January 2023

January 25th, 2023

My XC ski trip for the holiday went well, though not perfectly. My flight from Phoenix to Minneapolis was delayed by 30 minutes. Then upon landing, we waited on the taxi way for another 30 minutes due to no gates being available. Once we pulled up to the gate, we were delayed getting off the plane as there was no Sun Country Airline workers available to attach the ramp to the plane. Last, we waited 50 minutes for luggage. There were no luggage handlers. I was waiting at the baggage claim along with a couple hundred other people from my flight, when I received a call from Sun Country. They wanted to know if I was still at the airport, as they had my bag. I told them I was waiting at the carousel with 200 others. Apparently, my bag was separated somehow. They rolled it out to me. As I left, I looked over my shoulder to see the other 200 passengers still waiting at the carousel.

The skiing in Upper Michigan was great, with about 3 feet of snow on the ground. However, we returned a day early so as to avoid a major snowstorm coming into Minneapolis. That, and we had an unexpected visitor to our VRBO lodging. A pine squirrel gained access to my room in the middle of the night. It kept me awake as it kept crashing into the window, trying to get out. Squirrels are cute, but not in the dark when they scamper over your bedding.

We beat the snowstorm back to the twin cities, but I had to postpone my flight to Detroit by a day. That cost me 30 cents. When I tried to move my flight back to Phoenix a day in order to make up for the lost day with my son, they wanted $350 more dollars and I would have a layover at either Atlanta or Los Angeles. That was thanks to the big travel fiasco caused by Southwest Airlines. It affected prices on all flights to the west. So, I lost the day. I still managed to spend some time with my son Zach and friends in the Detroit area.

In another week, I will be flying again to Minneapolis. This time we will be skiing the North shore of Lake Superior, north of Duluth for 9 days. It is pretty strange skipping back and forth between the desert’s 70 degree temperatures and the north country 3-4 feet of snow. Having the trips in the middle of winter have helped to make my time fly by here in Arizona. After my return, I will have about 4 or 5 weeks before I start my 2023 trek back through New Mexico to Colorado to see my son, Tyler.

While I was gone to Minneapolis, on January 4th, Tyler presented his PHD defense in Machine Learning, and now is Doctor Scott. He dedicated his paper to me, for my unlimited support. Due to scheduling, I was not able to be there, but did watch via video conference. We will celebrate right around the CU Boulder spring graduation. Also, a few years ago, he told me we would take a trip after he graduated. He did not forget. I have 1-2 years to plan a trip to New Zealand, a dream I have had for over 40 years.

For now, a last ski trip, a few weeks to get ready to move again, and then the start of camping for 2023. Most likely, I will loop through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah. And possibly, assuming my passport arrives, an excursion to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta, Canada.