My Time in NorCal So Far . . .
This was written on Wednesday night
It has been a nice time since I got to Northern California a few days back. Last Sat, I flew from DC to Denver to San Francisco to start my 10-day vacation. My vacation started out fantastic because my friend Mike got me an United ticket with his miles. I offered to pay him $200 and he refused to take it. Can’t beat that!
My flight was decent although it took quite a bit of time. Got to SFO by late Sat. Met up with Mike at the airport and we took the BART to my friend Dave and Reggie’s place in Livermore. It was nice to see those guys again. I stayed with them 6 months ago when I did a roadtrip with my friend Dennis, and they have always been great hosts. Oh, my friend German was there as well and it was nice to catch up with him.
Sun, we got up fairly early. I had a hard time sleep because I was sleeping on a couple of very flat pillows. That problem had since been solved as I stole the other pillows from Mike :) Hey, my sleep is very important. Make me less bitchy. Anyways, we got up early and then took the BART and headed out to town. It was Harrison fair so we went in and hung out for a little bit. It was nothing special really… so we left and went to the lonestar and later on to planet big, which is another bar.
When I was at the lonestar, somehow I lost my pair of Oakley sunglasses. I had them on my t-shirt and then it was gone. Yes. This marked the second time I lost a pair of Oakley in a bar. I was SO pissed off. Mine ya… these are not cheap glasses. These are $375 pair of X-Metal Romeo glasses. I just hope that at least someone stepped on them and they broke… versus it was taken by someone else.
I guess now I am warranted to get a new pair of shades.
The upside is that a couple of people came up to me and talked to me at the bars. Given, these are folks that I had talked to online before. But still, I very rarely get approached at any places. It was still refreshing. So Sunday was sort of a wash…. Good and bad.
And Mike at this point is out venturing by himself. He has tons of friends in SF to visit so he was gonna stay in town and do his own thing.
Monday was Labor Day so no one had to work. YAY! German, Dave and Reggie and I went back out to the city. We drove and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. We had decided to walk across the bridge and back. I had been to the bridge quite a few times but never actually walked across the damn thing, so it was nice to have that experience. There were tons of people though. Damn tourists…After the bridge, we stopped by German’s place and hung out with him and his kitties for a bit. Then drove home and had an early night.
I ventured out back to the city on Tue. Went to the Castro and sat at a coffee shop and got some work done. Did some nice reading too. I have actually quite a few things to do so I sort of crafted out Tuesday to do all that. I accomplished quite a bit of it, but work is never done, ya know. At night, I met up with Mike and my friend Dave (another Dave) and his roomie Bill. I love Dave as he is a really nice guy. His roomie is an awesome guy too. We went to this American/Portuguese restaurant, kinda a hole in the wall place. The food was all right. I ordered the Jambalaya special, but it had tons of sauce and the food was warm…. Well, it was the company that counted right…. After dinner, Mike and I hung out at the Westfield mall just to idle, as Mike was waiting on his friends to call (he was staying with him). After a while, I had gotten real tired so I took the BART back to Livermore.
And today, Mike got up early and went to SFO to pick up a rental car and drove to Livermore. We were heading out to Lake Tahoe! The 3.5h drive was uneventful. We got to South Tahoe around 6ish and got a hotel. Mike is an awesome bargin shopper. We went to the Horizon casino and hotel at the NV stateline and they charged $50 for a room. Mike went online at the lobby and got a price for $40 on priceline. He shared that info with the front desk… and of course, the guy working at the desk told him that no manager was on site and he couldn’t do anything: “just book it online”.
And so we did. The total including taxes and fees came up to $50. We basically saved $10 for the night. It is not even about the money, but it was the principle you know…. And I am completely impressed with Mike’s speedy online resources (he went to the hotel’s website; priceline, hotel.com, hotwire and kayka). All I can say is… AWESOME!
We had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant. Mike had elk and I had a rack of lamb. Came back and chilled out for a bit. Then we headed down to the casino for a bit. Mike won $40 playing slots and I won $30 playing blackjack. Not a bad night at all.
Next few days will be jammed pack with fun things. We are likely going up to Heavenly and do some hiking. The next day (Friday), we will drove over to Yosemite for a few hours, then head back to Livermore/SF. On Sat, we are planning on heading out to Monterey Bay/Carmel. German, Dave and Reggie and Dave might join us for the day as well. Mike and I would stay over and likely head down to Big Sur on Sunday, then back up to Santa Cruz the day after.
I am flying back to DC on Wednesday. Morning flight will be a killer for me, but so far, I am enjoying my trip. Not so much of a relaxing time though… but I am having a good time, which is important….
