San Diego

Posted on January 24, 2015January 24, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I’m Back! I didn’t expect to be gone quite so long.

Last week was our annual company meeting. I was in San Diego at the company’s expense from Wednesday 1/14- Saturday 1/17. Actually Wednesday was a travel day. I deliberately took an early morning flight because I wanted a chance to see a little of San Diego.

Last year we had the meeting in San Diego too but a winter storm on the east coast delayed my flight so much that it was quite late when I got there. Once the meetings start there’s no time for sight seeing. You are busy from 9 am to midnight.

This year the weather was cold but clear and I had a 5 am flight. I was arriving in San Diego at 11:30 am and would have the afternoon to do some sight-seeing…or so I hoped.

The best laid plans of mice and men can go astray and seems like that applies to my plans too. I guess I should be glad I’m not an army general.

My flights were pleasant and uneventful. I was flying Southwest Airlines and I used their early bird check in so I didn’t have to worry about checking in to get the best seating. It’s $12.95 but it was money well spent. I got great seating. I was also wearing a warm sweater because it was very cold , about 9 degrees, when I left to go to the airport. Sometimes the cabins are a bit cold when you hit 30,000 ft.

We made good time and landed in Chicago ahead of schedule. I had time to grab some breakfast before the 2nd leg of my journey. Chicago to San Diego was smooth too and once again we landed early. Unfortunately we landed without my luggage. 🙁

San Diego was sunny and warm with a sea breeze. A sweater was definitely out of place and by the time I caught the shuttle to the hotel I was in full melt down mode. I checked into my room and settled down to wait for news of my wayward bags. Southwest assured me they weren’t lost just delayed. The best I could do was hang out around the hotel and wait. I needed a change of clothes before I could go exploring.

The call finally came at 4 pm. My bags had made it to the airport and would be delivered to me no later than 8 pm. So much for any sight-seeing. I guess San Diego will have to wait for another year.

Anchorage

Posted on July 6, 2013July 6, 2013 by Dusty Roads

As Mr. Roberts would say “It’s a lovely day in the neighborhood.” And that would be very true here in Anchorage. Sunny and warm, a perfect day! We ate breakfast in the hotel. When we were ready to go exploring the doorman pointed us in the right direction. It was just a couple of blocks to the Visitor Center, a sod thatched log cabin right there on a main street.

Our plan for the day was the Anchorage Zoo. There was a shuttle from the Visitor Center right to the Zoo. We got there just after the shuttle had pulled out so we had about 30-40 minutes to wait. I wandered the street exploring the souvenir shops while Sandy went into the Visitor Center and chatted with the ladies working in there.

Nearby was a Cultural Museum. That would have been interesting if there was more time. The totem poles were different.

One of the stores had a big plush bear in front of it.

Another was called “Once in a Blue Moose.” How cute is that !

I loved the Blue Moose totem pole by the door.

Look at that! They have a sign post! The first time I ever saw one of these was in Hawaii. Its a sign post with the distance to other places like North Pole. San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and so on. It’s always interesting to see what places made it onto a sign like this.

A trolley was offering city tours and if we’d had more time that would have been high on my list of first things to do. Trolley tours at a new location are one of the best ways to get the “lay of the land” but since we were only going to be here one day the zoo was a better choice.

When the Zoo shuttle arrived and we got settled, the driver told us how nice it was to finally get sunshine and warm weather. Like everyone else she said spring had come late this year. Normally the weather we were getting now should have started 2 weeks earlier. Just our luck!

It was about a 20 minute ride to the zoo. We were dropped off right by the entrance. We’d have about 1.5 hours before we’d have to catch the shuttle back so we could get back to the hotel for our shuttle to the airport. The driver said it was a little zoo and that we’d have plenty of time.

Maybe now I’d finally get to see some of the iconic Alaskan animals that had been eluding me.