Home in 24 hours...thoughts from the desert

Geez, but I miss everybody back home.  Travel for work usually is a night or two, here and there.  But in the Spring and Fall, that's when The Long Trips happen.

Missed the big Asia meeting this year because of timing and things, but while I heard great things about the meeting, some of the ancillaries weren't all that great.  It was in Vietnam this year, but next year it's back in Bangkok and even better, it won't be over the birthday of a certain special someone named Makenna.

Sometimes I also go to the Airforwarder's Association meeting, which this year was in San Diego.  But with stepping down from the chairmanship of something with our national Association, that trip would've been on the company dime and that wasn't happening.

So, the one trip this spring is to the desert.  Chandler, AZ.  It's an awesome property.  We were here in 2007 when Makenna was only six weeks old or thereabouts.  Great memories.

Somebody wiser than me remarked, "You don't know what you've got until it's gone."  Song lyric.  This guy can probably identify for you.  I've missed everybody so much this week.  Kelly takes pictures, I try to talk to the kids where possible, but these trips are really go from the beginning of the day until well into the evening.  Add the two hour time difference to the negative and when I'm waking up to get a run or something and by the time I come back and shower, I've got to be somewhere at 7:30 or 8:00.  Go all day and then by the time the last sessions finish at 5, it's 7 back home and everybody's winding down for bed.

Kelly does a phenomenal job with them when I'm gone.  She steps into the role of both of us and executes it flawlessly like an Olympic gold medal performance.  Oh, and she's kept up her training for our duathlon next month.  Absolutely amazing.  She is a remarkable role model, playmate, driver and nurturer of Makenna and Rylan and while it pains me to be away, I  see the pictures of the fun they're having and know that mom's keeping them busy so they don't miss dad as much.

But in the quiet moments out here, dad misses all them to pieces.

Trip observations in no particular order.

1. While the work has been educational, it was awesome to see family and friends.  On Tuesday I had lunch with Aunts Alice and Dorothy (my dad's sisters).  Thai food.  Yum.  Coming off a night before of really good food but too much Croatian wine, the curry did good to burn my senses and equilibrium back to normal.  Tonight I took a road trip out to Fountain Hills to see Ray and Mickey Zike.  I had "Mr. Zike" for all of one semester in high school in 1987, but the friendship has remained all this time.  Mexican food, politics, Big Ten football and other topics filled the evening.  We laughed like crazy at stuff and remembered an old teacher, Paul Bucek, who passed away unexpectedly several weeks ago.
2. I rented a road bike for a few days and got out for my first outdoor ride of 2011 with the Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club.  Sixty three miles, about an 18 mph average.  Did I mention it was the first saddle time of 2011 and I held my own?  Snoopy happy dance at that performance.
3. If you get a chance to get out to the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass, go.  Don't stay at the casino hotel, go full monty for the resort.  Golf, spa, pool, star-filled sky and utterly relaxing. 
4. When I travel, I love to find and eat at places I don't have at home.  Did passably well with that on this trip when I strayed off property, including a neighborhood sushi restaurant and a coffee shop that is as authentic feeling as you'll find. 
5. Read things in your room.  If I'd have hung a card on my doorknob to tell them to pass on the housekeeping, I could've garnered an extra 500 Starpoints per night.  Dumb, dumb, dumb and illiterate.
6. Sometimes you can be too clever by half trying to cheat airport authorities out of concession fees.
7. My industry has some really bright people working in it, and I'm privileged to call many friends and even more colleagues who give their time and knowledge freely and willingly to those around them (all of whom are their competitors) and work tirelessly on their behalf.
8. This conference is in Hollywood, FL, next year.  I've been, but for some reason, I just never warm up to Miami / Ft. Lauderdale / Palm Beach.  Florida is Sanibel Island, Gulf of Mexico side.  Anything else is just reclaimed swampland gone condo or theme park.
9. I picked up a new internet device when mine was stolen in Grand Rapids.  Now on the Verizon LTE network (with a Samsung wireless router).  On one speed test, I got 21 mbps down and 8 back up.  That's faster than most cable connections.  Turns out the $50/mo I'll pay for service paid for itself already because the internet connection here would've been $13/day.  
10. iPad + bluetooth keyboard + wireless modem = got to leave the laptop in the room daily and might not've even needed it for the trip.  Really tempted to leave it home for (see below).
11. I get home late tomorrow night, will spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the kids and then leave Sunday night for Atlanta, coming back late Tuesday night.  That's another chance to do some business, but more importantly, see friends I haven't seen in YEARS from an old group our company used to belong to.  I've already planned the Tuesday evening dining location.  We're going for burgers.  

In summary, friends, laugher, late nights, early mornings, exercise, a bit of sunshine, fluorescent tan, to do's at work when I get back there mid next week, kisses and hugs to very special people when I get home.

Don't worry, Makenna, it's Thursday.  Daddy's coming home and the first thing I'll do when I get in the door is come up and give you a kiss.  Can I pick our stories for Friday night?