i just got back from a wonderful family vacation to milwaukee, wisconsin for a big party for my uncle nate taffel's 80th birthday.

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that's jon, ruthie and i with lake michigan in the background.

there were over 100 people at the party and it was great seeing many family members and friends i have not seen since last year when ruthie and i went for nate's wife's (my aunt mur) 75th birthday. it was sorta de javu in that it was in the same place and a lot of the same people were there.

a couple of observations from the trip...

the airline portion, on american airlines, was pretty much a pain in the you-know-where. between the security deal, taking off my shoes, dealing with my laptop (more on that in a sec) and trying to avoid checking luggage (because of time, not the surcharge, we booked before the surcharge applied) the whole deal was yucky.

it was one of those tiny jets for like 80 people where they squish you in like sardines into 3 seats across (1 and 2). very small space for a 2 hour flight.

on the way back i got up to go to the lavatory and 2 rows from it, this older lady gets up and goes in, making me stand there like a moron while she went in and out 4 times (she could not figure out how to close the door to get the light to go on).

the other yucky part was the baggage. they take your bag at the end of the jetway (whoever thought up that term?), put a red tag on it and give it back to you after the flight lands.

fine. but, the plane lands in dallas and 50 people are standing in the jetway waiting for the bags and the door is open and it is 102 degrees outside. it was like an oven waiting for those bags. shame on you american airlines.

ruthie and i are just about to leave for the airport for a trip to milwaukee, wisconsin (i was born there) for my uncle nate taffel's 80th birthday celebration.

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that's nate being very musical from last year's trip there for his wife, my aunt mur's 75th birthday celebration. we went over to my cousin jimmy guten's place and they put on a nice little concert in the backyard where even my mom played the piano in a set.

we have everything packed in 2 very small suitcases so that we won't have to wait for luggage in chicago as we still have to drive from chicago to milwaukee once we get off the plane and it's going to be pretty late when we get to my aunt renee and uncle jack dygola's house to sleep.

more from milwaukee soon (yes, i brought my trusty powerbook g4 along)

we just got to san antonio tonight after a long day. we are staying right behind the alamo in a high rise mariott residence inn that is actually right next to a very old synagogue that has been turned into a night club and there was a line of about 100 people outside waiting to get into the club when we walked by.

kinda strange to see this re-use of such an old jewish structure. the star of david was still above the door (it's actually part of the building).

it was a nice ride down and we got here, walked to the river and had dinner on the river walk. here's a shot i took of ruthie on the way back to the hotel.

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got to chicago early today and went to the navy pier on lake michigan. neat place, but the signage is horrible. come to think of it, most of the signage we have seen in chicago has been really bad.

we spent a good part of the morning on a wild goose chase just trying to get back to the entrance to the dang navy pier after we missed it the first time.

we got on a boat for a 45 minute lake michigan tour and it was really nice. only 13 bucks a person and you got to see all along the shore of the whole city with a great narrative too.

we spent some nice quality time with our cousin craig and went out for a nice italian dinner. all in all, a good start to this trip!