East Coast Road Trip

This past week I embarked on a long road trip for work. Starting at 4am on Monday morning, I proceeded to fly to Raleigh, North Carolina (with a layover in Phoenix). I met a co-worker at the airport, then we drove 30 miles to our first destination. After a supplier meeting on Tuesday, we drove over 300 miles up to Salisbury, Maryland. Fortunately our rental Subaru Impreza was more fuel-efficient than we anticipated. We repeated the pattern on Wednesday, meeting with a supplier all morning, then driving approximately 300 miles to Stratford, Connecticut. On the way there we saw the President's helicopter entourage, believe we uncovered the end of the earth crossing from Delaware into New Jersey, and stopped to visit my friend Debbie in New Jersey. Debbie and her husband Dan (my first manager at BSC) recently moved to the Garden State and also had a baby in December. It was wonderful to catch up with her, meet Freddie, and enjoy lots of affection from their yellow lab Tobey.


On Thursday, we again started the day with a supplier visit, then drove up to Marlborough, Massachusetts that afternoon. We visited the BSC R&D center in Marlborough and then had a supplier dinner that night. Our last supplier meeting was Friday morning, then we proceeded on to BSC headquarters in Natick. My travel buddy then headed to the airport, while I stayed to catch up with all the people I used to see every day in Natick.

And then the Boston/non-work portion of the trip began for me! Just like the good ol' days, "Car Pool Man," aka Anthony, picked me up from BSC. We met up with Chris, Matt, and Leslie at Grafton Street in Harvard Square and I had a great time catching up with everyone and just unwinding from the week.


After dinner, I met my mom at the Hyatt in Cambridge. What a treat that she was able to come down from Maine and join me for the evening. We had breakfast Saturday morning, followed by a short walk - it was short due to the wind and cold along the Charles. I can't believe how cold it still is in Boston! (FYI, there was a snow storm in Maine and New Hampshire on Friday.) Mom and I then said our good-byes and I met my friend Emily for brunch at the Fireplace in Washington Square in Brookline. We had a great time, then I met my friend Maria for tea at Finale in Coolidge Corner. And then it was time to head for the airport!

It was most certainly a wonderful week - fantastic to see friends and Boston, and the work meetings went very well. I am, however, most definitely happy to be back in California. I even found myself thinking of this state as home during the long flight back...I think I have hit an important milestone - and it only took 6 months. But in case I have any twinges of homesickness, I will be in Maine and Boston the last weekend in April!