Special thanks to Leontine from Leontine's Book Realm for the super header.


Tuesday, November 2, 2010

♫ ♪ ♫ I left my .... in San Francisco. ♫ ♪ ♫


So I FINALLY get a chance for my last update. Sunday was a bit of a rough day with an over-tired kid, but trick-or-treating went well and she got lots of candy. Very few kids came to our house. Everyone sits on their step so I did that with my computer, but only a few kids came. Still it was nice out. We had snow back here at home so I wasn't sorry I missed that.

Monday morning I got up and actually went to the post office to mail some stuff home. Yes, I had too much crap to get it home in the luggage I brought. Shut up! I made sure I only sent things I won't miss if they go missing forever and ever. Then we went for "American pancakes" as that was one of the things Jen wanted to have before she left. I had a Belgian waffle with Nutella and strawberries. DIVINE. The we took a few picture and hugged good-bye as Kristen and I were heading to the airport and Chris, Kris and Jen were going to the Castro for a bit. It was very sad. I did not want to leave everyone. *sniff* *sniff* Really, I still get sad when I think about saying good-bye. Sigh. It was a chance of a lifetime though to see everyone and so worth all the traveling to get there and the sore legs from climbing hills.

So I have a few last pictures to share and then back to your regularly scheduled book updates. I think tonight is an early night for us as we didn't get to bed until after 1:00 last night and were up at 7:00 to work/school. Ugh.

These are a couple of pictures my daughter took when she went sightseeing with a friend the day I was at the Con. The one from through the abandoned fort window under the bridge was very cool. It was gray and rainy that day but she still had fun. They walked out to the first upright part and then our friend got freaked out being over the water. LOL

This is Alcatraz as seen from the wharf. It's really not that far and I find it hard to believe that no one could swim it considering people swim the Atlantic Ocean, but what do I know. They were at the beach at high tide and at low tide our friend husband runs on the other side of that first rock. The beach is HUGE then.

In a couple of little stores in Chinatown I found these. The drinks are "Neuro Sport" for athletes, "Neuro Trim" for dieters and "Neuro Gasm" for .... ummm, horny people I guess. LOL It says passion in every bottle. However I did not try it so not sure if it causes spontaneous orgasm if you have to work for it. Then in another shop I found candy cock rings. Yum. :-) And only $5.95. A steal.

These are a few more of the costumes from Yaoi Con. Woohoo, Legolas was there. When I asked those first two girls if I could take their picture their response was "But we're not in the same series" as if I'd be outraged. Umm. Series? Riiiighhht Just stand there and look pretty kay? Most people in costume were happy to pose (and they all have a signature pose) when you asked. But I guess if you go out in public dressed that way you WANT people to look at you. What was funny was I noticed a wedding party by the doors later. Imagine explaining to Grandma why all these people dressed like this are walking around your wedding. I'll bet they were wishing they'd checked with the hotel what was going on that weekend before they booked.

You could tell this guy was dragged along by his girlfriend. When I asked to take their picture she got right into posing and he looked like he wanted to crawl under the Dreamspinner table. LOL It was like "OMG, I so did not sign up for this."

So that is the last of my San Francisco reports. It really is a beautiful city (if you don't have to walk). It was pretty easy to get around by public transit and I found everyone in the city very friendly and willing to help you out if you needed directions or advice EXCEPT the cab drivers. Beware if you go because some will try to rip you off. I've been to New York City several times and never had that happen to me there. I was really shocked it happened to us. They also drive like NYC cabbies but with hills. Eeeek. :-)

Our rental apartment was perfect, so central and it was nice to have a kitchen and couch and stuff to crash on without feeling penned up in a hotel room. So this has been my year for amazing trips. I have had three trips in the last 5 months where I met up with on-line friends and ALL of them were fantastic and I hated to leave everyone. Now I have real-life friends I stay in touch with on-line. :-)

Tomorrow, back to bookie stuff. Have a great week everyone.

