After the summer Corporate Audit Staff conference in 2007, my friend Taufan (who I affectionately refer to as "T") and I took a long-awaited trip to San Francisco, CA for Labor Day weekend prior to starting our end-of-year reviews. We arrived in Palo Alto, CA (just south of San Francisco) late on Thurs the 30th of Aug and stayed in the Westin near Stanford University. Throughout the weekend our travels took us to San Francisco, Sausalito, the Muir Woods Monument (Marin County), Monterey, and Half Moon Bay. A local girl we met on Sat night told us we saw the “real” California (as opposed to Los Angeles). :) I’ll include some pictures throughout this blog entry, but feel free to check out the several albums uploaded to http://pictures.brooksny.net. There are some videos interspersed throughout them as well.
Aug 31: Stanford U, San Francisco, Sausalito
Our first day of adventuring began early in the morning of Fri, Aug 31. T had spent many summers growing up in the San Francisco / Freemont / Palo Alto area of California, so he was familiar with some of the sites and things to see. We started out by taking a stroll through the Stanford University campus since it was so near to our hotel. The campus was very quiet, as if talking would disturb its great beauty. This silence combined with the sunshine, clear blue sky, and light occasional breeze reminded me of days back on the farm while waiting for a full hay wagon to return to the barn when I would wonder if anyone else in the world was even alive or if somehow it was only me and the cows left to survive. There were several tour groups of prospective students being guided through the academic buildings and courtyards. I wanted to join one of them but T was embarrassed so we kept on our own meanderings without disturbing the kiddies. We concluded our visit there by spending a half-hour or so poking through the largest bookstore on a University campus which happens to be at Stanford. I was most interested in the photography books…very fascinating! :)
A huge surprise from some familiar faces…
We headed north, into San Francisco after our little walk around Stanford. The first destination on our trip was our Mecca inside the city: Market x Castro Streets. It was super exciting driving into this area when we started to see rainbow flags all over the buildings and men and women walking, holding hands. It was an open, free and safe-feeling area which was refreshing to experience after spending most of my summer in a city that was not quite as open, free nor safe-feeling (at least for me). T said we were going to have lunch at a restaurant called Blue, which was especially known for its macaroni and cheese. We didn’t park too far away and after a brisk walk, we found the place and headed in, hungry and ready for some good west coast cooking. As we entered, T turned to some folks sitting at a table near the door and started talking to them. When I turned to see who it was, my jaw dropped to the floor and I exclaimed, “Oh my God! What the hell are you guys doing here!?!” It was our friends Adam and Marilyn from back home in Upstate NY! They had been out in CA for almost 10 days on vacation and they, along with T, arranged this surprise lunch for me there in San Francisco. It was amazing! I told Adam that it was hilarious that we hadn’t been able to get together all the times I was home, but there we were > 2000 miles away having lunch.
Fisherman’s Wharf
After a spectacular meal consisting of great food, awesome company and wonderful conversation, our two groups parted ways again to continue our respective vacations in the Golden State. T and my next destination was Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco down on the bay. I had my camera out and was snapping pictures before we even parked the car. I was so excited! Although we unfortunately did not get to ride a trolley (nor a cable car :), we did take a walk all up and down the street stopping to see the ships at Hyde Street Pier. There was an old fashioned steam boat, a pirate ship, and some fishing boats parked along the docks. In the distance one could see Alcatraz Island (the shining moment in US history that it represents) and the city of San Francisco. I was hoping to be able to see the old man who harasses tourists outside of Joe’s Crab Shack on the wharf, but it must have been his day off because T and I saw the little milk crate that he sits on, but there was no old man there with his twig branch barking at passersby.
Sausalito and the Golden Gate Bridge
Our last stop for the day was to be the small bay-side town of Sausalito. There was a farmer’s market and art festival going on over there that weekend, making it all the more attractive for a visit. We had to cross the famed Golden Gate Bridge in order to get to the north side of the bay where the town was located. Although the rest of the city was clear with blue skies and a beautiful sun, just hovering over the bridge was a strangely thick fog. It covered the bridge enough so that its top was barely visible poking through the mass of vapor. I attempted to take some pictures while inside of the cloud crossing the passage. On the other side, we pulled over to Vista Point which was just across the bridge up on a small plateau. T and I took some more pictures of the bridge (still riddled with fog) and then continued on to Sausalito.
