Departure from Manistee, Michigan

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Today, the trip physically gets start. In a way, it started months ago, maybe even longer.

I am sitting at the Manistee Airport. Manistee is a town even smaller than Traverse City, and it is a bit of a random place to depart from. The terminal is a very new building with comfy couches, huge windows, free wifi, a lovely clear (windy) fall day, the sun is streaming into the waiting area.

I'm the only person on the flight to Milwaukee. There is only one person coming in on the flight from Milwaukee. His mother is waiting here in with me. He's driving her down to Florida for the winter. She says he enjoys driving her down, its a chance for him to get away from his kids and work and all the rest of it. Makes sense, travel is like that, more than anything else I can think of, it lets your mind wonder.

I left old man Rupert behind. He knew something was up. He has been vigilantly watching me for 3 days now, bypassing his long all-day naps to check on my every move. This is a bit of an effort for the old guy, whose legs are challenged by the slick hardwood floors. Once he's lying down (his legs splayed in 4 directions), it's quite an effort to get the legs underneath him to push up and move again. So he's been spending a lot of energy to follow me from room to room as I go around obsessively packing what I'm brining and and re-organizing what I'm not bringing. He's probably going to sleep for days.

The 3 Security Officers are opening up the security station, putting on their gloves, turning the power on, firing up the conveyer belt, all just for me!

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Photos

Manistee MI
waiting room at the airport