Travel notes, 2022-2026 and beyond
Friday, June 12th, 2026 08:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chanaleh
This is the majority of the traveling I've done since Ms A was born in 2015. We did take her on one daytrip to Indianapolis in 2016, and a couple times overnight to New Buffalo, Michigan before Covid hit in 2020. We also took her a few times to visit my mom in California, until my stepdad passed in April 2021, after which my mom moved back here (to Northwest Indiana near us) in September 2021. In the meantime, Mr. Y swore off flying ever again, so all of the below trips took place without him.
September 2022: Worldcon in Chicago (Chicon 8)
Not exactly traveling (we live about an hour's drive from downtown), but we did get a hotel room and stay in town for 2 nights, so I'm counting it. We drove in on Friday and stayed through Sunday. Since I was solo parenting the con (not the original plan but that's another story) with a newly minted 7yo, it was rather different from my usual con experience, but I did get to see some folks, including getting offsite for brunch with my Chicago friend Amy who I see so rarely.
October 2022: Pup's 50th Bday
I did a surprise one-night surgical strike (solo) to come out forablock's 50th birthday. We always used to celebrate our birthdays together (as we're 18 days apart), so it was sort of my 50th celebration also. The Block household was booked solid, so I stayed with jweiss and awhyzip (this was before her medical adventures) and got to:
- run around with them Saturday evening
- see several people in Davis Square on a glorious fall Sunday afternoon
- see more people in Central Square, including my farewell Mary Chung's run, on a rainy Sunday evening before running back to the airport.
March 2023: Disney with Grandma
In honor of her own 80th birthday, my mom offered to take me and Ms A to Disney World. :-) So we stayed at the Pixar Art of Animation resort, 2 days at Magic Kingdom with a day at Epcot sandwiched in between. Note the Art of Animation has the advantage of being right on the Skyline tram to the back of Epcot, would recommend just for that, also the lovely Big Blue Pool at the center.
It was school spring break week, right before an early Passover. We were planning to get home just in time for the first seder, for which my friend Wendy had invited us. But flight delays caused us to miss 90% of the seder (although we still showed up for the tail end and they fed us).
April 2023: Mom's 80th Bday
This wasn't a trip for us, but my brother and my niece both flew in from opposite sides of the world, so it was a big family event involving travel arrangements. My niece Eva, my only brother's only daughter, has been living in Switzerland for the last several years with her mother, so we've hardly seen her (my brother does go over to visit her periodically). He flew her in as a surprise to my mom.
September 2023: Boston over Labor Day with Eva
Having just seen Eva in the spring, she let us know that she was going to be spending a few weeks in Boston at the end of the summer (while her friend had an internship at Harvard), and we should come there to see her, so we did! We stayed at the Copley Place Westin so as to be convenient to the touristy areas. We did get a mobility scooter for my mom after the first day, and that was fantastic, allowing the rest of us to walk from Copley up to Faneuil Hall and all the way back without benefit of T, bus or cab.
November 2023: Israel (NOT)
I was supposed to go with a few other community members on a Federation trip (through the Jewish Agency for Israel) to our Partnership region in the Western Galilee. I had bought tickets in late August, all was arranged, and then... the Hamas war broke out on 10/7/2023 and all trips and flights were cancelled. There have been a couple of other mission trips since then, but the momentum has kind of bled off, so I haven't tried again to go. One of these years.
February 2024: Mom's knee replacement
Again, not a trip for me, but my brother (who was between jobs, having parted ways with Google) came out and spent over a week helping my mom during and after her knee replacement. Thank God he did, too, because if he hadn't, I would have had to stay with her all week; they literally do not even keep you overnight nowadays and she was in no condition to be left alone. The first few days and nights were kinda scary. However I'm happy to say that she pulled through and was quickly doing great after that.
August 2024: Rick's 50th bday and the California road trip, a.k.a. Disney with Uncle Rick
We flew out to Sacramento, my brother drove up from Sunnyvale to pick us up, and we spent a couple days in Lodi visiting my aunt. Then we drove down all the way to San Diego and flew home from there.
