Overnight Meme

[gerisullivan]

Mostly road trips again this year, with two flights within a couple of weeks of each other in May/June. I'm coming up with an estimated 84 nights away from home, plus whatever nights at the very end of the year when I head off to celebrate New Year's. As usual, I'm doing this list from memory. I've probably forgotten at least a couple of spots and/or nights. Even with that, I'm coming up with 22 cities in 12 US states and 1 Canadian province. Also, 15 homes of family and friends plus 9 hotels, 1 airplane, and 1 hospital (as an overnight visitor rather than as a patient).

Multiple non-consecutive stays are marked with a star.

*Middleton, MA -- lots of nights, though fewer than last year (yay for no surgery in 2010!) -- thanks, debgeisler & benveniste
Boston, MA -- yay, Boskone
*Framingham, MA -- thanks, nesfan & MLO
*Bronx, NY -- thanks, benyalow
Boulder, CO -- thanks, judith_dascoyne & Mitchell
36,000 feet -- thanks, JetBlue
*Battle Creek, MI -- thanks, Daddy
*Chicago, IL -- thanks, carnyjack
Minneapolis, MN -- thanks, mizzlaurajean, davidschroth, minnehaha, lsanderson & Someone
Marathon, WI -- thanks, Mike & Kathy
Kansas City, MOO -- thanks & yay, ConQuesT
Marietta, GA -- thanks, Leslie Fitz
Staten Island, NY -- thanks, Bubbe Levy
Yorktown Heights, NY -- thanks, Joe, Edie, & Dan
Tarrytown, NY -- thanks benyalow
Roadside motel between Bryn Mawr and Hershey, PA -- thanks, Susan & Gavi
West Chester, PA -- ditto
Lincoln, MA -- thanks, lesliet_ma
Albany, NY -- yay, Albacon
Weare, NH -- thanks, batwrangler & N.
Alexandria, VA -- thanks, starstraf & Pooch
Toronto, ON, Canada -- thanks & yay, SFContario
Ann Arbor, MI -- thanks, netmouse, flinx, & Rosie

There were far fewer overnight guests at Toad Woods than usual this year: malkingrey, Himself, & Twin B; Susan & Gavi; n6tqs; and fringefaan. All were delightful company. I hope they return early and often, and that more friends make their way here in 2011.

That brings the total of overnights away and with people here to just over 3 months, which is way, way down from last year's 4.5-5 months. I was away from home about the same amount; the change was all in overnights here, and pretty much all of that change came from my not having medical issues bringing elaine_brennan here for weeks or carnyjack visiting this year. The lightening of medical issues was certainly welcome, and I expect the rest was just due to short-term anomalies given the overall record.

In the 6.5 years I've lived here, I've had overnight visits from friends and family in 13 states and 2 countries. Hmmm...thanks to Karen Johnson, I also have a typed list of the Friends of Toad Hall. I'm thinking it's time to do the map meme of states and countries visited in reverse.