The Native Iowan

Sunday morn here in Pasadena. Cup of coffee beside me, son, Don, in the reading room. The morning is gentle, cool and quiet.

Pasadena does not rise early. It’s a 10am wake-up kinda town. And on Sundays its more of a 12noon wake-up sorta town.

Heading south, back to Brisbane today/ tonight, rather. Midnight flight outta here so have some time, yet.

This has been Don’s first trip into Pasadena and his first visit to the USA in 7 years. The cross-country driving was fun with him. He’s a good driver and with his help we drove a couple very long days, covering some serious miles. For me, long-hauling is an art form. On bike or in car, one must maintain a high level of control and vigilance for long hours. A bike is much more intense but you get frequent stops. A car offers less “weather and wear” from the elements, but you do longer hours in a single session.

Have a few errands to do this morn: Drop the rental back. Put the Thruxton away. Clean the apartment and prepare it for a long emptiness. I must comment how happy, pleased, impressed I am with the ladies that run this apartment complex. During my last absence the drains blocked up and the bathroom area flooded. A fair amount of damage occurred before the folks in the unit below me saw the water dripping down. So the place has been torn apart; walls, floors repaired and repainted. The vanity was lost and a new one still on order. So things not 100% in the apartment but all is about 120% with the gals who run the place.

So we’re about 30 hours and counting before landing in Brisbane. Oh, yea, lets see… about 30 hours minus a day. We depart on Sunday 1130pm and arrive, after 14 hours of flying, at 630am on Tuesday…

Yea, for me, more time traveling…