive would be taken with a grain of salt. Now we need to stop to eat, pee or stretch every couple hours or so. It makes this 575 trip seem quite long... really long, in fact.

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Fall Has Fallen & a New Family Member

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If we can say “Spring has sprung”, I guess it's okay to say “Fall has fallen”. Being in the Chesapeake, we were unaware what was happening up North. We left Cups all secure and buttoned up at AYB and headed to Boston. We crossed the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel & Bridge at 0500, too dark to see anything except red and green markers blinking in the distance. We made good time except crossing the George Washington Bridge … always slow and bumper-to-bumper. Eight states, 500 miles and $50 in tolls later, we arrived at Lin's in time to help with the preparations for a welcome party for Lin's first grandchild. Six-week-old Daphne … Lin's granddaughter and our grand niece … was indeed grand … even though she slept through most of her celebration.

daphne

It's foliage season here in New England. Maples and oaks, birch, ash and sumac join in a riot of vivid autumn colors. The early mornings and nights are chilly and crisp. Lin turned the heat on for the first time this season and we put blankets on the beds, a not-so-subtle reminder that winter is on the way.

fall colors

We barely caught our breaths and it was time to leave. We've got a long, 3,000 mile drive to Las Vegas ahead of us. Road trip!!

All Quiet on the Homefront

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  cups at dock

After a rocky few days, all is quiet on the homefront … at least for now. Once again, we swooped in, did little to change an uncontrollable situation and will swoop out again to head back to Nine of Cups in Durban. Let's face it … we're swoopers.

Rather than bore you with the details, suffice it to say, things worked out in the best possible way and we're hoping they'll remain positive for at least the near future. We don't even dare to venture thinking about long term … too many variables.

It's amazing just how wonderful it feels to be all together. David and his three sibs haven't all been together for nearly 15 years. It was a short, but fine reunion. After this unexpected, but reassuring family visit, we're ready to head back from Vegas to LAX and board that return Emirates flight via Dubai to Durban. Africa's “wild coast” awaits us and hopefully a reasonable weather window.