Being in the moment: succeeded

We’re on the plane, headed home. We lucked out: We flew from Boise to SLC, and while we were waiting for our flight to Las Vegas (during a 2.5-hour layover), they asked for a volunteer to give up his/her seat—although that volunteer would get a seat on another flight leaving at the same time. Ken went up and offered to give up both our seats, but apparently there was only one seat available on the other flight. We pondered splitting up, because I’m flying Delta every time I got to Atlanta (which has been every other month since December, with the exception of August—and I’m going out at the end of September), and a free flight would be a nice boon.

But then the gate attendant came back and got our boarding passes and put us in first class…although, he said, hold one, what about a direct flight home? Since we had another 2.5-hour layover in Vegas, we perked up. The result was a direct flight that gets us in at 6 pm instead of nearly 9 pm. So we’ll have more time tonight to unpack, do laundry, sort mail, etc. Oh, and we also got two $10 food vouchers, so we picked up sandwiches for dinner (or perhaps lunch tomorrow, since there’s a scrummy Thai place we like to stop at on our way home from the airport).

Another happy thing today: in Boise, there was a young, pretty wife waiting at our gate for the flight coming in—bringing her husband back from Afghanistan. Her two friends were with her with cameras; she had a big sign. When he came out, she flew into his arms and he picked her right up. We all applauded. Sniffle.

So, let’s see. Yesterday we four went back into downtown Boise in search of tapas, and oh, the tapas we found! Croquetas, meatballs, skewers of cheese/sausage/olives, sandwiches (I had cheese, I forget what kind, and green olive tapanade; Ken’s had ham on it), cold tomato/bread soup, and Ken had the mushroom paté. I did not have fungus smeared on toast, thankyouverymuch. But the rest of it, oh, so good!

We wandered around for a bit—I wanted to check out a bookstore, which was a fantastic little place with both new and used books, and children’s and YA SFF split out into their own sections. Ken and Pauline each bought a book, and I marveled at how many OWNers’ names I saw. At an outdoor-goods store, E&P bought something they needed.

Then we caught a taxi to the nature center, which had these nifty under-stream viewing areas where you could see the fish, etc. Also, there were lots of birds, and inside the building there was an open plastic tub and a handwritten sign explaining that George the snake (who was harmless) had gotten out, and if you find him, please return him to the tub. Heh. Pauline was happy not to encounter George, but I was kinda bummed we didn’t find him.

The nature center borders the riverwalk, and we decided that it was such a beautiful day (sunny, mild, with a breeze that felt soft against my skin) that we’d walk the 3 miles back to the hotel. Along the way we saw ducks and a gorgeous hawk (although, alas, no otters). We pondered stopping at the zoo, but we were all a little too tired for that. We did, however, stop at Joe’s Crab Shack for much-needed margaritas and appetizers.  ;-)  Frozen margaritas = Slushies for adults. Ahhhh…

Back at the hotel, E&P did laundry and we tidied up for the finish banquet, where we drank wine, Ernie won the award for most helpful tech guy (Ken won it a few years ago), and we learned that next year’s CCR would be held in Duluth, MN. A bunch of folks descended upon our groovy 70s suite to behold its groovitude and hang out drinking and laughing for a while, before we all poured ourselves into our respective beds.

I hadn’t realized until I got to Boise how badly I needed a vacation. I thought I’d have more time to get a little work done (if only attacking the email backlog), but I’m okay that I didn’t. I needed to make “I’m on vacation” the priority on my schedule, and between the river, the friends, the new nifty experiences (like the Penitentiary, which did spark a few story ideas), and just walking barefoot in the grass, I succeeded.

Back to work and “normal life” this week (at least for part of it!), but I’m facing it refreshed and recharged.  :-)

Mmm...vacation

It cannot be the first of September already. We will not speak of it.

After sleeping in today, we had a light breakfast (split a Mediterranean scramble with a side of fruit)—but then Ernie and Pauline finished the talk they attended and wanted breakfast. So I went to the dealer room and ordered a present for my niece’s wedding, continued to ponder something for myself (wafflewafflewaffle), and then relaxed in our suite for a bit before they and Ken returned.

We caught the hotel shuttle to the Old Idaho Penitentiary and spent a few hours wandering around. I expected it to be a big building with a courtyard in the center; instead, it was a walled enclave with a variety of buildings, the first of which were built in the late 1800s. (It closed as a prison nearly 100 years later, in the 1970s.) It’s unclear whether the place is haunted, but I felt distinctly unwell in one section (death row—but not the hanging chamber), so who knows?

We also got some utterly fantastic mug shots of each other. I went for mean, and ended up with insane. Fear me. Pictures to come once Ernie sends ‘em to me.

After that we caught a taxi downtown, where we ate appetizers at a Basque bar, sitting outside and sipping wine and enjoying the mellow weather. Idaho had a big Basque settlement, so there’s a whole district in the city. Ernie and Pauline went to the Basque museum while Ken and I went to a women’s running store so I could try on workout bras. I did indeed buy one, because they were having a First Thursday sale. We wandered back and ended up chatting with the Scottish lady running the Basque Museum about Scotland and Britain and the US and differences and traveling and…well, she liked to chat. And we like to chat about eloping in Gretna Green and riding the bike to Orkney and all that.

Back at the hotel, we went to the group dinner, billed as a luau. The food was mediocre, plus we were still full of Basque appetizers, so we nibbled a bit and then put our bids in at the silent auction. Pauline and I came back to our suite to kick back for a bit, then wandered back down in time to see our friend John propose onstage to his girlfriend. She said yes. Sniffle.

Relaxing with Ken was a perfect way to end the day. Tomorrow, we’re thinking tapas in the Basque district for lunch, a wander through the Morrison Knudsen Nature Center, maybe a walk along the river or a workout, and the CCR final banquet.

Mmmm…vacation.