The Seattle Story I

Epilogue:
One more long-weekend and one more travel arrangement. This time the long weekend is due to Labor Day on September 1 and as always I and my friends decided to honor all the hard work the laborers, which includes me as well, have done since the last Labor Day by traveling to one of many places where I have not set foot yet. There are so many places and yet we only have so much time (3 days to be exact) and, more importantly, only so much money. About a month before the travel date our planning committee started to –umm, plan. After some detailed analysis and deliberation we concluded that we were indecisive about the location to explore and finally we threw a dart at the US Map (Continental only) and it landed in Seattle, Washington. And thus it was picked by the eternal hand that this trip will be ‘The Seattle Expedition’.
Following my earlier narrative attempt, the story will be divided based on the date. The criterion is chosen purely out of intentional laziness towards creativity and bears no consequence.
Disclaimer: All names, places, accounts and events mentioned in the narration can be partially or entirely false. Reading this narrative can cause extreme nausea, simultaneous boredom and excitement and induce sharp cofee craving. Other Side effects include loss of time, increased knowledge, read rage and erectile dysfunction.

THE SEATTLE EXPEDITION
- narrated by Me
August 29: The Arrivals

My recent trip to San Francisco over the previous long weekend was so exciting that I actually performed much better at work after returning from the trip. Food tasted better, water was sweet and the air smelled of fresh city pollutants. As the next three-day-holiday approached it was time to get packin. Just thinking about the City of Seattle was an energizing activity. Seattle has a vibrant demographic with a fascinating history. It is well known for its enticing natural scenery and rich culture. Nicknamed ‘Emerald City’ it is the home of aircraft giant-Boeing and software giant- Microsoft and more recently gaming giant-Nintendo. It enjoys a wonderful, moderately cold weather with high winds, with only 52 days of sunshine per year on average. I don’t know about you, but I love cloudy days.
This time our gang was made of four people. The most handsome, tough, sensitive and intelligent guy in my work cubicle- ME and then three more of my friends from college. Ironically, since they are my friends it makes them seem much cooler than me. Unlike the last trip, there were no glitches with weather and the travel plans were nicely set in tarmac and ready to hit the run way, except one tiny problem. I had moved to a different apartment since the last trip, and hence I can’t ask my old roommate to drop me at the airport, because it would be awkward. Since I don’t have a car, I was pondering my options. One way was to beg my current roommate who was really busy that week or I could beg to a colleague at work. I am not a big Fan of begging unless it’s critical, and since this was critical I did. But they said no. One of my pals from college had moved, for work assignment, to the city where I live and now we both needed a ride to the airplane station (you don’t complain for Train Station?!?). As the departure date grew near the anxiety was too much and I decided it was time for some desperate measures. I tried to convince one of my friends in our travel gang that instead of him taking the flight from his city itself, he should drive his car two hours to my place, pick up me and the other friend and then catch the flight at the phoenix airport. It was sort-of-a sinister plan, but I am sure God would understand my situation. Guess what? It worked. On Friday, August the 29th, like clock work, I finished my day at the office early, headed home, got ready and without a worry; I was at the airport, Late. You see, in our detailed preparation we forgot the fact there would be other vehicles in the road during our travel to the airport and as it turned out, there were plenty of them. By the time we moved through the traffic and reached The Sky Harbor International Airport, we only had about 15 minutes to board the plane. After a quick exercise of running through gates and jumping over other luggage, stranded babies and old people we caught the Alaskan Air- Boeing 737 in the nick of time. The travel plan and the airplane were still on the Tarmac and within minutes they both took off.
Four hours later, at the SEATAC airport we touched down for what was to be one of the most gratifying experiences that I have ever had with nature. We reached Seattle around 10 pm and the first step was to pickup the rental car. Whenever we rent cars, we always end up paying the under-age fee which is very annoying. For every driver under 25 years of age they charge us with that fee everyday. The DMV (US license office) says the legal age to drive is 18. Where did the rental companies come up with the number 25? I am guessing the next thing would be to charge people over 50 over-age fee. Anyway the good news was that one of our gang members had reached the 25 mark on that exact same day and hence when we picked up our Dodge Nitro we saved up some cash on it
Next stop-Dinner. Before that we checked into our hotel room, a standard Motel 6 with comfy beds, and unloaded our luggage. My first impression of the town was not a good one, but not without reasons. The neighborhood looked spooky and the roads did not seem to be used that much. There were quite a few dark areas and I was hungry. That day, dinner was at Denny's. I love these eateries. Places such this and I-HOP are closely designed and operated mirroring an American way. There would be no tacos or beans, no noodles or kabobs. There are pancakes, syrup, scrambled eggs, hash browns and coffee – truly American. Served warm at 11 at night it’s the kind of food that fills you with promise and optimism. An hour later, filled with promise and optimism we went to bed, only to realize that coffee is a sleep deterrent. Ha Ha.
But seriously, don’t drink coffee before bed.

