Law, Partially

So far, transitioning Bobby to London has not been challenging. We've taken him on nine flights now, so we know what to expect. We have also now transitioned him to a London sleeping schedule, and this was much easier than transitioning him to a Singapore sleeping schedule . We've also had a bit of fun with him in London since arriving. Bobby wasn't very interested in sleeping on the flight. This seems to be his flying routine. He's a curious guy, always wanting to look around, especially when in new environments; it can impede sleep. We left around nine a.m. D.C. time and spent about six hours in the air. We purposely didn't take an overnight flight because Bobby would be unlikely to get a full night's sleep on such a flight. On the first night in London, we put him to bed around one a.m. We nudged this forward each night until tonight, the fourth night in London, when we had him in bed at his normal time: nine p.m. On the flight, Bobby was mostly well

At first glance, D.C. seems like it would be a very uncool place. We see images current and historic of white guys in suits, grandiose architecture, serious hand shakes, arcane arguments, wide streets, and emblems of a police state: black cars, tinted windows, officers in flak jackets. But my experiences there have always been much less staid, ranging from the rowdy (old days) to the gourmet (present days). I've been visiting friends in D.C. since I was in college. I always found D.C. to be a very young city. There are several universities in D.C., and many college graduates go there to work for government and government-related businesses. Young people are more fun. Now, when I visit D.C., what I notice is new investment. There are old fresh food markets made new again as prepared food halls, old industrial infrastructure turned into dining and entertainment destinations, and disused storefronts converted to pubs featuring existing fixtures (e.g., brick). There are shiny new b

Before heading to London, we had four days to pack in Cedar Rapids before flying to Washington, D.C., for the last leg of the Spring of never-ending travels. In fact, this last leg grew just a little longer: our five day stay in D.C. was transformed to a 14 day stay, courtesy of, well, compounded failures in planning for bureaucracy. In February, we had packed our Chicago possessions (that we hadn't sold or donated) into boxes to stay parked in the basement of Foxwood (Mom's house), into boxes to take to the U.K., and into suitcases to take to Singapore. Now, back from the northwest, we reshuffled these possessions (yet again) into suitcases for travelling with us on planes and piles for the moving company to pack up and ship to London. We took the suitcases to D.C., and now we have them in London. And now we've been living out of suitcases since the end of February. My firm arranged a temporary apartment for us near the London office while we find a more permanent plac

Nai Nai watched Bobby while Mum and Dad went on their grown-up vacation to the Northwest. While we were gone, Bobby finally began crawling successfully. He'd been standing on his hands and knees since the beginning of April, but he didn't quite have the coordination to motor forward without falling. Now he's crawling pretty well! Go, Bob, go!

Highlights of Seattle include the Thompson hotel and Sushi Kashiba. Highlights do not include the Pike Place Market. The Pike Place Market is definitely big, but I'd call it a better tourist trap than a market. Most of the market's multiple levels are given over to stores selling arts and crafts and knick knacks. Christine bought some used books. It's funny that the market is famous for fish because we only saw two stalls selling fish. There were a few other food stalls as well, but this is not really a fresh food market. It used to be. Just nearby Pike Place Market is the Thompson Seattle. Christine and I are fans of Thompson hotels, and we've stayed in Thompsons in several cities. Each hotel is uniquely designed to take into account unique elements of the location. I liked the Seattle craft beer stocked in the minibar. The rooftop bar offered a great view of Puget Sound. On top of the Thompson Seattle But we also needed to eat, not just drink. When yo

Continuing our comparative American and French wine journey, we traveled to the Walla Walla Valley AVA, famous for grapes grown in Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) and the Rhône Valley (Syrah). In particular, we wanted to visit L'Ecole No. 41 , my dad's favorite winery. His cellar is still well-stocked with their wines (and I'm drinking and restocking). Tasting the wines and talking to the winemakers at L'Ecole was a transcendent experience as we remembered my dad and what he liked so much about this place and these wines. The L'Ecole No. 41 Tasting Room. It's actually a repurposed old school building (hence the name, L'Ecole, French for the school). The Walla Walla Valley features some unique geography, which is how we get this wine region tucked away like this so far from the famous coastal regions. Found in southeastern Washington and spilling over into northern Oregon, the valley is like a dry lake bed with ridges, hills, and mountain

