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Thursday in the desert
Thursday, August 18th, 2011 10:55 amWhen last we saw our intrepid heroes, they were on their way to the train station in Albany by a circuitous route made necessary by the biggest! air! show! in! New England! being between them and said train station.
We arrived in goodish time, though after more hours on the road than we had anticipated in Preliminary Scheduling. Checking our bags was something of an adventure due to the advent of a Russian Immersion Camp checking their bags ahead of us, each of the 20 children carrying more baggage than Steve and I combined, all of which had to be opened in search of that One Precious Object that could not be checked through all the way to Chicago.
Once aboard, the locomotive failed. Luckily, we were still in the train yard, and there was only a half-hour delay while they hooked up a replacement. Then! we were on our way, for two glorious hours, until! We slowed and stopped, and stayed that way for four hours while the freight train that had broken down on the track ahead of us was tended to.
That sorta set the theme for the rest of the trip.
I will not regale you here with the Compleat Adventures -- the waterspout; the smoking circuit box, the flooded toilet -- suffice it to say that we arrived in Reno on Tuesday, only five hours late, and things have been going considerably smoother since we landed.
Tuesday night, we had dinner and fine conversation with Di Francis and her family (for which we were almost late -- see above). Yesterday, I played hookey in the morning and went across town to have some quality mummy time, returning in time to find Shawna, Myles, Angie and Deb setting up the Liaden Fan Table, before Steve and I raced across the street to the Sierra View Library to read and speak to a small but appreciative audience. Dinner with Mem and Terry, then back to the hotel where we visited the SFWA Suite. I left the festivities early due to a headache (note to self: remember to drink water!), came back to the room and collapsed.
This morning's first order of bidness, after breakfast, is the pilgrimage to the Peppermill and the writing workshop.
There! Now you're all brought up to date.
How's it going in your corner of the world?
We arrived in goodish time, though after more hours on the road than we had anticipated in Preliminary Scheduling. Checking our bags was something of an adventure due to the advent of a Russian Immersion Camp checking their bags ahead of us, each of the 20 children carrying more baggage than Steve and I combined, all of which had to be opened in search of that One Precious Object that could not be checked through all the way to Chicago.
Once aboard, the locomotive failed. Luckily, we were still in the train yard, and there was only a half-hour delay while they hooked up a replacement. Then! we were on our way, for two glorious hours, until! We slowed and stopped, and stayed that way for four hours while the freight train that had broken down on the track ahead of us was tended to.
That sorta set the theme for the rest of the trip.
I will not regale you here with the Compleat Adventures -- the waterspout; the smoking circuit box, the flooded toilet -- suffice it to say that we arrived in Reno on Tuesday, only five hours late, and things have been going considerably smoother since we landed.
Tuesday night, we had dinner and fine conversation with Di Francis and her family (for which we were almost late -- see above). Yesterday, I played hookey in the morning and went across town to have some quality mummy time, returning in time to find Shawna, Myles, Angie and Deb setting up the Liaden Fan Table, before Steve and I raced across the street to the Sierra View Library to read and speak to a small but appreciative audience. Dinner with Mem and Terry, then back to the hotel where we visited the SFWA Suite. I left the festivities early due to a headache (note to self: remember to drink water!), came back to the room and collapsed.
This morning's first order of bidness, after breakfast, is the pilgrimage to the Peppermill and the writing workshop.
There! Now you're all brought up to date.
How's it going in your corner of the world?
