Volume 18 - Day 61/304, 2026 - Monday

First things first: Set your clocks for 5:30AM (CST) and walk outside to witness the total lunar eclipse. All times are CST. The eclipse will start about 2AM, but it will be full at 5:33AM, and it is probably worth a look. As I was thinking about the past week of travel, I realized I could qualify for my own Planes, Trains and Automobiles YouTube. I was also in four time zones, and met lots of very nice people. It is, however, really good to be home. I got a few things done today, one of which I did not get done, going to the grocery. There is always tomorrow, so tonight I made an egg loaf, and I will share it with the girls when I finish this entry. I will not try to bore you very many more days with stuff from my adventure, but the photo in this post is my high school graduating class in 1969. I think there were 202 graduates in the class, but I did not bother to count in the photo. It's not that hard to find me, since all the photos also have the names below them. This (I believe) will be a relatively calm week, but again, I am glad to be home, and I am not forgetting that I am a lucky man.

Volume 18 - Day 60/305, 2026 - Sunday

I'm home, and I am glad to be home. I was gone just a little over a week, and I am glad I am not out of town right now. My train ride from Detroit, in total, was just a little bit over 38 hours, and I cannot think of a better way to spend 38 hours. Surprisingly, I slept very well last night, and I am not bothered by noise. If you have ever been to the Curious House, you will certainly acknowledge that statement. I like the whistle, the bells, the creaking and the swaying back and forth of the train. The picture with this entry is me in my bed in my room on the train. I also like looking out the windows. I may have mentioned before that, when I was a little kid, I could stand for hours looking out the window of our house on Balsam Street, one of the houses I went past while I was in the Detroit area. I like the little towns, the little hamlets, the farm land, just the stuff. At some points on the train ride home, we were four hours behind schedule, but I got off the train in Taylor, just about 40 minutes late, so we made up some time. Jimmie and Linda picked me up, and when I got to the Curious House, Val and Paulina were here with the girls. Now, all is quiet, and I will be back to a normal (normal?) schedule tomorrow. I don't think I have any plans to go out of town until sometime in April, so I will be home at least that long. I am still having a little bit of an issue wrapping my head around the fact that today is March 1st, but I guess I will get used to that tomorrow, as well.

Volume 18 - Day 59/306, 2025 - Saturday

I am going to make this quick, because there is no internet on this train, and I am using my hotspot. I got to the train station in Detroit at about 5:30 this morning, and walked (quickly) the three or four blocks to the train station. Changed trains in Chicago (a station I love), and I just got back to my room after dinner. We should be in St. Louis soon, and so far all is good. I met a lovely woman named Gail while we were in line for the train, she is from Wisconsin, and we had dinner together. Dinner was good, and I brought a piece of cake and a diet Coke back to the room with me, perfectly logical if you ask me! I will get off the train tomorrow in Taylor, and Jimmie and Linda will pick me up. So far it is estimated to arrive in Taylor at 6PM, but we are already 35 minutes behind schedule, and I don't really care. You all have a good evening!

Volume 18 - Day 58/307, 2026 - Friday

Well, the nostalgia tour went pretty well today, even though I could not really have found my way around the places I used to live by landmarks...because all the landmarks have been replaced with other things. I did see my two Elementary Schools and my Junior High School, and I got inside my High School, although they really did not want me to come in, you can't blame them, I guess. I went past two of the houses my parents had bought, and I also got to go to Horse Island in Gibraltar, where I lived when we first moved to Michigan. Horse Island is now a very upwardly mobile place to live, with very nice homes. We lived next door to Miss Vick, and she ran a bait and tackle shop across the street from her house. On one side of the island (which has only one single lane street) is a channel, and on the other side is the Drtroit River. I have no memory of this, but apparently I fell in the river one afternoon, and Miss Vick told my mother that I fell into one of her minnow tanks, not the river. I'll tell you the story of visiting my old High School tomorrow. SO, I wandered around 'Downriver' for about four hours, and I am glad I did it. There are a few things left, but most of it was totally unrecognizable, but that is what progress smells like! Oh, and I NEVER, EVER called Miss Vick 'Queenie!'

Volume 18 - Day 57/308, 2026 - Thursday

My flight was not until 12:55 this afternoon, and I was awake at about 5. At about 7AM, I had an email that asked if I wanted to check out on-line, so I did. When I checked out, every light in the room went out and all the curtains closed automatically. SO...I got in an Uber with Melinda, Steve and Nancy, and I got to the airport in plenty of time. Five hours to be exact, but I had some breakfast, and there was plenty of people watching, so it was not terrible. In the past week, I have been in (or through) every time zone in the Conitnental United States. Right now, I am in the Eastern Time Zone. I'm in Detroit, tomorrow I will do the 'Nostalgia Tour' of places where I grew up, just to see it all once again. It has been 57 years since I was here, and I expect there have been lots of changes, but I think it will be interesting. On Saturday, I will head to the Amtrak station in Detroit (just a few blocks from the hotel, and I will be back at the Curious House around 7 or 8 o'clock on Sunday evening. 37 hours on the train, and I can't think of a better way to spend 37 hours!

Volume 18 - Day 56/309, 2026 - Wednesday

Alright, today was the last day of this conference, and tomorrow, my adventure will continue. The day started again with breakfast, and today, the eggs were similar to eggs, as opposed to yesterday. Here is a breakdown of the speakers today: NAR Leadership, a retired three star General, a guy that does national political surveys, two US Senators, two former US Senators and Pete Buttigieg, a former mayor, a military veteran in Afghanistan and former Cabinet Member in the Biden Administration. When the formal conference session ended, I had the opportunity to meet Pete Buttigieg and shake hands with him. There will be a photo documenting the event sometime in the future. After that, I went to my room and took a nap and watched Forensic Files, and met up with Vanessa, Phillip, Steve, Melinda and Nancy. We attended the closing reception, and then Steve, Melinda, Nancy and I went to the Mob Museum, and then we stopped at the Hard Hat Lounge for burgers. I will be leaving the hotel about 10 o'clock in the morning, and this particular adventure will continue.

Volume 18 - Day 55/310, 2026 - Tuesday

It took a while, but I finally figured out that Las Vegas is on Pacific time and not Mountain time. I was talking to Maggie in Austin and asked her what time it was, I was confused. But now I have that figured out, I know what time it is, but not sure about the day. It was an early day (Pacific time) starting with breakfast, and then the presentations started. Here is who we heard from: A couple former Presidential Press Secretaries, two US Senators, Lawrence Yun the NAR Economist, and a couple more leaders from the National Association of REALTORS®. This particular annual conference is ALWAYS balanced as far as political parties are concerned, and I like hearing the Point/Counter Point presentations. After today's session ended, Nancy and Melinda and I walked to get lunch, and then it was nap time, but I was not competent on the napping issue. We left the Hotel (me, Nancy and Candy) and headed to the sphere to see The Wizard of Oz, and I can confirm that the Sphere is as cool as everyone says it is, and the show was as cool as everyone has told me it was. I bought four t-shirts. Pay attention Mike! We left there and went to the Venetian, where we did nothing, and then we Ubered back to the hotel. I stopped at the little store and bought two diet Cokes ($5 each), and now I am back in the room. I tuned in and watched the end of the State of the Union speech, and now I am watching (listening to) the Democratic response. Tomorrow will be another day of presentations, then the afternoon off, and then the closing reception tomorrow night. Another good President Circle Conference is close to being in the books.