Christine and I love wine because of how the drink is so wrapped up with the place and time, and we travel because we are interested in time and place . Pinot Noir is one grape variety that can be experienced on an axis stretching from New Zealand, to northern California, to northwestern Oregon, to Burgundy, France. Pinot Noir is also the varietal that Paul Giamatti famously lusted over in Sideways because of its mercurial nature . The Willamette River flows in northwestern Oregon between the Oregon Coastal Range and the Cascades. Along the hills of the western bank are vineyards famous for their Pinot Noir grapes. Thousands of miles away, Burgundy, France, is the spiritual home of Pinot Noir, where monks grew grapes for centuries. The monks discovered where the  terroir  (i.e., combination of soil, slope, sunlight, and climate) was optimal for Pinot. The methods and organization of Burgundy wine making and marketing are constrained by these centuries of traditions. Finding good Bu

Portland is famous as the city where the dream of the 90s is still alive: a city where young people go to retire, working in coffee shops and restaurants, forming bands, wearing flannel, and generally just foregoing professional ambition (see music video below). While this city probably generally exists, Christine and I went to the established, easily-accessible, sell-out neighborhoods, stocked with fresh food ingredients, creative recipes, craft beverages, Pinot Noir, coffee, theaters, and higher prices. This urban living trend made Portland famous, but since then, it appears to me that many cities across the country are following Portland down a similar path of quality of life renaissance. Willamette running wide and deep through Portland. The Willamette flows from south to north, through the heart of Portland, and upriver is the Willamette River American Viticultural Area (AVA), famous for Pinot Noir. Before heading up the Willamette Valley, we explored Portland. We stayed i

Christine and I headed to the northwest in search of Pinot Noir and Bordeaux-style blends. American explorers headed to the northwest in the nineteenth century in search of gold, timber, and animal pelts. Neither of us contracted dysentery on the Oregon trail, but we did lose a fortune (and in exchange gained some excellent food and drink and many, many bottles of wine, most of which will be delivered in the future). Here's the itinerary: May 3: explore Portland, live the dream of the 90s; May 4: search for Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley; May 5: drive up the Columbia Valley, stop to see a fish ladder, head to Walla Walla, Washington, participate in a comparative single vineyard tasting of Bordeaux blends at L'Ecole No. 41 ; May 6: wine tasting in Walla Walla wine country; May 7: drive to Seattle, stopping at Mt. Rainier on the way; May 8: explore Seattle; and May 9: explore Seattle and then head back to Cedar Rapids. Earlier voyagers to the northwest from the

I didn't earlier realize, but some photos were not showing up in my blog posts. They should be showing up now. Please let me know in the comments if there are any problems with the blog -- including no photos, bad writing, bad grammar, excessive nudity, ugly selfie subject, failures of English language, baby too cute, offensive content, or any other problem you may find.

Before, when a long trip abroad has been imminent, I have taken whirlwind tours of the Midwest to say good bye. (See, e.g., here ) Now I'm doing it again, this time with a family. Friday, April 28, 2017, we packed up the pick-up one more time and unceremoniously drove away from Chicago on the Stevenson Expressway, bound for a tour of central Missouri. Christine had never visited the town where I spent four rambunctious years "studying" in central Missouri. We also managed to fit in visits with some disgruntled Army veterans, living happily with their four kids just on the outskirts of Fort Leonard Wood, and another disgruntled veteran of St. Charles County. One last breakfast at  3rd Coast  before saying good bye to North Dearborn Parkway. The drive to central Missouri was challenging. Maybe you noticed, but after the Midwest's warm winter, it has been a rainy spring. Maybe you also have noticed that Midwestern weather usually flows from west to east. We ha