I’m goin’ to the first-ever Solar Pioneers Party in Redway, California. Redway is in the giant redwoods, in the heart of the Emerald Triangle. The Emerald Triangle is Humboldt, Mendocino and del Norte counties, the three most northwest counties in rural California, the region best known for the growers who settled there in the 1970s and 1980s. In this global multi-billion-dollar global PV industry, few know that this is where the PV industry started in this country, among the early remote homesteaders.
Word of the gathering is by word of mouth, and followup via social media. With no publicity, it has generated 200 confirmations so far. So my anticipation is building that this is a major “I was there” lifetime event for a few of the Lunatic Fringe. I have to be there to pay my respects to my elders and mentors. 
So I’m taking the train as far as the San Francisco Bay Area, the closest stations to the Redwood Country. I really enjoy the train, in a way I don’t with planes. Our family of five once did a Disneyland vacation, mom and pop and three kids all there and back on trains and buses, staying in a motel across the busy street for the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. No private car with 3 kids in the back seat. Our children loved it, and so did I.
I had suggested to Jeff Spies, whose idea this was and who is coordinating it, that we all have name tags, as many of us know each others’ names and reputations but may have never met in person. I ended up willingly volunteering to be the ‘name tag bozo’ who writes names and gives them out when folks arrive. It feels ideal, as I’ll have the chance to meet most folks in the process. In planning this with him, he ended up suggesting that he meet me at an Amtrak station and we drive the last 250 miles that night; also a good plan. I’ll travel back to the Bay Area along the coast route with a good friend, and then return by train to Lamy. I’m gone from the 13th through the 22nd (of October 2015).