I got to plan the itinerary so it was a bit hit or miss, a lot of "we should have stayed here instead" lessons learned for a theoretical next time, but on the whole a worthwhile adventure. Stops included:
- Burbank - overnight in a Hilton Garden Inn, Warner Bros Studio Tour, quick driving tour through Hollywood on way down to...
- Anaheim - 2 nights in the Hilton Anaheim, but we really should have stayed in one of the little motels right across from the park entrance, One $700 full park day for four at Disneyland.
- Drove to La Jolla by way of Carlsbad with a quick stop at the Barrio Glassworks.
- 2 nights in the La Jolla Cove Hotel, which was shockingly economical if you choose the rooms that haven't been renovated since the late 1980s. But we looked right out over the water (sea lions!) and could walk everywhere, so that was nice. Drove down to Mission Point in the intervening day, so now I know I would rather stay down there amid the surf shops and actually get some beach time, but so be it.
- San Diego for a full day at the Zoo and a night in the Gaslamp Quarter before flying out for home.
April 2025: Block Bar Mitzvah #1
I flew out with Ms. A and we stayed at my friend Barbara's in Newtonville. The weekend was jam-packed with family festivities but I managed to go see Eugene and Anya in Bedford for a quick visit in between.
August 2025: Disney with Auntie Jess
Quick long-weekend jaunt before school started up. In fall 2024, jessruth and L sold their Riverdale co-op and moved down to Kissimmee, embracing the Disney Lifestyle (TM) full-time, so we went down and stayed with them. Got to see their adorable apartment and elderly pupper, enjoy the pool, spend one evening at Disney Springs and a full day at Animal Kingdom.
Note I had tried to work a visit to my dad into this trip (he and my stepmother moved down to Bonita Springs starting in 2021 and sold their house up here in 2024). But he turned down my offer to drive down there, so who knows when I'm going to see him again, but that's a whole other story.
October 2025: Zurich and Paris
It was my niece Eva's graduation from medical school at the University of Zurich, and my mom had said for years that by God she wanted to be there, so we went. Flew into ZRH Sat/Sun, spent 3 days, then Mom and I and Rick took the high-speed train to Paris and spent another 3 days. We flew back out of CDG the following Sat, although Rick stayed around and Eva traveled down to hang out with him. This deserves a more detailed writeup, but at least you can see pictures here (with captions).
January 2026: Arisia
I brought Ms. A to Arisia '26 - my first Arisia since moving back to Indiana, therefore obviously her first Arisia ever. Not technically her first con, considering the 2022 Worldcon mentioned above, but the first one where she had her own agenda. :-)
June 2026: Beginning of Summer Party
As previously noted, I'll be dropping in for a couple days. Planning a drinks outing in Davis Sq Thursday evening 6/18 after I get in: 8pm at Foundry on Elm, so ping me if you can make it. :-) Rambling around Harvard Sq and early dinner group outing in the works for Friday. Departing directly from Melrose on Saturday late afternoon so as to get home in time for Father's Day. So if you want to catch me there, get there before 4pm please!
August 2026: DC?
My mom has decided she wants us to roadtrip to DC (through Philly) for thesemiquincentennial bicenquinquagenary 250th. However, I think she said that in hopes that Mr. Y would agree to come along if we drive, and it's not clear that is actually going to work out, due to our furry problem child (120+ lbs of "not trained to get in the car" and "will bite if provoked" making it hard to either board or dogsit him). Also I have zero intention of going near DC before mid-July, the political landscape being how it is... and Ms. A's theater camp and 11th birthday take up the latter half of July, so we're looking at early August before school starts the 12th. In other words, peak heat and humidity in DC. *facepalm* Still, it hasn't been altogether ruled out.
October 2026: Simchat Torah on Tremont St.
I bought tickets for me and Ms. A so it's official. We'll be coming in late Thursday night 10/1; possibly trying to hit Salem on Friday; Tremont St. morning and evening on Saturday; and hopefully a roadtrip to Fright Fest with the Block boys on Sunday. Return flight oh-god-early Monday 10/5.
Summer 2027: Greek Islands?
For the last year or so Ms. A has been asking "where are we going on our NEXT vacation with Grandma??" and the answer appears to be on a cruise around Greece. :-) Got to make an appointment to get her a passport.
January 2028: Arisia?
The next one, since Arisia is on hiatus for 2027.
