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This was the last trip of the summer: four days in San Diego (Del Mar, to be exact) for my company retreat. I was determined to enjoy these four days, not just with hanging out with my coworkers and lapping up the luxury of a five-star hotel, but also to take advantage of the limited summer I have left. After arriving at the hotel and checking in (and gawking at the room), I put on swim trunks, called a Lyft, and headed to the beach. I was only there about 90 minutes, and it took a good 20 minutes before I warmed up enough to jump into a wave after wading into the water, but the ocean felt ... nourishing. I got a little drunk one night (my tolerance isn't what it once was ...) and swam in the pool and soaked in the hot tub a few times. One morning, I tried a Fit Float class that was fun but challenging -- I was in the water (and not on the board) a lot. Socializing with friends was the best part of the trip. An indicator of how much I enjoyed the experience (minus the trip

These four days have been a little unique, because they were sandwiched between vacation and my annual work conference/gathering/party, which this year is in San Diego. The four days have been mostly uneventful, if not a little relaxing. I worked Friday and Monday, trying to sort out everything I missed over the previous two weeks. I ran the first soccer practice of the season and drove down to Sandy to pick up the gear. Sunday, Ben and I hung out at our friend Maureen's pool, where I lounged on a pool float and in a hammock. Today I ran a bunch of errands, packed, and waked the dog. I'm looking forward to the trip, after which, life gets back to normal.

Vacation is over. It was long and went by too fast. Feels good to be home after two days of driving. Actually, today's drive wasn't so long. The breakfast at the hotel looked a little sad, so we ate a restaurant across the road that was pretty decent. Michael drove all the way home. We stopped at Little America to get ice cream cones and fill enough gas in the tank to get us back to Salt Lake City. I picked Popcorn up from the sitter. The dog looks thin -- she never eats as much when we're on vacation. We got Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner. And just like that, we settled back into our normal, non-vacation life. Until next year ...

The long journey home began today, and despite 15 hours of driving, it didn't seem the long slog that we were fearing. In fact, 15 hours went rather quickly, and we made it all the way to Laramie, Wyoming. We found a great donut place in Bettendorf, Iowa, and got dinner at a Runza's in Sidney, Nebraska. Lori and Michael drove the entire way. The only drawback to the day is that the hotel we booked and prepaid is a bit of a dump -- I can tell people have smoked in our non-smoking room and my eyes are watering a little. We'll be out of here in fewer than 12 hours anyway, and then vacation wraps up tomorrow!

This trip has simultaneously gone too fast and lasted forever. And it begins to wrap up tomorrow. I think once we got to Chicago, everything sped up. Being under the weather didn't help. The last few days have been mellow, and I''m torn between being annoyed by that and kind of relieved. I'm on my dad's porch for one last time, writing, and watching the busy spider rebuild its web again. I'll stay out here a few extra minutes after I'm done with the post, then go to bed, get up early, and hit the road for Utah. Lori and I went for a long walk this morning, into Bunker Hill and then crossing over into Wildwood. For lunch, we met my friend John at Taco Burrito King. The rest of the day wasn't too exciting. Lori and I went to Aldi to stock up for the trip. I walked the dog with Dad, Ben, and my nephews. And we prepared for our departure. All vacations end. Technically, I have two more days, but leaving this place is always bittersweet. But I'm a

I was hoping to jam in a lot of vacation goodness into these last two days, but at some point, you must accept that vacation is winding down and there's not much you can do about it. A highlight of our Monday was taking the boys to my old high school. Most of it has changed, but some remained comfortingly familiar. All the lockers were replaced, so my old locker isn't even there anymore, just a general location where it used to be. I got to step on the new track that is nothing like the cinders I used to run on 30-something years ago. The rest of the day was low-key. The four of us went to Superdawg one last time, but I'm a little hot dogged out this trip and instead got a Whoopercheesie and a delicious chocolate shake. Later, the entire extended family went to Holy Friojoles on Touhy and Crawford for a fun dinner. In the evening, we listened to my niece sing and I talked with my dad for a while.