Coming Up:
Our first day at the wonderful city of Seattle where we pay visit to a volcano belt in cold weather and hike up a mountain that would leave us craving for hot chocolate. Was it as gratifying as I mentioned earlier or was I just making things up? Check back for the next installment of “The Seattle Expedition”

San Francisco - Part -IV

Welcome to the fourth and final chapter of my grand endeavor to San Francisco, California as narrated by me. In previous chapters I indulged you in exciting times expierienced by me and my buddies at the golden gate at SFO and Universal Studios at Los Angeles. In this chapter, I will let you in on our visit to 'The Alcatraz' island and stroll down the down town streets of SFO.

THE TRIP TO THE WEST

-narrated by me

Chapter 4:

Sunday:May 26 The Ultimatum

Back in our hotel the Saturday ended without much drama. We were pretty tired after an exciting day at 'The Universal Studios' and slept for the most part of the ride back to our hotel in San Mateo. Now the hotel we had reserved this time was classic. Unlike the dump we had stayed the previous night, this hotel room had everything that would make you feel right at home. We actually arrived past midnight and hotel staff had left for the day, but the keys to our rooms where kept in a mail box with our names as a security code. Talk about technology and the comfort it brings. As I mentioned in the earlier chapter, we followed the same under-booking formula and this time it worked like a charm, no-hassle. We retired to our comfortable rooms and after a brief discussion about weather sustained control of the market forces by a regulatory body help in maintaining the balance of supply and demand in a nation's economy (not really, the talk was mostly about you-know-what!!) it was time to sleep.

When I woke up the next day, I realized that I had just had an absolutely wonderful sleep. There was a big clamoring going on around me and I could hear people talking in high voices. I was unable to make out what it was about and but then again, I wasn't paying attention. I half listened to what folks were saying as I went on about the usual rituals in getting ready for the day and by the time we started our car, I vaguely understood that someone had woken up really late. Our first destination for the day "Alcatraz Island" – the notorious island prison made internationally famous by the movie 'The Rock' (which also the island's nick name ) featuring Nicolas Cage. As I reveled at the fact that I am going to be in a prison (or at least used to be) for the first time in my life, I suddenly realized that, apparently, it was me that had gotten up late and because of that we might miss the ferry at Pier 33 to the Island. Of course, no one can stay mad at me for a long time, especially when I so naturally pretended that they I had no idea about what or why they were screaming at the height of their voices.

Anyway, after getting scammed for 20 dollars by a con artist at the parking area (seriously) we caught the ferry on time and set sails to experience the great and depressing Alcatraz. On the outset it looks like a midevil fortress beset on the rocky island in the middle of San Francisco bay. Indeed it was used as a fortress during the early wars of our ancestors, but what made it known for, in the later years and today is the iron clad maximum security prison and the notorious convicts that it housed. Upon arrival, one unmistakably notices the enticing scenery set around the Rock, which completely masks the deep and much darker stories associated with it.

The island was surrounded by spectacular views to The Golden gate and San Francisco city sky line, but one cannot escape the feeling that the inmates of this federal penitentiary saw the outside world only for a brief moment of the day. As we strolled down the concrete corridors listening to the audio narration of the prison's history and the experiences of some of the inmates in their own words, the sense of being free gets a whole new meaning. The prisoners' narrative of how they did anything allowed by the prison guards to pass the day made me cringe at the reality of countless hours I waste on a daily basis. Scheduled hours with the visitors, precious little moments of music and sanctioned indulgence in sports seem to be the only thing they looked forward to while the empty and endless times of loneliness slowly engulfed them with nothing to do but rue the faults of their life time, committed in peace or a fit of rage. One certainly finds it interesting to see the way society marks an act as noble or criminal.

The stories of Alcatraz include escape attempts, some which are daring and others mystical, while seeming impractical. Factually the most intense escape attempt resulted in an intervention by the US Marine Corp which come to be known as ' The Battle of Alcatraz' while, as far as drama goes, the escape of three convicts using dummy heads at their beds and soup spoons for scraping the tunnel tops the list. During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed no prisoners as having ever successfully escaped. It is definitely a tribute to the strength facility as well as the discipline and bravery of the prison officials.

