Relaxation plans

[hrj]

Having gotten a delightfully full night's sleep (the biggest sleep aid being the knowledge that the project was DONE), I showed up all bright and perky at work at my usual 8am this morning. My boss greeted me with the equivalent of "What the heck are you doing here?" but I figured today I'd have the biggest leverage for my comp time request. I probably needn't have bothered -- he agreed to my request for all next week (i.e., the 4 non-holiday days in addition to Labor Day, which I get anyway) so quickly that I probably could have gotten more if I'd pushed it. But it's all good. Then around about lunchtime he comes into the office and says, "You have an appointment with a chair massage at 1:30 and then I don't want to see you again until tomorrow." Do I have the bestest boss or what?

So ... I had a nice leisurely afternoon to start the logistics for my surprise vacation. Scheduled the Element for its 10,000 mile service (which will be about 400 miles early, but better that than later) and decided to take the opportunity to get a trailer hitch receiver installed because .... went to REI and picked up the bike carrier I've had my eye on. It attaches via a trailer hitch socket and has a hinged arm to swing the bike(s) out of the way to the side for access to the rear doors without having to remove the rack -- or even the bike(s) from the rack. (It still makes more sense to put the bike inside the vehicle for long drives to improve mileage, but the carrier will be more convenient in other circumstances.)

When I was thinking in terms of adding a couple of days to the long weekend, I was thinking of hitting the redwoods and up to Crater Lake. But with a whole week, it occurred to me that I should go a bit farther afield, so I decided on Yellowstone. It isn't an ideal bicycling area (although people do ride there) but there are lots of shortish day hikes and I can mix things up nicely.

So the basic plan is to spend Saturday and Sunday driving out. Then spend the week spread across two or three home bases in the park, taking side trips. Then the second weekend driving back. I've been perusing maps, hiking guides, and the list of the (relatively few) bike-oriented trails to get a sense of where I want to spend how much time, but I figure I'll leave the specifics for when I phone the campground reservation folks tomorrow and see what's available.

Given how hard it is to justify a purely kick-back vacation to myself, it's rather nice to have the time off on such short notice that kicking back makes the most sense. (The comp time policy is pretty much "take it now" -- they don't want people treating it as "bankable" vacation time.) Getting away will be far more relaxing than hanging around the house would have been. I've missed this sort of trip.

Comments

[aastg.livejournal.com]

Your boss is obviously a person of discernment and sense. I hope you have a swell time.