Oh, and I will be back to work on 9/11. EKK!
It has been a nice time since I got to Northern California a few days back. Last Sat, I flew from DC to Denver to San Francisco to start my 10-day vacation. My vacation started out fantastic because my friend Mike got me an United ticket with his miles. I offered to pay him $200 and he refused to take it. Can’t beat that!
My flight was decent although it took quite a bit of time. Got to SFO by late Sat. Met up with Mike at the airport and we took the BART to my friend Dave and Reggie’s place in Livermore. It was nice to see those guys again. I stayed with them 6 months ago when I did a roadtrip with my friend Dennis, and they have always been great hosts. Oh, my friend German was there as well and it was nice to catch up with him.
Sun, we got up fairly early. I had a hard time sleep because I was sleeping on a couple of very flat pillows. That problem had since been solved as I stole the other pillows from Mike :) Hey, my sleep is very important. Make me less bitchy. Anyways, we got up early and then took the BART and headed out to town. It was Harrison fair so we went in and hung out for a little bit. It was nothing special really… so we left and went to the lonestar and later on to planet big, which is another bar.
When I was at the lonestar, somehow I lost my pair of Oakley sunglasses. I had them on my t-shirt and then it was gone. Yes. This marked the second time I lost a pair of Oakley in a bar. I was SO pissed off. Mine ya… these are not cheap glasses. These are $375 pair of X-Metal Romeo glasses. I just hope that at least someone stepped on them and they broke… versus it was taken by someone else.
I guess now I am warranted to get a new pair of shades.
The upside is that a couple of people came up to me and talked to me at the bars. Given, these are folks that I had talked to online before. But still, I very rarely get approached at any places. It was still refreshing. So Sunday was sort of a wash…. Good and bad.
And Mike at this point is out venturing by himself. He has tons of friends in SF to visit so he was gonna stay in town and do his own thing.
Monday was Labor Day so no one had to work. YAY! German, Dave and Reggie and I went back out to the city. We drove and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. We had decided to walk across the bridge and back. I had been to the bridge quite a few times but never actually walked across the damn thing, so it was nice to have that experience. There were tons of people though. Damn tourists…After the bridge, we stopped by German’s place and hung out with him and his kitties for a bit. Then drove home and had an early night.
I ventured out back to the city on Tue. Went to the Castro and sat at a coffee shop and got some work done. Did some nice reading too. I have actually quite a few things to do so I sort of crafted out Tuesday to do all that. I accomplished quite a bit of it, but work is never done, ya know. At night, I met up with Mike and my friend Dave (another Dave) and his roomie Bill. I love Dave as he is a really nice guy. His roomie is an awesome guy too. We went to this American/Portuguese restaurant, kinda a hole in the wall place. The food was all right. I ordered the Jambalaya special, but it had tons of sauce and the food was warm…. Well, it was the company that counted right…. After dinner, Mike and I hung out at the Westfield mall just to idle, as Mike was waiting on his friends to call (he was staying with him). After a while, I had gotten real tired so I took the BART back to Livermore.
And today, Mike got up early and went to SFO to pick up a rental car and drove to Livermore. We were heading out to Lake Tahoe! The 3.5h drive was uneventful. We got to South Tahoe around 6ish and got a hotel. Mike is an awesome bargin shopper. We went to the Horizon casino and hotel at the NV stateline and they charged $50 for a room. Mike went online at the lobby and got a price for $40 on priceline. He shared that info with the front desk… and of course, the guy working at the desk told him that no manager was on site and he couldn’t do anything: “just book it online”.
And so we did. The total including taxes and fees came up to $50. We basically saved $10 for the night. It is not even about the money, but it was the principle you know…. And I am completely impressed with Mike’s speedy online resources (he went to the hotel’s website; priceline, hotel.com, hotwire and kayka). All I can say is… AWESOME!
We had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant. Mike had elk and I had a rack of lamb. Came back and chilled out for a bit. Then we headed down to the casino for a bit. Mike won $40 playing slots and I won $30 playing blackjack. Not a bad night at all.
Next few days will be jammed pack with fun things. We are likely going up to Heavenly and do some hiking. The next day (Friday), we will drove over to Yosemite for a few hours, then head back to Livermore/SF. On Sat, we are planning on heading out to Monterey Bay/Carmel. German, Dave and Reggie and Dave might join us for the day as well. Mike and I would stay over and likely head down to Big Sur on Sunday, then back up to Santa Cruz the day after.
I am flying back to DC on Wednesday. Morning flight will be a killer for me, but so far, I am enjoying my trip. Not so much of a relaxing time though… but I am having a good time, which is important….
Oh, and I will be back to work on 9/11. EKK!