Beyond the grim history of Alcatraz, the place still seems to be living with the old. The walls and the prison cells seem to have not aged at all, since the facility was shut down by federal authorities. The audio narration that was provided guided us along the various pathways, cells and rooms while giving a chilling chronicle of of each of the venue. It also included interviews and narratives by some of the prisoners themselves, as they told us their sad days and joyful moments. When it was time to go, we did it with heavy hearts.

The ferry ride back to the main land was a kind of getting-back-to-the-holiday-spirit sort. By the time we docked, we had a few hours left before it was time to catch out respective planes back home and we decided to have walk around SFO downtown. After having a good lunch in a Pakistani restaurant, we headed out into the streets. Now I have never been to a really developed American city before and hence in every which way, the SFO downtown mesmerized me. Posh offices, tall buildings, corner coffee shops and ATM centers, corporate banks, luxury hotels and the city's own wavy roads reminding you that this is a mountainous land. Although I have seen these sky scrapers on TV, it is nothing like standing next to it for real. There is something about the place where all the buildings are tall enough to block the sun completely off the streets on a bright day. More I wandered those impressive streets the fact that California has the highest tax and was one of the cities with crippling cost of living in all of the US was beginning to disappear in my mind. For a few minutes I was living in my dream place exactly the way I pictured it. But then again, such blissful moments have a lifespan similar to a rainbow. As soon as we came back to our car, my brain (at least the functional part) quickly calculated my salary and expense for a year and a negative number in big font and red color flashed in front of me (Stupid Brain).Sigh. At least, it was good while it lasted.

We are only a couple of hours away from our scheduled flight departure and, the sorrow had filled the car already. We had a great time these past three days here and saying good bye really sucked. After a very long time we had spent some excellent experiences and, for what its worth, this trip will be remembered for a long time. Following the tradition of guys around the world, we spent the last few minutes joking about cars, movies and women before boarding our respective planes.

As for me, as I trudged off the Sky Harbor International Airport back in Phoenix to take the local bus to my house only one thing was in my mind – "Oh My God, I gotta work tomorrow!!"

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Thanks for joining me. Until my next time.

San Francisco - Part -III

Hello and welcome to the third edition of my ongoing narration of my trip to San Francisco along with my friends. In the last chapter we looked at our first day in the Frisco and how we went about exploring some of the best tourist sites that ' the City by the Bay' had to offer. In this chapter we travel down south to the city of Los-Angeles where I and the rest of the travel party had an exceptional day.

