I Just Flew In From California ...

... and boy are my arms tired! Groan ... Sorry, couldn't help myself on that one, I've always wanted to do bad stand-up comedy and trust me - it would be really, really bad stand-up comedy!

Truth be told, it's the day after I flew in from California and then proceeded to drive another 230 miles from New Jersey back to Connecticut so ... yeah ... I'm a little tired but not too bad all things considered. I got to bed around 2:30 a.m. Right Coast time after getting up at 5:15 a.m. Left Coast time so that's kind of weird but it's all good and now I'm back home safe, sound, and shocked that it all seemed to happen so fast.

I have to be at work in about an hour so this post is just to let everyone know that I arrived home uneventfully and I will return to making all of my blog rounds and posting a few more California pictures hopefully tomorrow after work.

Oh, and lest you all think that Amanda missed me or was bored to tears while I was gone, there's also going to be a post about her adventures at Bamboozle where she got to meet up and hobnob with the members of her favorite band - Mindless Self Indulgence. Just as a preview of that post, here's a picture of her talking to LynZ, bassist of the band, that was taken by a guy that Amanda knows who goes by the name of Fith on the Mindless Self Indulgence Underground board.

Amanda, some bodyguard guy, and LynZ

It took Amanda from the time we left Darcy's house down near Philadelphia all the way to New York City to fill me in on how great the concert was and everything she talked to LynZ about (none of which was about natural acne treatment - go figure!) so there's plenty of stuff for a post there as soon as I can fully recover from my jet lag and get caught up!

In the meantime, thank you to everyone for putting up with my non-blog-visiting during the past week while I was out indulging in a Mexican food, friendship, and sunshine!

Now to get back to work ... sigh ...

And Just Like That, It's Time to Go!

Monday was my last full day on the Left Coast and it was another beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley in the mid 80's. I can't believe that it's time to go already but tomorrow is my return to my real life and today was the last day to enjoy my vacation. Cyndi and I set out mid-morning in search of a few things for me to bring back with me and ended up out in the middle of Lodi grape country tasting a little more olive oil and even some mustard.

From there we went back to Stockton and, because it was Cinco de Mayo and you can't not have Mexican food on that day!, we stopped off at another favorite Mexican restaurant - Miguel's. This restaurant was actually the very first Mexican restaurant I ever dined at in Stockton way back in 1980 when I made my very first visit out here with my first husband.

This time I ordered a chicken taco and enchilada and a chili relleno - things I hadn't had yet while I was here and, of course, some guacamole to go along with it. I know it looks like a big brown mess on the plate but it sure was good (though not as good as the food at Cancun in my own humble opinion!).

After gorging ourselves, Cyndi and I then went to spend some time visiting with Grandma Edith before we did a little more exploring around Stockton. As Cyndi put it, she saw more of her own city while I was here than she has in ages but I think that's a good thing as Stockton has made a lot of positive changes and I don't view it with the same cynical view that she does. Of course, I'm not a native Stocktonian so that probably accounts for a lot of it!

I need to quit procrastinating and get things packed for an early departure tomorrow morning but when I get back to the Right Coast, I've got plenty more pictures to share from my much-needed and much-enjoyed vacation. I'd promise to post one of myself and Cyndi but, idiots that we are, we neglected to take one so I'm hoping Zane has one from our night out at Cancun that Sandee can forward to me! Well, it's either that or I'm going to have to come back again soon to get a picture!

California Cruising on a Sunday Afternoon

With no particular agenda and nowhere special we wanted to go, Cyndi and I set out Sunday morning I pointed the car in a westerly direction to see where the road might take us ...

We crossed the first span of the Bay Bridge in Oakland

Then crossed the second half of the Bay Bridge into San Francisco.

This was our view of San Francisco from the Bay Bridge and the clouds were looking a little ominous!

Buildings in San Francisco can certainly make a person feel small!

We drove past Pier 29 near Fisherman's Wharf

Before stopping to take a picture of Alcatraz, aka "The Rock", in the middle of San Francisco Bay

And then taking in the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the marina.

