Back to Ohio

Since before Easter my bags have been packed in preparation for a trip back to Ohio tomorrow.  I will be one of more than a million people who will travel to the Cleveland area to see the total eclipse of the sun next Monday.  However, beyond seeing the eclipse, the trip will give me a chance to see many of my friends.  My social calendar is filled for every one of the 14 days that I will be up there.  I know that there are some friends that I will not have time to see; they will be on my list for my next visit to Ohio.

It will seem very strange to travel to Ohio, not as a resident returning home, but as a tourist.  Part of the time I will stay in a hotel.  (The Red Roof Inn near the Cleveland Airport is one of the few that did not jack up their rates for the eclipse event.)  Some nights I will stay with friends.  The new owners of my former house have even invited me to stop by for a short visit.  It will seem especially surreal to go back to the house where I lived for more than 65 years!

More than five months have passed since I moved to Mexico.  That's the longest stretch of time that I have not been on a plane since the pandemic.  Tomorrow morning, I will leave Alejandro's family's house and go to Mexico City International Airport for the first leg of my journey.  My next post will be from north of the border!