Balmy by the Bay:)
Sep. 4th, 2004 10:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrdreamjeansGreetings from warm and sunny San Francisco! I left Brenham this morning at 7am central time and pulled into my sister's driveway in the Austin area at 8:30am. My brother-in-law dropped me off at the airport at 9:45am, and 15 bag-checked and searched, shoes-off, carry-ons scanned minutes after I arrived I was at the gate. It's one of the reasons I prefer traveling out of Austin rather than Houston:)
I was traveling " space available", but due to a very nice gate agent, I was actually given a boarding pass for the flight which made a brief stop in San Diego before heading to Oakland. The gate agent thought I was a pilot repositioning himself to get home (pays to dress up, I tell you:), but I told her no.... just flying due to the kindness of a relative. She still made it possible not to have to worry about getting bumped. We took off from Austin at 11am.
One item of interest in San Diego. When we were landing, they made the standard announcement about staying in your seat till you were counted if you were flying through. I did, but it wasn't a difficult task. The plane, which had been full, emptied out; there was a switch of crews. I was the only one flying through.... the only carry-over:)
In typical Southwest Airlines fashion, the plane I was on started the day in Baltimore, then went to Austin, San Diego, Oakland, Boise and back to Baltimore. I actually toyed with the idea of continuing on to Boise as the temp announced for lowfatmuffin's home town was 30 degrees cooler than Oakland:) But, hey... I meet Bob this coming week. Yay!
My friend Stan picked me up at the airport about 2pm and we headed back into the city. Luckily his car had air-conditioning, as it was very warm. Instead of going home, we headed to Gold's Gym located South of Market and worked out. I bought a weekly pass, so I can work out every day during my visit. Nice eye candy... and a boost to my ego...a couple of very friendly muscle bears made me feel very welcome.
We then surprised my ex David at the Bart Station. We managed to keep it a surprise that I was coming for the party on Labor Day; we headed to Costco for party food items and then back to Stan's Victorian in the Haight.
Dinner brought David another grand surprise. My Houston friends Casey and Ann met us at a new Italian restaurant on Third between Folsom and Harrison called Pazzia. David, who speaks fluent Italian and Spanish, said it roughly translates as "craziness". Casey's son Jed, a SF resident, joined us for dinner too.
David was shocked to see three friends from Texas dining across the table from him! We pulled off a major surprise. All in all, it was a wonderful evening with close friends of very long standing! I'm very happy to have pulled off this unexpected trip!
Now the fun really begins! I'm going to track down the Sunday evening Country Dance place; enjoy the big party on Monday and then hopefully meet the wonderful Bay Area Live journalers, and a certain renaissance man from Boise, who have so enriched my life in the past few months:) Some days life is entirely just as I would like it to be. This is one of those days!
I was traveling " space available", but due to a very nice gate agent, I was actually given a boarding pass for the flight which made a brief stop in San Diego before heading to Oakland. The gate agent thought I was a pilot repositioning himself to get home (pays to dress up, I tell you:), but I told her no.... just flying due to the kindness of a relative. She still made it possible not to have to worry about getting bumped. We took off from Austin at 11am.
One item of interest in San Diego. When we were landing, they made the standard announcement about staying in your seat till you were counted if you were flying through. I did, but it wasn't a difficult task. The plane, which had been full, emptied out; there was a switch of crews. I was the only one flying through.... the only carry-over:)
In typical Southwest Airlines fashion, the plane I was on started the day in Baltimore, then went to Austin, San Diego, Oakland, Boise and back to Baltimore. I actually toyed with the idea of continuing on to Boise as the temp announced for lowfatmuffin's home town was 30 degrees cooler than Oakland:) But, hey... I meet Bob this coming week. Yay!
My friend Stan picked me up at the airport about 2pm and we headed back into the city. Luckily his car had air-conditioning, as it was very warm. Instead of going home, we headed to Gold's Gym located South of Market and worked out. I bought a weekly pass, so I can work out every day during my visit. Nice eye candy... and a boost to my ego...a couple of very friendly muscle bears made me feel very welcome.
We then surprised my ex David at the Bart Station. We managed to keep it a surprise that I was coming for the party on Labor Day; we headed to Costco for party food items and then back to Stan's Victorian in the Haight.
Dinner brought David another grand surprise. My Houston friends Casey and Ann met us at a new Italian restaurant on Third between Folsom and Harrison called Pazzia. David, who speaks fluent Italian and Spanish, said it roughly translates as "craziness". Casey's son Jed, a SF resident, joined us for dinner too.
David was shocked to see three friends from Texas dining across the table from him! We pulled off a major surprise. All in all, it was a wonderful evening with close friends of very long standing! I'm very happy to have pulled off this unexpected trip!
Now the fun really begins! I'm going to track down the Sunday evening Country Dance place; enjoy the big party on Monday and then hopefully meet the wonderful Bay Area Live journalers, and a certain renaissance man from Boise, who have so enriched my life in the past few months:) Some days life is entirely just as I would like it to be. This is one of those days!
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