July 05, 2009
Minneapolis - What I did on my Summer Vacation
OK, so I was in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and was going to write something and didn’t. I was up at the lake all week and was going to write something and didn’t. Now it is a Pleasant Valley Sunday (at home) and I have to go to work tomorrow. Not good.
-
1,000,000 Miles
My Chicago trip was nothing to write home about (or write in a travel journal about for that matter), but it did mark a somewhat significant milestone from a “travel” perspective. I rolled over the 1,000,000 mile mark on the Northwest frequent flyer program. Thankfully I hit the mark just prior to the program getting nixed in favor of the Delta's Medallion program replacing Northwest’s Worldperks. Now that I hit the lifetime 1,000,000 mile mark it is all free trips and first class for life. NOT!
-
Back in the day I think hitting the 1,000,000 mile mark meant something… It was like a life time pass to free upgrades and maybe a free pass to the World Club. Now it doesn’t buy a bowl of soup. The times they are a changin’. Long gone are the art deco bars upstairs on the 747s, the gourmet meals in first class, the trashy stewardesses, the three-martini flight, and Northwest Orient Airlines. Now it’s Delta, Hartsfield International, $10 bag check fees, stupid zip-lock bags, and a dry cracker or two on the flight to Hong Kong.
-
Who would have thought 20 years ago when I first stepped on an airplane that I would have flown 1,000,000 mile (more like 2,000,000 with all airlines combined) and set foot in 52 countries? I can remember that first trip like it was yesterday. An exciting flight to Chicago to interview with AT&T and First Chicago for a summer job that I didn’t get (not even close). I rode the “El”, stole my hotel towels, and went to the bars at Rush and Division. 20 years later and it’s Minneapolis to O’Hare for a Twins game at Wrigley. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
-
Ode to Crash
This year’s pilgrimage to Crosslake for the Fourth of July holiday week was not exactly exciting. It rained, the wind blew, and my stomach was up-side-down for most of the trip. But, it was more of a true pilgrimage this time.
-
I can’t say I really knew ol’ Crash, but after fishing with him for six or seven years I certainly knew a few of his stories. Fishing will not be the same without him. Rest in Peace Crash, you will be missed.
-
Ron “Crash” Kristofferson * July 29th, 1945 – November 24th, 2008 * "It doesn't get any better than this!"
-
-
-
Fishing Continues…
Our new guide is no Crash, but he was one of Crash’s buddies from the old Nisswa Fishing Guide League. Royal Karels treated us well and put us on some fish. Here are some pictures to prove it.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Pleasant Valley Sunday
Now as I sit at my loft-desk in my semi-suburban house with my new SUV outside I should close this journal entry on a note of change. The boring Jeff of marital un-bliss left us some 13-or-so years ago. The intrepid traveler Jeff disappeared on February 22nd, 2009. With the arrival of Sloane Isabel Esler a new Grizzwaldian-Jeff has emerged in this the shinier, happier, Obama era.
-
Get ready for trekking in the rain-forest with the BabyBjorn, scaling the Himalayas with a vintage Flexible Flyer sled in tow, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef with water wings, biking along the Tour de France route with a Burley, strolling along Barcelona’s La Rambla with the Bugaboo, or maybe just a trip to the ballgame (by the way, Sloane made the jumbo-tron).