off to Sacramento

Gosh, the last time I was in Sacramento for meetings, I caught COVID.  May that not be the case this time!

Yes, meetings in the state capital today and tomorrow.  And that afforded me an opportunity to see friends.  Hooray for that!  So it was that I set off for Sacramento yesterday.

I would normally fly out of LAX, but I decided for this trip to go in and out of Burbank.  A smaller airport closer to home, easier to get to and navigate through.  Plus, it means a slightly different flight path, at least at the outset, and viewing of different parts of the area.  I was watching out my window as we followed the 5 past Castaic Lake

and on over the Grapevine to the Central Valley this time.  And then I dozed.

Flying out of Burbank did mean connecting through SFO, which is not a hardship.  What was cool was that when I came off the plane into the jet bridge, a United staff person was awaiting me.  I was escorted down to the tarmac

and offered a car service to the lounge nearest my gate.  Cool!  A small thrill.

From there it was a short, 18-minute flight to Sacramento Airport (and what a cool installation in the baggage claim),

and it was there that Peter met me. 

I get to see a lot of Peter this year, and that's always welcome.  Also very welcome?  Getting to see his husband, Matt.  He's such a sweetheart.  I stayed the night at their place, and the three of us had a good, filling dinner out.

It's meetings starting in a little while and carrying through tomorrow.  I'll hope for time in and around them to get out on foot a little in the city.  I've been here several times now, and I do like visiting.

And then it's back home later Friday evening and no trips scheduled again until a short visit to San Diego next month.

unexpected art

Wow, is it really almost 6 more hours until the next flight? This, after that 13 hour overnight flight from San Francisco to Sydney? What time is it? Where am I? Oooo, NZ white wine free for the pouring here in the lounge.

So while I have free wireless and time on my hands, I'll post some smaller entries about the joys and luxuries of the trip so far. And what better way to start than by a lovely little surprise in San Francisco.

O'Hare, in my opinion, is not at all a lovely airport. It's functions (barely at times), its amenities and services are laughable, especially for those who are not past security, and it lacks any noteworthy art. Compare it to a place like Vancouver with the remarkable installations of First Nations works in the airport there. As we switched planes yesterday in San Francisco, we came upon a wonderful exhibit en route over to the international terminal: Russel Wright.





In hindsight, we didn't explore it enough. You see, Conrad (and now I do, too) has collected Russel Wright stoneware in the past with able assistance from his sister. The collection languished in basement storage, however, taking a distant second to the vibrant Fiestaware that goes so well with the golden walls of our place. Ah, but the Vancouver condo - concrete and modern - that will suit the Russel Wright quite well. And so our interest has been re-awakened. We browsed among the cases, admiring pieces we have or want and some of the materials (glasses, aluminum) that we didn't know of. And yet, in all that time, we didn't look for anything to tell us the connection between Wright and San Francisco. Silly us.

It was a neat thing, and a delight, encountering that after the first phase of our trip. So far we've seen nothing comparable at Sydney airport, but no matter. The sunny view outside is lovely enough, too.