When we arrived, the village was bustling with people, but not in a busy city-like way. There were people at the market, taking pictures of San Francisco from the north side of the bay and walking here and there with children and pets. It was getting late, so T and I walked around the town seeing the sites and watching the sun get lower on the horizon, but we departed to take a long way back to Palo Alto and to drive by T’s family’s house in Freemont. After arriving in Palo Alto, we found an appetizing Indian restaurant in town, had a delicious supper, and then back to the hotel to download pictures from the day, put all of the electronic devices on their chargers, and to recharge our own batteries in preparation for the next day.
Sept 1: Muir Woods and the Beach Blanket Babylon
We woke up fairly early on Sat to get an early move on. The plan was to spend most of the day at the Muir Woods Monument and then see the longest running satirical cabaret show in the country: The Beach Blanket Babylon. This show, originally conceived by Steve Silver has been running in San Francisco for over 30 years. We were so excited for the day, that after waking up and showering quickly, we drove all the way out to the park-and-ride where the Muir Woods shuttle stops but forgot that we hadn’t eaten breakfast yet! T had mentioned an excellent Chinese restaurant that served dim sum on weekends nestled just inside downtown San Francisco. Seeing as though I love dim sum, I agreed that it was worth the 20 minute trip back over the Golden Gate into San Fran. I’m sure that my growling stomach had nothing to do with my decision making ;).
Muir Woods Monument
The trip back to San Fran for dim sum was sooo worth it!!! T and I had a veritable Chinese feast for brunch (seeing as though it was 11:30a PST when we arrived and going on 1p PST when we left!). It all tasted so amazing and we didn’t even taste half of everything that the ladies offered on their little push carts. A quick car ride back to the park-and-ride later and before we knew it we were boarding the bus and heading down the windy mountain-side trail to the entrance of the woods. The road was quite amazing because it overlooked a gorgeous valley, untouched by cities, concrete, technology, time…it was green with trees, brown with parched grass, and blue with the mighty ocean lapping up on a beach at the bottom of the mountain in the distance.
The shuttle from the park-and-ride to the entrance of the monument took approximately 20 minutes. Once there, we set straight out on the longest path in our little brochure guide which was supposed to take 1.5 hours to travel. Of course this may have actually taken that long if we were walking swiftly along the path, however I was so excited to take pictures, I’m sure it took us almost double the time to go through the whole circuit. T is knowledgeable in cameras and different photographic techniques, too, so I wanted to probe his brain and get some hands-on instruction to continue building my own skills. He taught me about white balance, aperture fixing, focal length settings, and ISO values. It was très informative, although T kept chiding me because I couldn’t remember the best way to reiterate what I learned…at least I knew what I meant in my own head though :) We also disagreed over whether or not to try to adjust the camera and take the best shot possible at the time, or take a mediocre shot and rely on photo editing software to adjust them later. I was in the former camp while he was a proponent of the latter (which was surprising to me…unless he was just giving me a hard time… :)
Beach Blanket Babylon
Hours later, we emerged from the monument, took the shuttle back to the park-and-ride and headed up to Palo Alto for some rest and to get ready for the show later that night. The Beach Blanket Babylon show didn’t start until 10p, but since they do not assign seats when you buy a ticket, people start lining up as early as 8p so they can get the best seat in the house. T and I arrived and picked up our tickets at the will call around 8:30p. Seeing as though the line had already started to form, we forfeited trying to get something to eat for dinner and joined the queue right away. When the theatre doors finally opened at 9:15p, we were ushered to the front row, center stage seats. They were perfect! We were able to see everything and up so close that some of the actors even smiled and winked at us throughout the show :) One of the actresses pointed me out while she was “flirting” with the audience. Haha! It was hilarious.
This show has been going on, modified slightly to reflect political and current events of the time, since 1974. It’s most well known for its use of extravagant wigs and hats. At the end, two of the actresses came out wearing hats that literally almost reached the ceiling of the tiny, yet quaint little theatre. One hat had the entire downtown San Francisco sky line with 3D models of the various buildings on it. The other was a wedding cake with animated figures on the top. They were a man and woman who turned to each other and kissed, then turned back to the audience. It was incredible! I wish I could have taken pictures, but I encourage you to check out http://www.beachblanketbabylon.com to see some as well as more information about the show. If you’re in or going to San Fran in the future, check it out!