This was my very first time ever driving over the Golden Gate Bridge.

After crossing through Marin County into Sonoma County, we stopped in to do some olive oil tasting.

The Olive Press had some very tasty olive oils!

Continuing on we drove past vineyards in the Napa Valley

And of course I stopped to take a closer picture of the grapevines!

Turning down Route 12 towards Rio Vista, we saw windmills outside of Fairfield

While the clouds and blue sky were lovely on our way back to Stockton.

One picture I don't have is of the California Highway Patrol Officer who pulled me over in San Francisco for making an illegal left turn even though she was very nice and didn't give me a ticket. She said that it was marked for "no left turn" but neither Cyndi or I saw that posted and after the unexpected traffic stop, we backtracked to the intersection and still didn't see a sign anywhere! Oh well, guess it's all part of the California experience though I have to say that's most definitely a first for me!

Chasing the Echoes of My Past

Palm Trees near the Stockton Channel

The past few days in Stockton have been a time of meeting new friends and reconnecting with parts of my past that, to be perfectly honest, I never thought I'd see again. It's been an opportunity to see how much has changed in this city I used to call home and how much has also stayed the same over the years. As I told Cyndi when we were driving around on Friday, she probably can't see the changes as much as I can as she's lived here all of her life and sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees, as the saying goes.

In the past few days I've seen a Stockton that has grown way beyond the northern boundaries that I used to dispatch to and a downtown that has been attempting a revitalization that is quite impressive compared to what it used to be. It boggles my mind a bit to know that I used to know pretty much every street in this city as I'm sure I'd be totally lost behind a dispatch console here now. Still - as I drove around both Friday and Saturday, I saw so much that was still so familiar to me and I found myself actually missing being a part of this community whether Forbes has ranked it as the second most miserable city in the country or not.

My former home on Lincoln Street

One of the places I made a point of going by was the house I used to rent from April of 1984 to late 1985. As I sat across the street in my rental car and looked at it, I was flooded with so many memories of my time there but I have to say that they were almost all entirely good. My parents came out from Connecticut to visit me when I lived in that house, I had the best roommate ever named Scott when I lived in that house, I had many a conversation over a cup of coffee with Cyndi in that house, my son Michael started kindergarten at the school across the street from that house ... It was a good house in a good neighborhood and Michael and I had been happy there. Too bad my landlord sold it and I had to move elsewhere!

After reminiscing on Lincoln Street for a little while I then drove over to visit Grandma Edith, who had no idea that I was in California. I wanted to surprise her and I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I did! At 85 years old the poor dear has pretty lousy eyesight so she had no clue it was me at the front door that her little dog Precious was barking so furiously at. When she asked if she could help me I said, "Well I certainly didn't come 3,000 miles to be barked at!" "Linda??" she asked incredulously before she opened the door and gave me a big grandmotherly hug. We spent a lovely afternoon together and she made sure to take me around to all of her neighbors and introduce me as her granddaughter even though technically I hadn't been that for a very long time ever since her grandson and I had ended our marriage while he went out to chase single women. Grandma Edith is as good as they get, though, and I will always consider her to be my grandmother no matter what. When I left I promised her that I'd be back on Monday and would bring Cyndi with me as she's met Cyndi before and really likes her.

Grandma Edith and Precious

Before coming back to my hotel, I decided to drive around Stockton a little more and take some pictures. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the high 70's - low 80's and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Considering that it was raining and in the 50's back home in Connecticut I was planning on taking full advantage of the beautiful weather! I've put together a slideshow and placed it at the end of this post if you'd like to see a little bit of Stockton.

Once I finished traipsing around town it was time to head back to the Courtyard Marriott and consider doing some laundry. Yep, I'm in California on a Saturday night and I'm in my hotel doing laundry - what is wrong with me?!? Prior to that, though, I needed to consider what to get for dinner as I'd rather neglected to eat all day. Hmm, what to get that I couldn't get back home that wasn't Mexican? Carl's Jr? In n' Out Burger? Manny's California Fresh? No ... wait ... I knew just the place - Jack in the Box for an ultimate cheeseburger and seasoned curly fries!

