Saturday, July 22, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO!!!!!
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Whew! So much to tell…such an enormous day yesterday…a day that started early and seemed to stretch on for ever and ever, every moment of that forever being sumptuously filled with such breath-restoring beauty and discovery, all along the way…though I needed desperately to sleep which we finally wonderfully did), I still did not want the day to end!
It started out at 4:30 AM , being awakened from three hours of excited sleep at Paul and Steve’s…Peter and I decided to spend the night before our journey at their place, so as not to wake the pups and Annie K. who is staying with them at our apartment while we are gone. So Annie arrived, late Tuesday night after her concessions-selling gig at BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), we hugged all goodbye, schlepped our many bags through the humid hot night air into a cab for 7 blocks and landed on P and S’s doorstep at around midnight or so….I don’t know what exhausted us more: the packing-tinged-with-sadness-at-leaving -the-pups- scurry of the last few hours or the actually heat and horrible rainy conditions we had to schlepp through to get to our resting place for the night, but we finally made it and we happily collapsed at their apartment, where I took a refreshing shower to officially put my self in a fresh, clean travel mode for the 6 hour flight ahead!
We managed to fall asleep after a while of chat and late-night snacking and were able to log those valuable three hours before alarms woke us up to get ready for the 5:00 AM arrival of the stretch limo Stephen had hired to take us to Newark. I prepped some food for us to eat on the plane (who knew, as little as I fly, that they no longer served meals on domestic flights??? I really have to get out and up in the air more!)…and we were ready for the car…the car that never came…..because the stupid car people lost the reservation!!! Steve was so busy prepping for everyone’s pickup (the Uptown group of Rachel and Alision, Kate and Nick were being picked up by another arranged car that did come), that somehow, even after confirming our car details, the silly place somehow lost them! And so there we were , with a 6:45 plane to catch, and so we hurriedly caught 2 separate cabs and at $90.00 a shot, made it to Newark in plenty of time….PAUL, of course, STILL TOTALLY IN THE DARK ABOUT THE SURPRISE OF OTHERS COMING WITH US…the birthday surprises had yet to begin being unveiled…!!!!
The four of us finqlly got checked in properly, bags stowed safely in their right places for boarding, and we took our stroll through Security, heading for Gate 14 , where thr rest of our departing group waited to hear from me...so I surreptitiously celled Rachel and told her we were on our way down to the Gate and she said they were all ready ....we rounded the gentle curved corner of the gate area and i was walking in front of our group and so was the first one to see what it took Paul a moment or two to register clearly: In a GROUP, Alison, Rachel, Michael, Katie and Nick all dressed up in paper party hats and blowers, holding a large HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner, smiling and yelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!! SURPRISE!!!!...what a sight! I imagined all other passengers waiting at the gate thinking "Oh please God don't let those people be on MY flight!)...but it went beautifully: Paul was surprised and delighted...at first he wondered why all these friends had come out Newark just to see us off..then he realized they were all flying with us to begin his birthday celebration! He was deeply moved and once again, through this long birthday celebration that had already started a few days before, his eyes clouded with tears of happiness...SO, the STAGE ONE SURPRISE of Steve's plan worked beautifully!
Soon, we were all on board and settled snugly in our assigned seats, ready for take-off, and I poppeds ther Atavan prescribed for me into my mouth and began to meditate that the plane would flap its wings really strongly and get us to the West Coast safely.
I am not a great and happy flier.
But this 6 hours went by easily and un-eventfully...so before I could get really hysterical ,we were in San Francisco, heading for National Car Rental, to get our three vehicles....
Peter and I got a pretty deep blue something or other that is very comfortable...and pretty ..Steve and Paul rented a silver van with room for many people...and so did Alison and Rachel....our little party continued on to Lombard and Van Ness: THE REDWOOD INN! Comfy clean rooms with avocado green kitchenettes!!!! Perfectly charmingly kitsch! And as stated before: comfortable. Peter and i are in room 46...we like it very much.
Before we went to the Hotel though, Steve led us all out to the Cliff House, right ont he Pacific Ocean, where we ata a terrific lunch at the diner nearby and sat in breathless awe of tight by the old Sutro Baths...the vista that lay before us,.....right by the old Sutro Baths...so gorgeous, it was practically unbelievable: WE WERE REALLY HERE!!!! SAN FRANCISCO....WE HAD MADE IT... WE WERE THERE...THE BIRTHDAY ADVENTURE HAD BEGUN!!!