Spring 2028: Block Bar Mitzvah #2?
August 5, 2028: Ms. A's Bat Mitzvah
Parshat Va'etchanan / Shabbat Nachamu (as she was a Tisha B'Av baby).
This will be here in northwest Indiana, but the details may evolve between now and then!
Summer 2029: Besties Cruise
In which Jessica and Erica (hopefully!) get to mark the 30th anniversary of their 1999 cruise to Bermuda. (Go ahead, click the link for a true vintage HTML experience.)
Whew!
September 2022: Worldcon in Chicago (Chicon 8)
Not exactly traveling (we live about an hour's drive from downtown), but we did get a hotel room and stay in town for 2 nights, so I'm counting it. We drove in on Friday and stayed through Sunday. Since I was solo parenting the con (not the original plan but that's another story) with a newly minted 7yo, it was rather different from my usual con experience, but I did get to see some folks, including getting offsite for brunch with my Chicago friend Amy who I see so rarely.
October 2022: Pup's 50th Bday
I did a surprise one-night surgical strike (solo) to come out for
ablock's 50th birthday. We always used to celebrate our birthdays together (as we're 18 days apart), so it was sort of my 50th celebration also. The Block household was booked solid, so I stayed with jweiss and awhyzip (this was before her medical adventures) and got to:- run around with them Saturday evening
- see several people in Davis Square on a glorious fall Sunday afternoon
- see more people in Central Square, including my farewell Mary Chung's run, on a rainy Sunday evening before running back to the airport.
March 2023: Disney with Grandma
In honor of her own 80th birthday, my mom offered to take me and Ms A to Disney World. :-) So we stayed at the Pixar Art of Animation resort, 2 days at Magic Kingdom with a day at Epcot sandwiched in between. Note the Art of Animation has the advantage of being right on the Skyline tram to the back of Epcot, would recommend just for that, also the lovely Big Blue Pool at the center.
It was school spring break week, right before an early Passover. We were planning to get home just in time for the first seder, for which my friend Wendy had invited us. But flight delays caused us to miss 90% of the seder (although we still showed up for the tail end and they fed us).
April 2023: Mom's 80th Bday
This wasn't a trip for us, but my brother and my niece both flew in from opposite sides of the world, so it was a big family event involving travel arrangements. My niece Eva, my only brother's only daughter, has been living in Switzerland for the last several years with her mother, so we've hardly seen her (my brother does go over to visit her periodically). He flew her in as a surprise to my mom.
September 2023: Boston over Labor Day with Eva
Having just seen Eva in the spring, she let us know that she was going to be spending a few weeks in Boston at the end of the summer (while her friend had an internship at Harvard), and we should come there to see her, so we did! We stayed at the Copley Place Westin so as to be convenient to the touristy areas. We did get a mobility scooter for my mom after the first day, and that was fantastic, allowing the rest of us to walk from Copley up to Faneuil Hall and all the way back without benefit of T, bus or cab.
November 2023: Israel (NOT)
I was supposed to go with a few other community members on a Federation trip (through the Jewish Agency for Israel) to our Partnership region in the Western Galilee. I had bought tickets in late August, all was arranged, and then... the Hamas war broke out on 10/7/2023 and all trips and flights were cancelled. There have been a couple of other mission trips since then, but the momentum has kind of bled off, so I haven't tried again to go. One of these years.
February 2024: Mom's knee replacement
Again, not a trip for me, but my brother (who was between jobs, having parted ways with Google) came out and spent over a week helping my mom during and after her knee replacement. Thank God he did, too, because if he hadn't, I would have had to stay with her all week; they literally do not even keep you overnight nowadays and she was in no condition to be left alone. The first few days and nights were kinda scary. However I'm happy to say that she pulled through and was quickly doing great after that.
August 2024: Rick's 50th bday and the California road trip, a.k.a. Disney with Uncle Rick
We flew out to Sacramento, my brother drove up from Sunnyvale to pick us up, and we spent a couple days in Lodi visiting my aunt. Then we drove down all the way to San Diego and flew home from there.
