In my travels

I've been meaning to stop by and share some semi-random thoughts and observations, so it appears that today is the day!

Last week I had my first overnight business trip since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.  My job has steadily increased the amount of time I'm out in the field over the past several months to where it's pretty much what it used to be, which is four days per week.  So let me start there with firsts.

First time since the pandemic to have rented a car.  I hadn't had any success even reserving a car recently, given what's in the news about so many of the car rental companies having sold off large percentages of their fleets during the idle periods of the lockdown.  But for last week's trip, which was to northwest Indiana, I was able to secure a car.  When I arrived to pick it up, I was offered a compact pickup truck or a Nissan Rogue compact SUV.  I chose the latter, as I've had earlier models of that car, and felt I made a good choice.  

I'm so out of practice with newer cars that I had to search online for how to set the cruise control and a couple of other items, but managed to drive there and back (and some driving while there as well) without any incident.

This was also the first time since 3/20 that I stayed overnight in a hotel.  Suppose I'm late in experiencing this, but had not had the need to stay over.  This particular hotel is part of a national chain and our company has a direct-bill arrangement with the hotel, so I wasn't out of pocket.  The room was clean, and housekeeping was pretty limited during my stay, confined to replacing towels and emptying trash.  That was fine with me, as that meant that housekeepers were only spending a few minutes inside of my home away from home.  I'd rate this experience as "acceptable."

The group I was part of also took in a minor league baseball game in South Bend.  Saw the Cubs play the Fort Wayne Tincaps in a pretty nice ballpark called Four Winds Field.  Big picnic and lawn areas and some good food and drink choices, good sightlines and friendly employees.  The quality of play was about what one would expect from the high A level---inconsistent.  We watched the Cubs get out to a six run lead and then lose the entire lead in the course of about five innings.  Fun regardless.

The personal high point of the trip was meeting a very dear friend of mine in Indianapolis for lunch on my travels back on Friday.  We determined that we had not seen each other in person since 2008, if you can believe it.  We were once part of the same group of account managers within a certain company, I accepted a new assignment not long after that and first she then I left the company entirely.  We've messaged, we've e-mailed and we've spoken on the phone, but there is certainly no substitute for personal contact.  Good timing, since it was now safe for us to meet.  And true to form, we picked up right where we left off.  I have another friend I see only occasionally and it's the same with him.  She's a great gal and I count myself lucky to have her call me a friend!

Now, some of the oddball stuff....I had not traveled that far north on I-65 in quite some time, but found it amazing that there is still construction happening in MANY OF THE SAME LOCATIONS as before!  You'd think they'd get that stuff finished!

One of the funnier things about a trip, particularly one that I take alone, is some of the things I see and take note of.  One is the frequency of men with LONG beards that I saw during my travels.  And when I say long, I mean ZZ Top long!  This has carried over into my rounds this week, although I have to believe I'm simply noticing them now where I may not have before!

I often seem to notice certain kinds of cars while traveling.  On this trip it was the Honda Accord.  I lost count of the number of them that I saw, and not older ones (we have a 2005 model in our household) but the current body style.

Many businesses throughout Indiana were still showing signs asking patrons to wear masks inside, but none of the customers or employees I observed were wearing them.  Just haven't gotten around to taking down the signs, it seems.

I'm sure as I travel more frequently and further at a time that I'll have more anecdotes to share.

One more thing....my wife and I will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary on Sunday.  So lucky to have her!