I'm in San Diego right now. I flew in yesterday morning (Sunday) and spent the day with Aunt Dorothy just east of LA. She took me to dinner in Palm Springs. Let me tell you, it is some kind of HOT in Palm Springs! And I don't think it just happens to be more noticeable to me because I'm coming from Alaska... We're talking "fry eggs on your forehead" sort of hot! Holy cow... But the food was great and filling, and thankfully we chose not to eat outdoors on the terrace. We had Mexican at the Blue Coyote. Yum.

I finally arrived at my hotel here in San Diego at midnight last night and crashed until 8am this morning. The over-zealous sunshine in AK makes it difficult to sleep well in the summertime. So it was nice to get a good night's sleep in the dark. But I'm not complaining about the sunlight in AK. It'll be dark soon enough!

My hotel is great. Tess would love it. It's like a polynesian resort... lots of tiki decor, waterfalls, and palm trees. She's decided to do her Alaska bedroom in a beach motif... Maybe I'll swipe a tiki statue for her. :o) Okay, not really. But it's the thought that counts!

The conference is gigantic. It's cool to think that this throng of humanity is interested in geography and maps the same way I am. Gives me that nice feeling of belonging. It also gives me that feeling of being jostled around and elbow-wrestling for the best seat. But that's okay. It's all in the spirit of Geographic Brother(Sister)hood. Hail to the Map! :o)