It's almost time to hit the road!
I can't tell you how excited I am to be getting out of town. At this time tomorrow I'll (hopefully) be sitting in Joyce's house having a cup of tea. And after that, San Francisco, Napa, and the California coast!!
We planned it to be relaxing, so we won't be scrambling from place to place. No itinerary, except for a couple of tours (like Hearst Castle). But I'm one of those people who usually can't stand laying on a beach or by a pool; I want to get up and go! Even if it's just meandering around town. (Truthfully, sometimes I'll take a weekend where the whole point is simply to sit around and relax; I love the Zane Grey inn on Catalina for that.)
Anyway, my point is, there's no huge agenda, which is going to be blissful. Bill gave me some great ideas of things to do in Napa (and I trust him, since Napa is practically his second home!), and I'd definitely like to tour the submarine in San Francisco (it's a sister ship of Grandaddy's sub).
I have VERY mixed feelings about Big Sur...I remember thinking it was incredibly beautiful every time I drove through it, and I also remember vomiting copiously in the back seat. Ugh. But I'll be the one driving this time, so I think I should be ok. And I'm really excited to see it again.
I packed last night and was surprised when there was room left over in my suitcase. I'm pretty adept at packing, but still. I'm not super-high-maintenance when it comes to clothing and girly stuff, so that helps, but I have to admit I'm bringing 5 pairs of shoes. I know, I know...but come on. You can't wear the same color shoes with green pants and cream pants. I can't wear my sandals with jeans or my boots with capris. And I had to throw in a pair of heels because you never know. There's a lot to consider, so it's best to just take 5 pairs. Oh, and then there's the whole purse thing...
And yet, with all that (and 2 different jackets, because hello, you can't wear denim with jeans or leather with shorts), I still had room left over in my suitcase.
Oh, and, uh, I brought a box of oatmeal and half a pound of Starbucks coffee. Because when your system is used to coffee and cereal at 6:30 every morning, your system gets really cranky if it doesn't get it. And your cranky system gets crankier and snarkier when it realizes it's going to have to wait until noon to eat. And then your cranky, snarky system starts picking fights with your partner system, who isn't really a morning system to begin with. So you see, it's much better for everyone if I bring my breakfast foods with me. I'm thoughtful that way.
I considered taking my laptop with me so that I could download video clips from my camera. I love that aspect of my camera - the video clips I've taken are really funny - but it eats up the memory so you have to download them before you use the camera again. But I decided I didn't really want to drag my laptop around for that sole purpose. And then I thought, hey, I could have it in the car and we could play games and stuff, but eh, I'm not sure. I also don't really like the idea of leaving it in a hotel room all day.
So anyway, I'm excited and ready to go, and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!
Posted by Lesley at April 29, 2004 04:12 PM