Sept 2: Monterey and Half Moon Bay
We were early to rise again on Sun morning in order to head further south than we had so far and visit the Monterey Aquarium. We stopped by the University Coffee Cafe (where we had eaten the first morning we were in town as well) for another yummy breakfast, punched the proper coordinates into our NeverLost® GPS system in the rental car, and off we went. Monterey is 80 miles south of Palo Alto, so in order to entertain me, T recommended I watch the movie “Gideon’s Daughter” (a BBC movie) which he had stored on his iPod. I was nearly finished with the film before his battery died and in a brilliant stroke of coincidence, we arrived at our destination at the same time.
Monterey Bay and Aquarium
As we entered Monterey, signs indicated that there was no parking available at the aquarium itself. We, however, did see public parking signs leading us to a garage which was only $5 for the whole day, a great price compared to what we had seen the rest of the weekend thus far. The garage was near a pathway at the beginning of Old Fisherman’s Wharf which terminated at the aquarium, so, seeing as though it was another fantastic day outside, we decided to take the long walk down Cannery Row. The Row wound along the coastline, so naturally I took pictures frequently of all the things seen on our way. I practiced using digital zoom and Macro while also finding a few shots that would look great in black and white.
Along Cannery Row, closer to the aquarium, were many shops and restaurants in buildings that looked like they would back in the early port days: large barn-like structures with wooden outsides, brightly painted and arranged in two straight rows lining the street sides. At the end was the aquarium with an enormous line, which we avoided thanks to T’s foresight. We bypassed it and went to the will call booth to pick up our pre-ordered tickets and enter right away.
Inside we saw many different exhibits but the focus of this aquarium was definitely around their jelly fish and sea otter exhibits. I got tons of amazing jelly fish photos using various settings on my camera including fluorescent white balance, increased light sensitivity, a high ISO value, and ultra fast continuous shutter speeds. I had never used the ultra fast continuous setting on my camera and by mistake I took almost 300 pictures only milliseconds apart from each other the first time I tried it. After correcting that mistake, I only touched the trigger button for a second when using this setting going forward and still got between 5 and 10 pictures at a time. No worries…they all came out incredibly sharper than I had been able to achieve in low-lighting situations with moving objects in the past. This is a must-use setting for the future when in these scenarios! It’s important to note that I did not use the flash at all while in the aquarium for a few reasons: 1) You’re not supposed to…it hurts the eyes of the fish! 2) It actually ruins your photos by creating a glare on the glass of the tanks. 3) It discolors the photos so that you don’t see all of the brilliance of the fish.
Half Moon Bay
We enjoyed a spectacular sea food lunch on the wharf (ironic eh? ;) and walked slowly back towards the car in order to head north to Half Moon Bay in time to catch the sunset. On our way, I had to stop and grab a cup of Dippin’ Dots (ice cream super cooled into tiny balls and usually mixed together to create delicious flavors such as my favorite, banana split!). I flirted with the guy behind the counter for a second and teased T about it while walking back on the path to the car. It’s nice to get a look from people from time to time. Haha! At the other end, there was a Greek festival going on which we passed through for a second before climbing the stairs of the parking garage and heading off.
Half Moon Bay is 25 miles from Palo Alto, nestled in another small valley at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The ride there was absolutely breathtaking! Driving through the mountains, seeing lakes undisturbed by boats and men, watching the sun hang delicately over it all as if it were protecting one of its last sacred places was incredible. At the end of the road (literally in this case!), we pulled up and parked on the beach of Half Moon Bay. There was a camping area there and many people were cooking out on gas grills, playing on the beach, and swimming in the water. T and I strolled up and down the beach just waiting for the event to take place…waiting for the final sunset of our journey. I spent some time conversing with the ocean and soaking up the final rays of the day’s sun. When it was time for Solaris to journey along the sky on the other side of Terra, I was ready to photograph it so I could share it with the ones I loved back home. I took a little self-video saying farewell during the final moments of this daily miracle and T and I headed back to the hotel one last time.
Sept 3: The journey home...
The alarm went off at 4a PST. My flight left from the Oakland International Airport at 6:30a PST. Unfortunately, since I was heading back home to Albany it meant I wouldn’t be able to get a connecting flight from Atlanta until 6p EDT. Luckily (or should I say miraculously) the flight was on time and I arrived safely back in Albany at ~8p EDT. The best part was that when I arrived at the gate in Oakland, the agent gave me an upgraded ticket putting me in first class. The initial leg of my journey was > 4 hours long, so I was grateful to be riding in style. This vacation had been wonderful! It was hard to believe I’d be moving to Connecticut on the 4th and then starting work again on the 5th. It wouldn’t be long, though, before I was heading to Washington DC for the 2nd annual GE GLBTA National Meeting and the Out & Equal Workplace Summit. This year has been craaazy for me with such travels! I hadn’t been to DC before either, other than a one-day stay when I was in high school, so I definitely had something to look forward to soon. Keep watch for that story coming soon!
