Today was a travelling day. I didn't sleep well last night worrying about the trip. Jackie got up at 3am, so I got up too and had a cup of coffee. Phil and Jackie saw me off at the train-station when I caught the City of New Orleans Amtrak Train at 6:10am. The train has wide seats that are generously spaced, so you can stretch out and sleep. I had a hard time sleeping because of the excitement. Well, excitement isn't really the right word -- dread is closer. I don't like big cities and I haven't had good experiences in Chicago. The plan was for me to hang out in Chicago and meet my dad on the Wolverine at 12:35. We got in right on time so, to kill time, I put my luggage in a locker and walked down to a bookstore and got a book.
I looked for a long time (since I had hours) and eventually I selected a hardback of Robin Hobb's Mad Ship which was discounted. I've been meaning to read the Liveship Traders books, but haven't found the time. They didn't have the first one, even in paperback, so I'll just start with this one. I've read all her FitzChivalry books and I understand that the next in the Tawny Man series is out -- I'm really looking forward to that. I have a tendency to blow through books pretty quickly, but the complexities of Robin's books make me take my time to make sure I really understand what's going on. There is a lot of nuanced detail and very belieable characters. I spent the rest of the morning in the train station reading.
When Pop arrived, we walked to the 
Berghoff and had lunch. There was a long line, but we had no more than arrived when they came looking for a party of two. We were the only party of two in the line and were then seated immediately. I got the saurbraten (I always get the saurbraten at German restaurants) and a glass of the lager. We chatted, though we almost had to yell for the noise, and the lunch was excellent. Richard pointed out that all of the waiters were immigrants -- mostly of near-eastern extraction. He was right. Pop has an eye for detail.
After lunch, we strolled a bit and then went to Intelligentsia Coffee Roasters and Tea Blenders for coffee. We stayed there for a couple of hours drinking coffee and talking more. I got out my tibook and showed him the pictures Phil had taken at the Timber Pasture. He was glad to get a chance to see pictures of the boys, and to see Lucy's relatives, whom he mostly hasn't seen for 15 or 20 years.
Pop caught me up about various people we know. I observed that, in my 20s, I had noticed that when old people got together they always first talked about who was dead, then who was ailing, and last about their own ailments and that increasingly my conversations sounded like that. One old friend had a stroke a number of years ago and recently has been having troubles that sound like a made-for-TV movie. He was living in an assisted-care place, but then they decided he was too sick and imprisoned him the hospital part. So he got out and found an apartment where he has a Brazilian caretaker who only speaks Portuguese. Even though he passed his driver's test, they wouldn't give his license back, so now he's driven around by some convict who lives nearby. It sounds hysterical.
Eventually, Pop saw me off on the subway -- I took the blue line up to O'Hare and caught a shuttle bus up to Beloit -- I'm here for the BioQUEST conference. What an exhausting day. It was a good day. In Chicago. Go figure.