I'm a Traveling (Wo)man

My brother (let's call him Junior Fuzzy) informed me that I need to stop slacking and update my blog, so here's the latest installment in Salmonista's Excellent Adventures.

November was another busy month of traveling!

San Diego
My organization holds an annual training conference for all our field staff, usually in a semi-warm location. This year we all descended on the lovely seaside town of San Diego, CA. The hotel where the event was held had lush, tropical foliage. Here are some photos taken by others, as I had nary a spare moment for landscape photography. Running a conference is a lot of work! Since I work from home, I always enjoy these experiences for human interaction, even if the days are long and tiring.

Here's one photo I managed to snap of the hotel while waiting for the airport shuttle.

We did take the group on one sightseeing excursion, on a trolley tour around some of the city's main attractions. Below is a photo on the deck of the USS Midway, which is now a museum.

Now that I live in the South, I feel like I understand our Southern coordinators so much better. Living in new places makes you more empathetic and adaptable. I'm sure someone out there has scientifically proven it, and I'll back it up with my anecdotal experience :)

Michigan
Less than 2 weeks after returning from CA, I was hopping a plane again, this time to the great town of Traverse City, MI. My flight connected in Chicago and it was kind of cool to fly across Lake Michigan. As we came in for a landing, you could see that it was all snowy, whereas on the west side of the lake the ground had been clear. Lake effect snow is real, people!

Here's what the snowy shores of Traverse City looked like on arrival day.

This trip was also for work. I was attending a meeting for a few days and then driving around the lower part of the state to visit various volunteers/partners. As I was reflecting on this trip, I have to say it was probably my most exhausting work travel in the 5 years I've had this job. The combination of new field staff, interpersonal conflict, little sleep, dealing with sick people, and constant questions/requests for information was just a bit much to handle on top of driving long distances in poor weather conditions. I was very glad that the high wind advisory did not delay my return flight, although the bouncy ride to Detroit wasn't my favorite thing ever. At least I made it home before the Thanksgiving travel onslaught had reached its full height.

And, lest you think I'm only a whiner, I'll mention that I did have some delicious Lebanese food at Ozzy's Kabob in the town of Okemos. Yummm, falafel :)