Cheers,
M@
Aug 31: Stanford U, San Francisco, SausalitoOur first day of adventuring began early in the morning of Fri, Aug 31. T had spent many summers growing up in the San Francisco / Freemont / Palo Alto area of California, so he was familiar with some of the sites and things to see. We started out by taking a stroll through the Stanford University campus since it was so near to our hotel. The campus was very quiet, as if talking would disturb its great beauty. This silence combined with the sunshine, clear blue sky, and light occasional breeze reminded me of days back on the farm while waiting for a full hay wagon to return to the barn when I would wonder if anyone else in the world was even alive or if somehow it was only me and the cows left to survive. There were several tour groups of prospective students being guided through the academic buildings and courtyards. I wanted to join one of them but T was embarrassed so we kept on our own meanderings without disturbing the kiddies. We concluded our visit there by spending a half-hour or so poking through the largest bookstore on a University campus which happens to be at Stanford. I was most interested in the photography books…very fascinating! :)
A huge surprise from some familiar faces…
We headed north, into San Francisco after our little walk around Stanford. The first destination on our trip was our Mecca inside the city: Market x Castro Streets. It was super exciting driving into this area when we started to see rainbow flags all over the buildings and men and women walking, holding hands. It was an open, free and safe-feeling area which was refreshing to experience after spending most of my summer in a city that was not quite as open, free nor safe-feeling (at least for me). T said we were going to have lunch at a restaurant called Blue, which was especially known for its macaroni and cheese. We didn’t park too far away and after a brisk walk, we found the place and headed in, hungry and ready for some good west coast cooking. As we entered, T turned to some folks sitting at a table near the door and started talking to them. When I turned to see who it was, my jaw dropped to the floor and I exclaimed, “Oh my God! What the hell are you guys doing here!?!” It was our friends Adam and Marilyn from back home in Upstate NY! They had been out in CA for almost 10 days on vacation and they, along with T, arranged this surprise lunch for me there in San Francisco. It was amazing! I told Adam that it was hilarious that we hadn’t been able to get together all the times I was home, but there we were > 2000 miles away having lunch.Fisherman’s Wharf
After a spectacular meal consisting of great food, awesome company and wonderful conversation, our two groups parted ways again to continue our respective vacations in the Golden State. T and my next destination was Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco down on the bay. I had my camera out and was snapping pictures before we even parked the car. I was so excited! Although we unfortunately did not get to ride a trolley (nor a cable car :), we did take a walk all up and down the street stopping to see the ships at Hyde Street Pier. There was an old fashioned steam boat, a pirate ship, and some fishing boats parked along the docks. In the distance one could see Alcatraz Island (the shining moment in US history that it represents) and the city of San Francisco. I was hoping to be able to see the old man who harasses tourists outside of Joe’s Crab Shack on the wharf, but it must have been his day off because T and I saw the little milk crate that he sits on, but there was no old man there with his twig branch barking at passersby.Sausalito and the Golden Gate Bridge
Our last stop for the day was to be the small bay-side town of Sausalito. There was a farmer’s market and art festival going on over there that weekend, making it all the more attractive for a visit. We had to cross the famed Golden Gate Bridge in order to get to the north side of the bay where the town was located. Although the rest of the city was clear with blue skies and a beautiful sun, just hovering over the bridge was a strangely thick fog. It covered the bridge enough so that its top was barely visible poking through the mass of vapor. I attempted to take some pictures while inside of the cloud crossing the passage. On the other side, we pulled over to Vista Point which was just across the bridge up on a small plateau. T and I took some more pictures of the bridge (still riddled with fog) and then continued on to Sausalito.
