So now I am a full-time attorney..at least until October 1...

Has it really been 3 weeks since my last update? So much has happened since then! With so much material, I can stretch out my normal large updates into several smaller ones, just to get those of you who stopped checking my site back into the habit of checking it.

So...August 21 was the last entry, and I was in Virginia. I had a wonderful time resting with my folks after a rather tumultuous few weeks (closing, packing, moving, parent's visit to new place, and my brother's wedding). I celebrated my birthday on August 25 with my parents and then hit the road the next day. Yes, I said hit the road. My parents gifted me their 1992 car for the trip, and it made the trip amazingly low stress. My folks had meticulously maintained the car, and it was in garage-kept condition. Only time will tell if the rough streets of Chicago will be so kind to it (I am thinking NO).

My first stop on the road trip back was Baltimore. Now, I had not been to Baltimore in quite some time, and my first impression upon getting to the city was "how the heck did I ever enjoy living here?" The contrast to my adopted city of Chicago was startling. Baltimore has an industrial feel that goes beyond mere blue collar. I can love a blue collar city, but it is tough to love one that is clearly on the decline. I had forgotten how rude the people could be, and I was dismayed to find that many of my former haunts had deteriorated to the point where I hardly recognized them anymore. Eddie had prepared me for this, but to actually see it with my own eyes..well..it was tough. I ended up staying the evening in Owings Mills, a now overgrown suburb of Baltimore located on the Northwest side. At least I had a fun dinner with friends at McCormick and Schmicks. I was looking forward to having some good seafood, but sadly, the barramudi I ordered was woefully overdone. At least the hoisin sauce rescued the dish a little bit, but I was disappointed. How can a restaurant located on the water screw up a basic fish preparation? I think that the world class restaurants in Chicago have raised my expectation for proper dinner preparation.

I then went to sleep, but I woke up early the next morning to continue my trip. I hopped onto interstate 70 and enjoyed the morning drive, for at that time of the day, there was very little traffic on the road. I had intended to take the Pennsylvania Turnpike, but a radio warning informed me that construction delays were severe. I instead opted to go west via I-68, through West Virginia and the Cumberland Gap.

Join me tomorrow when I regale you with Part II of my trip-from West Virginia to Cleveland.