My Summer Vacation

I just returned from a week’s trip to Wisconsin. It was a combination of helping an elderly relative complete the move out of her apartment into a nursing facility, visit with other family, and vacation. A few tales and observations:

We were supposed to fly, LGA to MKE on Southwest. But the flights were cancelled with no notice (i.e. we checked in the night before, got no update from Southwest, and showed up at the airport to find the flights cancelled). Since the lack of aircraft was blamed on storms the day before the late scratch was, at the least, poor customer service. And the lack of an email or text was egregious.

In any case, no alternate seats were available for three days so we decided to drive. Making that decision first thing in the morning before leaving for the airport would have saved us six hours or more. Leaving on a long car trip from LaGuardia airport on a Friday afternoon is not a good plan!

The first thing we learned from the trip was that I-80 is under construction pretty much from New Jersey through Indiana! We came back through the Southern Tier of New York along I-86. Not only was there very little construction delay but it’s a beautiful drive.

A second learning is that the days of stopping whenever you get tired and looking for a motel room are passed. Make reservations! We learned the hard way. And thank you to a very nice hotel night manager in Erie, PA, who made calls for us near midnight until he finally found an available room for us 40 miles away.

What else?

• Even a single woman with no kids can accumulate a lot of stuff living in an apartment for over 40 years.
• Everyone, but especially as we get older, make sure all your insurance, investments and income are well documented in a place others can find and understand it easily.
• We spotted license plates from every one of the lower 48 states except New Mexico, as well as Ontario and Quebec.
• Some great local beer in Wisconsin. Recommend New Glarus Totally Naked.