So much more to tell..so stay tuned....xxev
Whew! So much to tell…such an enormous day yesterday…a day that started early and seemed to stretch on for ever and ever, every moment of that forever being sumptuously filled with such breath-restoring beauty and discovery, all along the way…though I needed desperately to sleep which we finally wonderfully did), I still did not want the day to end!
It started out at 4:30 AM , being awakened from three hours of excited sleep at Paul and Steve’s…Peter and I decided to spend the night before our journey at their place, so as not to wake the pups and Annie K. who is staying with them at our apartment while we are gone. So Annie arrived, late Tuesday night after her concessions-selling gig at BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), we hugged all goodbye, schlepped our many bags through the humid hot night air into a cab for 7 blocks and landed on P and S’s doorstep at around midnight or so….I don’t know what exhausted us more: the packing-tinged-with-sadness-at-leaving -the-pups- scurry of the last few hours or the actually heat and horrible rainy conditions we had to schlepp through to get to our resting place for the night, but we finally made it and we happily collapsed at their apartment, where I took a refreshing shower to officially put my self in a fresh, clean travel mode for the 6 hour flight ahead!
We managed to fall asleep after a while of chat and late-night snacking and were able to log those valuable three hours before alarms woke us up to get ready for the 5:00 AM arrival of the stretch limo Stephen had hired to take us to Newark. I prepped some food for us to eat on the plane (who knew, as little as I fly, that they no longer served meals on domestic flights??? I really have to get out and up in the air more!)…and we were ready for the car…the car that never came…..because the stupid car people lost the reservation!!! Steve was so busy prepping for everyone’s pickup (the Uptown group of Rachel and Alision, Kate and Nick were being picked up by another arranged car that did come), that somehow, even after confirming our car details, the silly place somehow lost them! And so there we were , with a 6:45 plane to catch, and so we hurriedly caught 2 separate cabs and at $90.00 a shot, made it to Newark in plenty of time….PAUL, of course, STILL TOTALLY IN THE DARK ABOUT THE SURPRISE OF OTHERS COMING WITH US…the birthday surprises had yet to begin being unveiled…!!!!
The four of us finqlly got checked in properly, bags stowed safely in their right places for boarding, and we took our stroll through Security, heading for Gate 14 , where thr rest of our departing group waited to hear from me...so I surreptitiously celled Rachel and told her we were on our way down to the Gate and she said they were all ready ....we rounded the gentle curved corner of the gate area and i was walking in front of our group and so was the first one to see what it took Paul a moment or two to register clearly: In a GROUP, Alison, Rachel, Michael, Katie and Nick all dressed up in paper party hats and blowers, holding a large HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner, smiling and yelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!! SURPRISE!!!!...what a sight! I imagined all other passengers waiting at the gate thinking "Oh please God don't let those people be on MY flight!)...but it went beautifully: Paul was surprised and delighted...at first he wondered why all these friends had come out Newark just to see us off..then he realized they were all flying with us to begin his birthday celebration! He was deeply moved and once again, through this long birthday celebration that had already started a few days before, his eyes clouded with tears of happiness...SO, the STAGE ONE SURPRISE of Steve's plan worked beautifully!
Soon, we were all on board and settled snugly in our assigned seats, ready for take-off, and I poppeds ther Atavan prescribed for me into my mouth and began to meditate that the plane would flap its wings really strongly and get us to the West Coast safely.
I am not a great and happy flier.
But this 6 hours went by easily and un-eventfully...so before I could get really hysterical ,we were in San Francisco, heading for National Car Rental, to get our three vehicles....
Peter and I got a pretty deep blue something or other that is very comfortable...and pretty ..Steve and Paul rented a silver van with room for many people...and so did Alison and Rachel....our little party continued on to Lombard and Van Ness: THE REDWOOD INN! Comfy clean rooms with avocado green kitchenettes!!!! Perfectly charmingly kitsch! And as stated before: comfortable. Peter and i are in room 46...we like it very much.
Before we went to the Hotel though, Steve led us all out to the Cliff House, right ont he Pacific Ocean, where we ata a terrific lunch at the diner nearby and sat in breathless awe of tight by the old Sutro Baths...the vista that lay before us,.....right by the old Sutro Baths...so gorgeous, it was practically unbelievable: WE WERE REALLY HERE!!!! SAN FRANCISCO....WE HAD MADE IT... WE WERE THERE...THE BIRTHDAY ADVENTURE HAD BEGUN!!!
So much more to tell..so stay tuned....xxev
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