This was another sort of transition day on vacation, one that I finally was able to come up for air a little bit. I slept well, had a piece of pizza for breakfast, then went on a long walk with Lori. We ended up at Barnes and Noble, where we ordered drinks and a dessert, then browsed. Once home, I took a little nap, then wrote for a while. Most of the family went to see my stepbrother's band play at a festival. I stayed behind and wrote some more, as well as played some apps on the iPad. For dinner, I picked up a burrito at a nearby Mexican restaurant that's new. It tasted like the burritos I would get at El Chico in Milwaukee -- delicious! I got that fix out of my system for this trip and won't need to go to Taco Burrito King tomorrow. As I wrote on my dad's porch, I looked up to see this spider. It was big -- the picture isn't doing it justice -- and maybe the size of a half-dollar. Needless to say, it freaked me out a little. I'm still outside, watching

Most everybody's childhood reaches a place where the nature of their true selves begins to fundamentally change. It's not just growing up, but becoming more self-aware, more attuned the world around yourself, and more sophisticated in how you think. This doesn't happen overnight, but essentially, you begin the transition from child to the first vestiges of your adult existence. And I don't think you realize it's happening until years later when you look back and realize, "Wow, things really changed when I was X years old." This transition started for me around fourth grade. My recollections often are divided between before  and after the fall I started that grade. Part of it was maybe that in fourth grade, we started switching classes for the first time in school, and it felt so advanced. I was still a dorky little kid, and perhaps the turn of the decade offered a clearer delineation, but something about that year was different ... and it never went back

The big day and the centerpiece of our vacation arrived: My father's 70th birthday party. Technically, Dad doesn't turn 70 until next month, but this was the only time all six kids could gather at the same time in Chicago. The party was wonderful. The day started a little yawningly, however. I once again couldn't sleep -- this time because of every time I tried lying down comfortably, no matter which way I turned my head it, the back left side ached. In the middle of the night I started wondering if I had a brain tumor, but I think it was just the muscles in my neck being tight and it subsequently affecting my scalp muscles. I went to the couch downstairs and got a better angle for my head, eventually falling asleep. After I woke up (and took a little nap after breakfast), I went to Starbucks to finish up some work I didn't get done before I left, plus wrap my head around managing Ben's soccer team, whose season starts next week. The rest of the afternoon wa

All the sodas from the night before, probably coupled with still being a little overtired, kept me awake deep into the night. I didn't necessarily feel feverish or blah, but I woke up after about a half-hour after dozing off and, for the life of me, couldn't fall back asleep. But I was determined not to be relegated to another indoor day, so after a breakfast bagel, Michael and I drove to Cantigny Park in Wheaton to visit the First Division Museum . Chicago expressways are as fun and terror-filled as ever (thankfully, I drove out to DuPage County instead of Michael ...), but we made it there at about 11 and spent a couple hours at the military museum. The displays were incredibly detailed and interactive, and Michael loved the collection of tanks on the grounds. We found a Costco and fill up the tank on the RAV and get a quick $1.50 hot dog, then wound our way to I-90 to take a different way home and avoid the copious construction on the Tri-State and Kennedy. Sisters Ju

I slept late this morning. I napped twice -- good, refreshing naps. I took ibuprofen and acetaminophen. And ... I'm finally feeling better. Maybe I was just tired; this has been a long trip already. The flip side of this recovery day is that I didn't get to much Chicago stuff, which is OK. Lori and my dad (with Michael driving) picked up Superdawg for lunch, and that was excellent. I took a nap afterward. Later in the afternoon, I went with Lori back to Milwaukee for a meetup of some of her high school classmates. She always seems to miss these informal gatherings, so she was looking forward to finally attending one to reconnect in person with people she is connected to only on social media. The evening was fun. I didn't drink but had several sodas to keep me awake and perky -- I was nervous the fever might come back. Lori had a blast reminiscing with friends. The gathering was atop the Kempton Hotel in the Third Ward, and the view of the sunset -- that I haven't se

Today was meant to be a mild travel day, with some time spent in Milwaukee. However, the fever and achiness that started last night hounded me all day. Lori drove, and we made a decently early departure from Three Lakes, with a quick stop to the bank and coffee shop in town. The actual trip to Milwaukee wasn't slow -- we made good time, only stopping in Oshkosh to fill up and use a restroom. But I was wiped out the whole way south, and I wasn't able to fall asleep, either. By the time we got to Lori's sister, who lives in Franklin, I was ready for a nap. I got two small ones -- not very rejuvenating -- and skipped the hour at the pool with the boys as I tried to sleep and fight off the fever. We went top Kopp's for dinner, which was outstanding as usual. I didn't each much custard, but the giant double cheeseburger was enough. The boys got to hang out some more at Lisa's apartment, and then we hit the road for Chicago, making a quick pit stop at Woodman'