When we arrived, the village was bustling with people, but not in a busy city-like way. There were people at the market, taking pictures of San Francisco from the north side of the bay and walking here and there with children and pets. It was getting late, so T and I walked around the town seeing the sites and watching the sun get lower on the horizon, but we departed to take a long way back to Palo Alto and to drive by T’s family’s house in Freemont. After arriving in Palo Alto, we found an appetizing Indian restaurant in town, had a delicious supper, and then back to the hotel to download pictures from the day, put all of the electronic devices on their chargers, and to recharge our own batteries in preparation for the next day.Sept 1: Muir Woods and the Beach Blanket Babylon
We woke up fairly early on Sat to get an early move on. The plan was to spend most of the day at the Muir Woods Monument and then see the longest running satirical cabaret show in the country: The Beach Blanket Babylon. This show, originally conceived by Steve Silver has been running in San Francisco for over 30 years. We were so excited for the day, that after waking up and showering quickly, we drove all the way out to the park-and-ride where the Muir Woods shuttle stops but forgot that we hadn’t eaten breakfast yet! T had mentioned an excellent Chinese restaurant that served dim sum on weekends nestled just inside downtown San Francisco. Seeing as though I love dim sum, I agreed that it was worth the 20 minute trip back over the Golden Gate into San Fran. I’m sure that my growling stomach had nothing to do with my decision making ;).
Muir Woods Monument
The trip back to San Fran for dim sum was sooo worth it!!! T and I had a veritable Chinese feast for brunch (seeing as though it was 11:30a PST when we arrived and going on 1p PST when we left!). It all tasted so amazing and we didn’t even taste half of everything that the ladies offered on their little push carts. A quick car ride back to the park-and-ride later and before we knew it we were boarding the bus and heading down the windy mountain-side trail to the entrance of the woods. The road was quite amazing because it overlooked a gorgeous valley, untouched by cities, concrete, technology, time…it was green with trees, brown with parched grass, and blue with the mighty ocean lapping up on a beach at the bottom of the mountain in the distance.
The shuttle from the park-and-ride to the entrance of the monument took approximately 20 minutes. Once there, we set straight out on the longest path in our little brochure guide which was supposed to take 1.5 hours to travel. Of course this may have actually taken that long if we were walking swiftly along the path, however I was so excited to take pictures, I’m sure it took us almost double the time to go through the whole circuit. T is knowledgeable in cameras and different photographic techniques, too, so I wanted to probe his brain and get some hands-on instruction to continue building my own skills. He taught me about white balance, aperture fixing, focal length settings, and ISO values. It was très informative, although T kept chiding me because I couldn’t remember the best way to reiterate what I learned…at least I knew what I meant in my own head though :) We also disagreed over whether or not to try to adjust the camera and take the best shot possible at the time, or take a mediocre shot and rely on photo editing software to adjust them later. I was in the former camp while he was a proponent of the latter (which was surprising to me…unless he was just giving me a hard time… :)Beach Blanket Babylon
Hours later, we emerged from the monument, took the shuttle back to the park-and-ride and headed up to Palo Alto for some rest and to get ready for the show later that night. The Beach Blanket Babylon show didn’t start until 10p, but since they do not assign seats when you buy a ticket, people start lining up as early as 8p so they can get the best seat in the house. T and I arrived and picked up our tickets at the will call around 8:30p. Seeing as though the line had already started to form, we forfeited trying to get something to eat for dinner and joined the queue right away. When the theatre doors finally opened at 9:15p, we were ushered to the front row, center stage seats. They were perfect! We were able to see everything and up so close that some of the actors even smiled and winked at us throughout the show :) One of the actresses pointed me out while she was “flirting” with the audience. Haha! It was hilarious.
This show has been going on, modified slightly to reflect political and current events of the time, since 1974. It’s most well known for its use of extravagant wigs and hats. At the end, two of the actresses came out wearing hats that literally almost reached the ceiling of the tiny, yet quaint little theatre. One hat had the entire downtown San Francisco sky line with 3D models of the various buildings on it. The other was a wedding cake with animated figures on the top. They were a man and woman who turned to each other and kissed, then turned back to the audience. It was incredible! I wish I could have taken pictures, but I encourage you to check out http://www.beachblanketbabylon.com to see some as well as more information about the show. If you’re in or going to San Fran in the future, check it out!
Sept 2: Monterey and Half Moon Bay
We were early to rise again on Sun morning in order to head further south than we had so far and visit the Monterey Aquarium. We stopped by the University Coffee Cafe (where we had eaten the first morning we were in town as well) for another yummy breakfast, punched the proper coordinates into our NeverLost® GPS system in the rental car, and off we went. Monterey is 80 miles south of Palo Alto, so in order to entertain me, T recommended I watch the movie “Gideon’s Daughter” (a BBC movie) which he had stored on his iPod. I was nearly finished with the film before his battery died and in a brilliant stroke of coincidence, we arrived at our destination at the same time.