A burger you can't get in Connecticut!

I brought my cousin Amy's favorite California cuisine back to the hotel with me and as I took it out and - of course - took a picture for you, my readers, I decided that I wasn't even going to think about the calorie and fat count of such a delicacy as that would certainly suck all of the treat out of eating it. After all, they don't call it an ultimate cheeseburger for nothing and the fries aren't half bad either!

I'm not quite positive yet where our adventures will take us today (I'm pretty sure it won't be to the poker tables in Tahoe or Jackson!) but Cyndi and I will be back on the road and exploring somewhere in California. No matter where it is, though, rest assured that there will be a post with plenty of pictures! In the meantime, I hope enjoy these -

Eureka! I've Arrived!

Quick post tonight because I am what one might call totally worn out after my jaunt across the country with Stretch over there to the left that started with the drive from Connecticut to New Jersey after work yesterday afternoon and ended with my landing in Sacramento this afternoon. I at least wanted to post tonight and say that I am safely in California and ensconced in a really great hotel room with a bed that has a mattress that I'm sure I'm going to absolutely love in just about ten minutes or so just as soon as I hit the publish key on this and call it a night!

I've got lots of pictures and stories to tell already so am going to try to get a post put up tomorrow morning while waiting for Cyndi to take care of a few things before we get together to get caught up on the last six years (or as much of it as we haven't kept ourselves informed of via telephone that is!).

One of the highlights of tomorrow is also going to be dinner with Sandee and Katherine and I'm really looking forward to that and meeting two more bloggers in person! I get the feeling Cyndi is in for a quite a shock ... as is Sandee's husband and Katherine's Teamster! I'll let you know but for now, that bed is calling and it's been a long couple of days!

Memories of a Romantic Trip

It's been years and years and years since I've gone on a romantic trip anywhere but I remember with fondness a trip made to New York City way back in the late 1970's with a guy that I had met while I was stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. The memories still warm my heart to this day.

After we'd known each other for quite awhile, Bob and I decided that it would be nice to spend a weekend in the Big Apple doing some of the things that tourists do so we made reservations at the Sheraton New York, hopped on the bus, and arrived in the city at the Port Authority on a rainy Friday afternoon. From there we took my very first ever New York City taxi ride to the hotel where we checked in and then checked out our room - which had twin beds so get your minds out of the gutter! I said "romantic" trip - not "x-rated" trip!

During a perfectly romantic dinner, we dined on roast capon in the hotel's dining room before walking arm-in-arm under an umbrella to the Shubert Theater to see "A Chorus Line", one of my very favorite Broadway musicals. It was also one of my very first Broadway musicals and I loved every single minute of it. After the show we walked back to the hotel taking in some of the sights and sounds of the city night along the way.

The next day was spent sightseeing at the Statute of Liberty, Central Park, and other New York landmarks before heading back to our lives waiting for us in New Jersey on Sunday. Even though the weather wasn't at all cooperative and it was cold and rainy the entire weekend it was still very magical and memorable and could only have happened in New York City.

Should the opportunity for a romantic trip ever arise again, I'm going to check out Trusted Tours & Attractions for vacation ideas before I make any arrangements as things have changed a lot since the late 70's and I'm sure I'd need some help planning a romantic weekend! Hmm, do you think Grant's Tomb qualifies as romantic?? Like I said, I'd probably need some help figuring out romantic New York City tours!

If you'd like some travel ideas yourself, sign up for the free e-newsletter from Trusted Tour & Attractions and you might even win a free digital camera when you sign up. A digital camera would be a great way to preserve some of those romantic memories, don't you think?

