Sunny San Diego

I have returned to chilly Davis after a week in San Diego and though the weather wasn't at its best, it was certainly nicer than what I returned to. The trip was a two part adventure, the first 2 days I spent time with D & A McP and the rest was spent at the ITMI Symposium.

I flew down Friday and spent the day with D & her great little ones. We just hung out and caught up, we hadn't seen one another for a year or so. Saturday we headed out to the Wild Animal Park. It has been revised a bit, they are changing the trams from an hour trip down to two 30 minute trips. Later as we walked around we stopped to watch the elephants, enamored by the 3 baby elephants, then we got a great view of a lion lounging right up against the barrier and some amazing California Condors. The quiet, well as quiet as a house with 2 children under 4, evening at home was capped off by D & my continued Trivial Pursuit competition. I am not sure who is in the overall lead but whoever it is will lose in the end I am sure. It was great visiting with the McP's but it was time to change gears.

Sunday, it was off to the conference. We were staying along Hotel Circle in the Handlery Hotel for our 4 days of schmoozing, education and interviewing. The first day was a tour of San Diego on the trolley. We chose to tour the USS Midway which has been turned into a terrific museum, eat in Seaport Village and visit the Hotel del Coronado. The weather cooperated, so my friend from Kansas City was able to enjoy some sun and temps about 20 degrees. After returning to the hotel, we easily found our cohorts in the bar and established a plan for dinner. (Note to organizers, find a hotel with a bigger bar) It was great to see a large contingent from my Alaska stint and to see many of my classmates from my two weeks in San Francisco. Our seminars were for the most part very interesting. Our unanimous favorite was a gentleman named Tim Lowery from Charleston, S.C, he spoke last year as well and his storytelling was just as a big of a hit this time around. My other favorite speaker was a history professor that spoke about the part of tourism throughout literature and history. Funny that I enjoyed that one so much. The main reason graduates attend Symposium is for the session of speed interviewing and the opportunity to speak with the tour company representatives in a non structured manner. Prior to attending we fill out a form requesting interviews with certain companies and hopefully we get matched up with the ones we want. Of course, those interviews only last 8 minutes so it is really just an introduction and the opportunity to meet 9 or so tour operators. Before and after these interviews at the various social events it is important to talk with the TO's but not seem to be begging for work. A very fine line to walk. Our final night was a dinner cruise on San Diego Bay with the best food so far and dancing, though I never made it upstairs for that. The next day was our trip to Ensenada and Rosarito Beach and the weather cooperated again. This was my first trip into Mexico and we had a very good time for how quick it was, we shopped in Ensenada, I bought a ring and a purse, my two weaknesses. Then the Rosarito Beach Hotel put on a fantastic lunch buffet with entertainment followed by a tour of the hotel and to top it off we all received a gift bag. This hotel is a historical landmark since it dates back to the 1920's. The tile work in what is now the spa, formerly the main house is exquisite. The slowest part of the day was waiting in line to go through the border check, however it also provided us with the most amusing sight. There were many entrepreneurs wandering amongst the stagnant lanes of unsuspecting tourists and the best item for sale was definitely the Jesus on the cross, borne by more then a couple of vendors. Once back at the hotel we headed to a very fancy dinner at the food court at Fashion Valley mall and then concluded the trip with a drink with some friends in the hotel bar. I flew early the following morning, greeted in Sacramento by rain and a good friend.

It was nice to get home but don't worry, I am not losing my wanderlust, just wearied by constantly trying to impress others but not being in control. Now I sit back and hope that I made the right impression on the right people. I am eager to get my shot at Europe or anywhere in the world really but I, as you all know, am a realist and know that very likely I could work pretty much the same schedule of last year. You know what, that would be just fine. I am just happy to be doing something and meeting some fantastic people in the process.

Thanks for reading.

Top Tens Things I Learned When the Lights Went Out.

10. Everyone should have a corded phone in the house, the cell phone batteries don't last forever.
9. The insulation on my water heater is pretty good.
8. A gas station Chinese restaurant isn't the place to go during the storm of the decade.
7. A propane BBQ works well to reheat Chinese food and boil water for coffee.
6. The coffee grinder needs to have battery back up.
5. Candles are for more then just atmosphere.
4. Not only is a Petzl headlamp great for camping and biking at night but also for reading in the dark.
3. My TiVo should have it's own generator. Oh wait, I didn't miss anything. (Darn writer's strike)
2. It is good to have a roommate with a boyfriend in another city.
1. At least a tree didn't fall through my roof.

Silly Photo.

I forgot to add this picture to my post about Christmas in Ukiah. Apparently one morning my niece was showing her independent and glamorous side and this was the result.

Thanks for reading.