Monterey Bay and Aquarium
As we entered Monterey, signs indicated that there was no parking available at the aquarium itself. We, however, did see public parking signs leading us to a garage which was only $5 for the whole day, a great price compared to what we had seen the rest of the weekend thus far. The garage was near a pathway at the beginning of Old Fisherman’s Wharf which terminated at the aquarium, so, seeing as though it was another fantastic day outside, we decided to take the long walk down Cannery Row. The Row wound along the coastline, so naturally I took pictures frequently of all the things seen on our way. I practiced using digital zoom and Macro while also finding a few shots that would look great in black and white.Along Cannery Row, closer to the aquarium, were many shops and restaurants in buildings that looked like they would back in the early port days: large barn-like structures with wooden outsides, brightly painted and arranged in two straight rows lining the street sides. At the end was the aquarium with an enormous line, which we avoided thanks to T’s foresight. We bypassed it and went to the will call booth to pick up our pre-ordered tickets and enter right away.
Inside we saw many different exhibits but the focus of this aquarium was definitely around their jelly fish and sea otter exhibits. I got tons of amazing jelly fish photos using various settings on my camera including fluorescent white balance, increased light sensitivity, a high ISO value, and ultra fast continuous shutter speeds. I had never used the ultra fast continuous setting on my camera and by mistake I took almost 300 pictures only milliseconds apart from each other the first time I tried it. After correcting that mistake, I only touched the trigger button for a second when using this setting going forward and still got between 5 and 10 pictures at a time. No worries…they all came out incredibly sharper than I had been able to achieve in low-lighting situations with moving objects in the past. This is a must-use setting for the future when in these scenarios! It’s important to note that I did not use the flash at all while in the aquarium for a few reasons: 1) You’re not supposed to…it hurts the eyes of the fish! 2) It actually ruins your photos by creating a glare on the glass of the tanks. 3) It discolors the photos so that you don’t see all of the brilliance of the fish.Half Moon Bay
We enjoyed a spectacular sea food lunch on the wharf (ironic eh? ;) and walked slowly back towards the car in order to head north to Half Moon Bay in time to catch the sunset. On our way, I had to stop and grab a cup of Dippin’ Dots (ice cream super cooled into tiny balls and usually mixed together to create delicious flavors such as my favorite, banana split!). I flirted with the guy behind the counter for a second and teased T about it while walking back on the path to the car. It’s nice to get a look from people from time to time. Haha! At the other end, there was a Greek festival going on which we passed through for a second before climbing the stairs of the parking garage and heading off.Half Moon Bay is 25 miles from Palo Alto, nestled in another small valley at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The ride there was absolutely breathtaking! Driving through the mountains, seeing lakes undisturbed by boats and men, watching the sun hang delicately over it all as if it were protecting one of its last sacred places was incredible. At the end of the road (literally in this case!), we pulled up and parked on the beach of Half Moon Bay. There was a camping area there and many people were cooking out on gas grills, playing on the beach, and swimming in the water. T and I strolled up and down the beach just waiting for the event to take place…waiting for the final sunset of our journey. I spent some time conversing with the ocean and soaking up the final rays of the day’s sun. When it was time for Solaris to journey along the sky on the other side of Terra, I was ready to photograph it so I could share it with the ones I loved back home. I took a little self-video saying farewell during the final moments of this daily miracle and T and I headed back to the hotel one last time.
Sept 3: The journey home...
The alarm went off at 4a PST. My flight left from the Oakland International Airport at 6:30a PST. Unfortunately, since I was heading back home to Albany it meant I wouldn’t be able to get a connecting flight from Atlanta until 6p EDT. Luckily (or should I say miraculously) the flight was on time and I arrived safely back in Albany at ~8p EDT. The best part was that when I arrived at the gate in Oakland, the agent gave me an upgraded ticket putting me in first class. The initial leg of my journey was > 4 hours long, so I was grateful to be riding in style. This vacation had been wonderful! It was hard to believe I’d be moving to Connecticut on the 4th and then starting work again on the 5th. It wouldn’t be long, though, before I was heading to Washington DC for the 2nd annual GE GLBTA National Meeting and the Out & Equal Workplace Summit. This year has been craaazy for me with such travels! I hadn’t been to DC before either, other than a one-day stay when I was in high school, so I definitely had something to look forward to soon. Keep watch for that story coming soon!
Cheers,
M@
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