Taking to the Streets of Boston

I'm rather ashamed that as a New Englander and lover of history, I haven't spent all that much time in Boston - especially considering it's only about two hours away from where I live. I've only been a handful of times but every time I've gone (with the exception of trips to Logan Airport as those trips don't really count!) I've really enjoyed myself as it's really quite an interesting city and so different from cities like New York or Los Angeles.

I've always thought that it would be nice to take one of the many sightseeing tours that are available so that I could see more of the city in a shorter amount of time but I've just never gotten around to doing that either. I have a cousin who lives in Shirley, outside of Boston, and her family took one of the many Duck Tours that are available in Boston and they loved it. I'm still not too sure how much I trust a land-water vehicle but I don't think anyone has drowned on one of those tours yet!

The last time I went to Boston was this past September when I went up for a Saturday with a friend from work. Liz and I had a great time checking out all the stores on Newbury Street which until the mid 1800s was actually part of Boston Harbor. Beginning in 1857, the harbor was slowly filled in to become the Back Bay section of the city and that was when the 2-mile stretch that eventually became one of Boston's most enchanted streets filled with unique shops, boutiques, and restaurants most of which are located in renovated brownstone buildings. The more expensive shops are located on the end of the street closest to Boston Public Garden but as you walk towards Massachusetts Avenue they gradually become slightly less expensive and more bohemian. Liz and I poked our heads in a few as we walked the entire lengthy of Newbury Street in both directions.

Another fun part of our day in Boston was when we stopped by the Bull & Finch bar on Beacon Street which is more popularly known as the bar where the TV show Cheers was based. It's the bar where supposedly "everyone knows your name" but as it turned out no one there actually knew my name at all! It was still fun to pose for pictures and pretend that I was as smart as Cliff Claven for a little while! "It's a little known fact that the tan became popular in what is known as the Bronze Age." Yessiree, that Cliff was certainly a scholar, wasn't he?

Before I go up to Boston again (and now that I've got a blogging buddy living up there it shouldn't be too long!), I'm going to see if I can win a handheld GPS by signing up for the Trusted Travel eNewsletter from "Trusted Tours & Attractions". Their eNewsletter is designed to supply tourists with informative, useful, and practical articles as well as money saving deals and if I sign up before January 31st I'll be entered into their contest to win a handheld GPS which would come in really handy when I can't remember in which the direction the Northend of Boston is and I'm craving a cannolli and an espresso!

I most definitely want to spend more time in Boston this Spring and Summer as it's a gorgeous city packed with history and culture and all sorts of fun things to do. Add on the fact that it's close to home - and I can almost speak the language - so it's definitely on my list of things to do! All in all it's a wicked place to visit and with Mags now living in Allston, there's at least one person up there who knows my name and that's certainly a start, isn't it??

Travel Health What??

It became painfully obvious to me the other day when I was talking with some friend about vacations and cruises and what-not and one of them mentioned travel health insurance. I had no idea that you could buy such a thing but once it was explained to me it made perfect sense! DUH!

I guess if you're one who gets the opportunity to take regular vacations then you know about protecting your vacation whereas someone like myself who considers staying home all day in her PJs to be a vacation of sort wouldn't have a clue!

I guess that if Southwest Airlines hadn't been such a peach a couple weeks ago when I had to change Jamie's flight back down to Tampa because of the nasty stomach bug I managed to host for a day or two, I would have definitely wanted travel health insurance to cover the loss that ticket would have been for me.

Who knew? Certainly not me!

California Dreaming

It's been a cold and dark December here in Connecticut so far and it's weather like this that makes me wonder just why it was I decided to ever move back to the Northeast when, truth be told, I am no fan of cold weather whatsoever! Don't get me wrong, the change of seasons is not to be missed (and miss it I did when I lived in California) but once the leaves fall, I'd be just as happy to do as a lot of the senior citizens in this area do and jump in a car or plane and head to warmer climes! Of course, I'm a little too young to be a 'snow bird' just yet but that sure doesn't stop me from thinking about vacationing in some warmer places!