I got to plan the itinerary so it was a bit hit or miss, a lot of "we should have stayed here instead" lessons learned for a theoretical next time, but on the whole a worthwhile adventure. Stops included:
- Burbank - overnight in a Hilton Garden Inn, Warner Bros Studio Tour, quick driving tour through Hollywood on way down to...
- Anaheim - 2 nights in the Hilton Anaheim, but we really should have stayed in one of the little motels right across from the park entrance, One $700 full park day for four at Disneyland.
- Drove to La Jolla by way of Carlsbad with a quick stop at the Barrio Glassworks.
- 2 nights in the La Jolla Cove Hotel, which was shockingly economical if you choose the rooms that haven't been renovated since the late 1980s. But we looked right out over the water (sea lions!) and could walk everywhere, so that was nice. Drove down to Mission Point in the intervening day, so now I know I would rather stay down there amid the surf shops and actually get some beach time, but so be it.
- San Diego for a full day at the Zoo and a night in the Gaslamp Quarter before flying out for home.
April 2025: Block Bar Mitzvah #1
I flew out with Ms. A and we stayed at my friend Barbara's in Newtonville. The weekend was jam-packed with family festivities but I managed to go see Eugene and Anya in Bedford for a quick visit in between.
August 2025: Disney with Auntie Jess
Quick long-weekend jaunt before school started up. In fall 2024, jessruth and L sold their Riverdale co-op and moved down to Kissimmee, embracing the Disney Lifestyle (TM) full-time, so we went down and stayed with them. Got to see their adorable apartment and elderly pupper, enjoy the pool, spend one evening at Disney Springs and a full day at Animal Kingdom.
Note I had tried to work a visit to my dad into this trip (he and my stepmother moved down to Bonita Springs starting in 2021 and sold their house up here in 2024). But he turned down my offer to drive down there, so who knows when I'm going to see him again, but that's a whole other story.
October 2025: Zurich and Paris
It was my niece Eva's graduation from medical school at the University of Zurich, and my mom had said for years that by God she wanted to be there, so we went. Flew into ZRH Sat/Sun, spent 3 days, then Mom and I and Rick took the high-speed train to Paris and spent another 3 days. We flew back out of CDG the following Sat, although Rick stayed around and Eva traveled down to hang out with him. This deserves a more detailed writeup, but at least you can see pictures here (with captions).
January 2026: Arisia
I brought Ms. A to Arisia '26 - my first Arisia since moving back to Indiana, therefore obviously her first Arisia ever. Not technically her first con, considering the 2022 Worldcon mentioned above, but the first one where she had her own agenda. :-)
June 2026: Beginning of Summer Party
As previously noted, I'll be dropping in for a couple days. Planning a drinks outing in Davis Sq Thursday evening 6/18 after I get in: 8pm at Foundry on Elm, so ping me if you can make it. :-) Rambling around Harvard Sq and early dinner group outing in the works for Friday. Departing directly from Melrose on Saturday late afternoon so as to get home in time for Father's Day. So if you want to catch me there, get there before 4pm please!
August 2026: DC?
My mom has decided she wants us to roadtrip to DC (through Philly) for the
October 2026: Simchat Torah on Tremont St.
I bought tickets for me and Ms. A so it's official. We'll be coming in late Thursday night 10/1; possibly trying to hit Salem on Friday; Tremont St. morning and evening on Saturday; and hopefully a roadtrip to Fright Fest with the Block boys on Sunday. Return flight oh-god-early Monday 10/5.
Summer 2027: Greek Islands?
For the last year or so Ms. A has been asking "where are we going on our NEXT vacation with Grandma??" and the answer appears to be on a cruise around Greece. :-) Got to make an appointment to get her a passport.
January 2028: Arisia?
The next one, since Arisia is on hiatus for 2027.
Spring 2028: Block Bar Mitzvah #2?
August 5, 2028: Ms. A's Bat Mitzvah
Parshat Va'etchanan / Shabbat Nachamu (as she was a Tisha B'Av baby).
This will be here in northwest Indiana, but the details may evolve between now and then!
Summer 2029: Besties Cruise
In which Jessica and Erica (hopefully!) get to mark the 30th anniversary of their 1999 cruise to Bermuda. (Go ahead, click the link for a true vintage HTML experience.)
Whew!
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Date: Saturday, June 13th, 2026 02:43 am (UTC)