25 comments:

K. Z. Snow said...

Awww. What sweet sentiments, Tam. The whole experience sounds wonderful.

BTW, who scored the apartment? Was it difficult to find a good one for short-term rental?

wren boudreau said...

Tam, you've made lots of memories to bring you much joy. So glad you had a great time. Thanks for sharing your adventures!

Tam said...

It was a wonderful time KZ. I found the apartment on-line. I just started googling and found one, looked at the pictures and went for it. I did something similar in NYC and it worked out great. Maybe I've just been lucky. It was $200/night but when there were 6 of us there, that was pretty cheap and I'm sure we would not have found hotel rooms for less than that, or not much less.

I think I used homeaway.com but there are several agencies that rent apartments and homes. Plus we weren't in SF during the summer/high season so it was cheaper.

Tam said...

Thanks Wren. Definitely lots of memories. I'm so glad we did it, so is my credit card company. LOL But it was worth every penny.

Average Reader said...

Very interesting info, Tam! Sounds like it was a big, fun adventure! :)

Tam said...

It was great fun Val. Lots of adventures. :-)

Chris said...

You did SO, SO well with the flat, Tam! *pastes gold star to Tam's forehead*

It was awesome, and very sad to say goodbye to everyone.

Lily said...

Great set of pictures! Thanks for sharing.

You guys were so lucky to have such a terrific get together. Still so jealous! LOL :D

Kris said...

Tam did great with the flat. It was lovely and super easy to get around from.

Oh, and the meeting everyone thing was okay too. I guess. :P

Sweet Vernal Zephyr said...

Thanks for sharing the pictures! And welcome back.

Happy Tuesday!

Psst- My hubby would be like that boyfriend, supportive yet reluctant.

Jason said...

Everything looked like it was so much fun!

Tam said...

Yay, gold star. If only it was a red dot I could be Hindi. :-)

You have to come to the next one Lily, whenever that is. Hopefully not too far in the future.

Tam said...

Your enthusiasm is underwhelming Kris. ;-)

THanks Miranda, I'm happy to be home but slept in this morning by 90 min. Ugh. Panic attack. I still need to recover obviously. LOL

It was fun Jase. You should go sometime for vacation, you are much closer than I am. It's a great city (except the cab drivers).

Stephani Hecht said...

I love the pictures of the costumes. I wonder how much it cost for some of those get ups?

Tam said...

Some of them are REALLY elaborate Stephani and must cost hundreds of dollars. That girl I posted last time with the pink Marie Antoinette get-up with the huge wig was just gorgeous with lots of detail and beautiful fabrics. There were people there in more homemade costumes but the dedicated seemed to spare no expense. I should have asked.

Tracy said...

You got such great pictures Tam! My camera was filled and I was loving it when I went in to look. :)

Sorry I missed the Pancake breakast - it sounds like it was great.

Tam said...

It was yummy Tracy. Glad you enjoyed all the costumes. Have fun with Kris gets to LA.

Jenre said...

Ooh, I missed this post yesterday (probably cos I was on a plane, lol). I was sorry to leave too and you are right that we've moved from online friends to real life ones :).

Tam said...

It was sad to leave Jen. I'm glad to be home but I miss everyone too. Can't make me happy. :-)

Glad you got home safely. I slept in this morning. Ooops. Forgot to set my alarm. Guess I need to go to bed earlier.

goblinbox said...

lol @ the candy bracelets being sold for $6

Tam said...

LOL I thought of that too Michelle. Didn't my kid have one of those around her wrist? :-)

Polt said...

Holy CRAP, if I knew Legolas was gonna be there, I'da flown out and joined ya!

HUGS....

Tam said...

AND Neurogasm. LOL You would have had whiplash from vising the Castro dear. I nearly needed a neck massage after a trip through there.

Amy Lane said...

You guys had SO much fun! And it was awesome meeting all of you!

Tam said...

We did have a blast Amy. I miss everyone and was so thrilled to meet you in person. I hope I didn't seem too fangirly. LOL