One of the cities I remember fondly and wouldn't mind going to again to warm up a bit is San Francisco. When I lived in Stockton I didn't visit San Francisco anywhere near as often as I should have unless you count the occasional trip out to the airport to fly home! That isn't to say that I didn't go to the city for other things and I remember quite fondly a trip I took there with my parents when they came out to visit me one summer.

I dare say that I got my love for history from my father and he was really interested in visiting Alacatraz Island, home of "The Rock" - a famous prison that once held the likes of Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and Robert Stroud - better known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz". Alcatraz initially served as a military prison from 1867 until it became part of the Federal Prison System for civilians in April of 1934 due to the increased number of violent criminals spawned by The Great Depression and Prohibition. President John F. Kennedy officially closed the prison in 1963 and it eventually became part of the National Park Service and has been visited by thousands of tourists - myself, my son, and my parents included. To say that it is fascinating is an understatement and should you ever get the chance to visit San Francisco, I highly recommend a trip out to Alcatraz Island.

If you aren't familiar with the Bay Area and all that it has to offer, I would also highly recommend a tour by Trusted Tours & Attractions as a great way to see all that San Francisco has to offer and, trust me, there's a lot! From Chinatown to Fisherman's Wharf to the Golden Gate Bridge to the famous Trolly Cars to Lombard Street and so much in between, San Francisco is a fabulous city and one of my very favorites in the entire country. I wish I had been smart enough to see more of it when I lived out there!

If you're considering a trip to the City By the Bay then why not sign up for the Trusted Travel eNewsletter so that you can check out what discounts and specials are available from Trusted Tours & Attractions? If you sign up before December 31st, you'll be entered into a drawing for a free iPod Nano which would make your trip even sweeter as you could download some of the great music from the heyday of the Haight-Ashbury District and you could really do some "California Dreaming" in style!

Thinking About a "Maine" Attraction

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Ever vigilant when it comes to her bands, Amanda recently found out that My Chemical Romance was going to be playing at the University in Maine towards the end of October. Since then, she has been trying mightily to convince me that it's really not all that far and wouldn't it be great to take a road trip to Maine? Uh? Uh? Can we? Can we?

I checked the map and it's not all that far to Orono, Maine from Connecticut - just a bit over five hours - which to a 15-year old is simply the blink of an eye, especially when they aren't the one doing the driving! It wouldn't be all that much to me either except that the 5-hour drive up also requires a 5-hour drive back and with the concert not starting until 8:00 at night, there is just no way that I would be trying to do this all without spending one night in Maine (something I have always said I never would do because I have this irrational fear of the place based on reading way too many Stephen King novels!).

Out of curiosity, though, I decided to check out the accommodations in the general area and consulted an on-line trip planner to see what might be available and how much it might cost should I decide that maybe a weekend in Maine might not be too bad after all. A short road trip might not be a bad idea just to add a little spice to life and give me something different to blog about!

Anyhow, I did some searching over on RealTravel.com as it was voted one of "twelve essential travel sites" by Forbes Magazine as well as "Best of Web for Trip Planning" by Business Week. I figured those two magazines should know what they were talking about and they were right! What I really liked about the website was that all I had to do was I enter the location and dates I wanted to go and I was then redirected to another page where I could choose from six different travel sites to compare rates. Rather than have to visit Orbitz or Hot Wire or Priceline or any of those places myself, they were all easily located right on one page for my convenience. Sweet!

In addition to being able to search for air flights, cars, hotels, etc. RealTravel.com has a weekly list of travel deals that are hand-picked by their editorial team. There you can find flights, hotels, and even vacation packages all at some pretty amazing prices and, because it's updated weekly, if you don't see what you're looking for one week, you can always check back the next. Pretty cool!

Anyhow, getting back to Amanda and yet another MCR concert ... I'm not saying 'yes' but I'm not saying 'no' either as it looks like there are some pretty reasonably priced hotels in that area but I just don't know yet ... it's that whole "Maine" thing because I can't even think about the place without hearing Pennywise the Clown whispering "We all float down here!" Shudder!

I hate clowns.