I'm writing this post after the fact, for reasons that will become apparent later. Our last day in the North Woods was anything but boring. I went for one final walk, a little bit around town, then two miles down the trail. Next time we visit, I need to start in the middle to see more of the 13-mile trail on foot. Nonetheless, the walk was a nice way to start the day. We drove to Franklin Lake east of Eagle River to hang out for a few hours. Years, literally decades, ago, Lori and I had visited this lake with her sister and kids, though no one seemed to remember and I wasn't quite sure where it was. After consulting the internet and texting Lisa, we figured out the correct lake and thought it would be a good choice to hang out at. Franklin Lake, on national forest land, was stunning. This is the up north experience I was needing, even if just for a couple hours. We walked on a short trail through the woods to get to a beach. The lake wasn't crowded and sandy (once y

The rain rumbled through Wisconsin today. I went for a long walk on the trail this morning while the sun was out. I was hoping for an adventure today, but I also knew thunderstorms were forecast in the afternoon. Our tentative adventure was a fire lookout tower in Phelps that, according to the picture, had stairs and might have offered a great view of the woods. The clouds began to roll in on our scenic drive, but when we got to the tower, it was fenced off, and the stairs hadn't looked usable in years. After snapping this picture, we headed back into Eagle River to go go-karting. Maybe two minutes away from the track, Michael suggested we see a movie instead. The skies looked ominous, and even as we pulled into the go-kart parking lot, the drizzle began and got harder as we drove to the theater. We didn't have much time to get to the movie and missed the first few minutes of "Toy Story 4," but we couldn't have timed it more perfectly -- the skies opened up

For the Northern Wisconsin segment of our vacation, I jumped in a lake today. Check that off the mandatory to-do list ... Lori's sister, brother-in-law, and nephew had been camping in the U.P. and spent the day with us before heading back to Milwaukee. They arrived earlier than I expected, but we made the most of their arrival. First, we headed down the road to the farm, which Michael and Ben hadn't seen in years. After getting back to the house, we quickly went to Dollar General to buy some sunscreen, then prepared to walk over to the beach in town on Maple Lake. The water was a little cool at first but not too bad. What I didn't like was the bluegills -- I've never seen this many fish in a lake that I was swimming in. I'll be honest: The city boy in me didn't like it. Ben and his cousin thought it was totally neat. Eventually, I finally dove in from my wading position, but that was enough of Maple Lake for me. After a couple hours, we walked back to the

This was definitely our transition day after the long drive, but it was just what we needed. Ben and I walked to Dollar General in the morning, then went for a long walk along the bike/snowmobile trail right near Lori's parents' house. The hike was great, but the bugs were out, and we did not apply any bug spray, so it was a little annoying. Once the bugs started biting, we hustled it back and made it in time before thunderstorms rolled into Three Lakes. The rest of the day was mellow. Ben played cribbage with his grandfather. Lori and her mom went to Rhinelander. Michael didn't do much. Ben and I drove to Eagle River for a little shopping (we have Klarbrunn's!). More thunderstorms rumbled through. Tony made hot dogs and I made macaroni and cheese for dinner. We watched "Shark Tank" and "Press Your Luck." I'm wrapping up the day by writing on the small patio and hoping I don't get too bit up by mosquitoes. I'm looking up to see many,

More driving on this second day of vacation, but it didn't seem quite as long. We all woke up semi-early, ate breakfast at the Ramada, packed the car, and hit the road. Our first stop on the trip was to Costco, where we filled out and spent $30 less on lunch than we did at McDonald's yesterday (hurray for the $1.50 hot dog!). Michael drove a good portion of the ride in North Dakota and Minnesota; Lori took over in St. Cloud and took us the rest of the way (Michael can't legally drive on his permit in Wisconsin until he is 16, and Lori wanted to drive, so I lounged comfortably in the back seat. We hit a little traffic in St. Cloud, but eventually made it to Hayward, where we tried taking a picture of the giant musky but many trees were in the way (that's different then the last time we were here in 1998 ...). We enjoyed a good meal at Norske Nook, though Lori had to get a little annoyed with the manager after no one came to get our order. The last couple hours of dri

And we're off! Our vacations started really early: We were out the door at 5:17 a.m. We are taking a northern route to Wisconsin, which entailed driving through Idaho Falls, up to Bozeman, and across Montana and North Dakota. Michael drove the scenic part of the trip that hugged the west side Yellowstone National Park. We wanted a nice view for this drive, and we got it with this segment through some gorgeous land. When we shot out of the woods, the Google GPS oddly put us on Gooch Hill Road instead of sending us right to the interstate. We missed much of Bozeman this way but it was still an odd route. We got gas in Billings at a Costco, then looked someplace for dinner a couple hours east. Unfortunately, there was barely any fast food until we got deep into North Dakota. We tried Glendive, which is the last little-but-not-so-little town in Montana on I-94, but alas, our choices were limited to sit-down restaurants. So we proceeded eastward. The west side of North Dakota th