Last Week of 2007

Following our early Christmas in Ukiah with my sister's family, I remained behind through Christmas Day to hang out with mom and dad. Christmas Eve, dad and I made a traditional Christmas dinner to enjoy with his neighbors. The food was very good but unfortunately dad wasn't feeling so well and excused himself for much of the evening. I did a fine job entertaining the guests, both are very interesting people. The next day, mom and I watched 4 movies, that is developing into a great tradition for the two of us. When we went to the rental store the day before, we didn't really know what we wanted but that was easily solved when 3 movies grabbed my attention. Why, you ask, were these movies so obvious...they were all French. Yes, I am predictable. They were all very good, if anyone is looking for something with subtitles, I recommend A Very Long Engagement, Paris, J'taime or La Vie en Rose. We also watched the latest Harry Potter, which was a nice rest from the reading. Our special dinner that night was fresh crab. Delicious.

The next day I headed down to meet the twins. It was great to see everyone healthy and home, though a bit tired. The boys are very different, it will be fun to watch their separate personalities develop. CF and I then met MW for dinner on Santana Row after she finished work...we went to Left Bank, a nice French restaurant. (Yes, I recognize that I have an obsession.) When we arrived home we had some nice coffee deserts and played on our separate computers. The next day, after breakfast and some organization on MW's part we took off for lunch and then I dropped her off at work. I then got to go play with the twins for the afternoon. The next day CF & MW were off to work then to Davis, so it was time for me to switch houses. However, I had all day to do something fun, so after a little research I headed to SF to be a tourist.

I found this great company - http://www.sfcityguides.org/ - that leads walking tours all over the city with different topics. I had two options, Gold Rush City or City Scapes and Public Places. I wanted to do the Gold Rush tour since it tied in to my student tour job but I didn't have enough time to make it to the starting point. We met the guide at the Montgomery Street Bart entrance and we wandered around the area. With the prominence of sky scrapers very few of the buildings date back to the post-earthquake rebuild, but that doesn't make the area less historically interesting. During the 70's there was a regulation that if a sky scraper was to be built they owners of the building also had to provide and maintain an open space adjacent or nearby. My favorite space was the redwood grove adjacent to the Transamerica Pyramid. A more recent regulation is that the roof lines on the newest sky scrapers must be of interest. I found one for MW. If you ever need a fun, informative way to pass some time check out one of these tours. After the tour, I walked around North Beach and found some Italian food for a late lunch/early dinner. It wasn't the best food, I tried to use Yelp to find some thing good but I got impatient and hungry, so I settled for something close. After fueling up I walked over to Union Square so I could enjoy some holiday spirit and then to the Bart station for the trip back to my car. I arrived at the DP's just before they returned from dinner, we spent the evening drinking Pinot and playing Trivial Pursuit.

Saturday was the last day of Christmas for me, finally. The DP's had yet to meet their new nephews so we headed to SC for a visit, but on the way we stopped for half price burgers at St. John's. Delicious. We then spent some time with the twins and saw some friends that were visiting from Ohio. From there it was off to the I household for some chaotic, Christmas fun. With 9 adults, a 6, 5, 4 and 3 year old plus the 6 month old we were in the middle of a whirlwind. The A's were out from Atlanta and I hadn't seen them since last Christmas, EI has grown since I saw her in October and CK & KK just get cuter every time I see them. My favorite moment was the dinner picnic & a movie in EI's room. Next year will be even crazier when all 8 kids are roaming around and the 11 adults do our best to ignore them.

Sunday is made for football, so the DP's and I watched a few games, PDP put Christmas back in the box and TDP wrote a few letters. We drug ourselves away from the teev in order to meet the A's in SF for a couple of drinks. TDP discovered a great drink...Basil Lemonade and we got to have some grown up time with K & A. After the A's & M's departed for dinner, the DP's and I headed to Half Moon Bay for dinner at Sushi Main Street. When we returned home we played more Trivial Pursuit and drank more wine. PDP won the rematch that night, I wonder if it had anything to do with him not drinking with us. Nah.

Monday, I came home, though, not for long. I unpacked the car, had some lunch, repacked and at about that time the DP's arrived to pick me up for the ride to the W's. We had a drink, chatted for a while and then headed to Chicago Fire for some delicious pizza. Then it was off to Roseville for the NYE party at the S's. They recently purchased a new house, that is big enough that there is very little furniture. Perfect for a party. CF brought some Belgian beer to share with all of his friends, I sabered a few bottles of champagne and the S's put out a great spread of food. The hosts provided everyone with New Year's resolutions, mine was to buy new underwear, which I find hilarious. PDP's was to get a better haircut and as many know, he needs it. We had very nice evening. After an uneventful trip home and a great nights sleep, the 5 of us watched as much football as humanly possible with only one teev but with NW's talented control of the remote.

I am now home to stay for a week or so at least. I do enjoy being in my home, really. Like most, I have made a few NY resolutions but they aren't very exciting. However, I plan to spend less time playing around on the computer but more time blogging. Let's see how that goes.

Thanks for reading.