THE TRIP TO THE WEST

-narrated by me

Chapter III-
Sunday:May 25 The Supremacy

The day ended on Friday in a rather dull way as we checked into our rooms in what I would like to call not-the-most-welcoming-motel in LA. It was located just adjacent to a bar and its parking space was about the size of basket ball court. Like a miniature paint artist going about his work on a grain of rice, we manured our full size mini-van in the only available spot cheekily avoiding the other cars that were crammed in alongside. Meeting a fellow Indian may not always be a delightful experience. The phrase most definitely summed up the situation as we entered the hotel lobby. As customary of our travel band, we always book hotel rooms in such a way that more people stay in a room than that is allowed by the management. The reason is purely financial. We were 6 and we had 2 rooms and 2 per room was the stipulation and mathematically 2 more too many. The plan, as always, was to sneak the extra people inside, while the legitimate four were doing the paperwork. But on that particular night, it was not to be. A middle-aged Indian guy was at the front desk and apparently he was good with maths and sight. He made us pay (In dollars) an extra fee for the extra humans and let us spend the night in a hotel which, in all fairness, must be offering boarding for free. The carpet smelled with old dampness and elevator squeaked like a haunted house. Unlike I mentioned in the chapters earlier, my luck turned its back on me this time. You get a very different sensation when you inhale stale air, while thinking about the fact that it will be dark when the lights go out at night. The fact that I had most recently experienced severe bug problems in my house was making the phobia progressively worse for me. After connecting our cell phone and camera chargers to oddly placed power sockets, I told myself that I was too tired and thankfully it was true. I remembered closing my eyes doubtfully, almost certain that the bed bugs have already started their feast, and the next thing I knew it was morning.
And morning means good news. Apart from the fact that I was not carried out of the place by night crawlers, a more important reason to be excited was that were headed towards the 'entertainment capital of LA' – The UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. We got ready and to my delight, the hotel served my favorite brand of morning cereals-'Honey Nut Cheerios' (not affiliated in any way) at least there was one thing sensible about that place. After a hearty breakfast we headed out into the famous and seriously polluted LA streets. Throughout the drive I noticed that LA, at least the part we were traveling through, did not resemble any thing like a metropolitan city. The freeway way was bordered by simple housings and there weren't any high rise offices either. Anyhow, when we arrived at the Universal studios I was not exactly sure of how I was feeling right then. The reviews for the place were out of the roof, but then again, I am not really a fan of reviews. Also, I have never been a big supporter freaky roller coasters either and for some reason my vision of theme park has always been crazy rides and expensive souvenirs. What I did not know was that I was about to be entertained in the right way and proved wrong at the same time.
Thanks to the VIP tickets we had bought earlier, parking was hassle free. I noticed that the there was big crowd that day and given that it was a Sunday and that too in the middle of a long weekend, I guess it wasn't a surprise. The studio greeted us with red carpet, literally. The huge circling metal globe with the marquee 'Universal Studios' was placed in the center of a concrete cavity with water fountains surrounding it sprayed needles of water on people trying to get too close to it, sometimes with the help of some wind on their cameras. Then the red carpet and then the huge metal gates that resemble some of the gates from Lord of the Rings and once you enter it, you have officially set foot on a moviegoers fantasy land. some of the best movies to come out of the studio were captured once again with props, hydraulics, pyrotechnics and some fantastic live characters to bring them to life. The adventure started with 'the Studio tour'- a trip in a mid-size cab on tracks which went rolling down various sets and locations in which many movies and prime time TV shows were being shot. It was hard to believe that all those buildings and fountains and streets were simple cardboard and metal props. I have never been to a movie set and to be in the one of Hollywood's major factories it was just amazing. There was a simulated flood- huge amounts of water just rush through a make believe street as it inundates everything in its path including the cab in which we were seated (only up to feet level, of course). Then there was the earthquake simulation. Here is the scenario. Our cab gets stuck inside a typical city rail-tunnel and without warning a Richter-9 scale earthquake hits the location. Things explode around us as the train cabs in the nearby tracks tumble; electric cables snap and create massive fires and somewhere a major water line breaks flooding the whole area. Just when you thought its over, the roof breaks open and the rescue helicopter falls down into the tunnel before exploding; the interesting part- the whole thing takes place in a matter of minutes. If such a complex scenario can be executed everyday for tourists, no wonder Hollywood is able to make spectacular movies. We were even shown the set in the movie 'War of the Worlds' which involves a crashed Boeing 747 with its various parts strewn in the middle of a suburban neighborhood, which looked exactly the way it was shown on the movie. After that, we were off to the movie rides. The attractions included a daring boat drive through the Jurassic Park, then a thrilling roller coaster with the Mummy, a gut wrenching Terminator 4D ride, and a live fear-factor show- you know the show in which people are asked to eat goat testicles (yuk) for prize (why didn't say so).
Everywhere there were artifacts, performers and actors in costumes. One thing that definitely made the day more pleasurable was that we were spared from the agony of waiting in the line for hours for each ride, because we had bought VIP tickets(extra fee of course) and hence we were given a separate entrance, front row seats and the best of all perks, multiple rides. Thats right- while others had to wait for their turn in 'The Simpson Ride'- the studios newest attraction and my personal favorite, for about 45 minutes, we took the ride twice in a matter 10 minutes and the same for all the attractions. I have to admit, being treated special was pretty cool. No wonder why many people go crazy after becoming famous. It was an absolutely spectacular experience. We immensely enjoyed the magical world (note: world, not kingdom) and wrapped up the day with some hotties. As we left the studios for our car, I couldn't help but think that it has been proved yet again that when it comes to entertainment, these guys are pros.
Back to the car, and our long drive back to San Francisco begins.

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Coming up.. Our Final day of the trip - a walk through the SFO city streets and prison halls.

San Francisco - Part -II

We are continuing with my narration of the recent epic journey (of sorts) undertaken by me and my colleagues. In the previous chapter, we saw the arrivals story and how weather gave us a googly and altered our plans. This chapter continues with our journey into the Saturday with some exciting events.

THE TRIP TO THE WEST

-narrated by Me

Chapter 2:
Saturday:May 24 The Identity

We started early next day. Initially the plan was to go to Yosemite Park and spend the day there. Supposedly it was a beautiful mountainous area with some great views and water falls. For more information, try Google. But the guy stuck in Utah (refer chapter 1) was arriving only after mid-day and so we aborted Yosemite and planned to have a look around the see the city. What better place to start SFO than the Golden Gate? When you think about it, it’s really just a bridge and like any other ordinary bridge, it simply connects two land masses separated from each other. But the Golden Gate Bridge was bridge like none that I have ever seen. It had such a great view, that I had already clicked about 20 snaps off of my camera, before realizing it. The air was a bit cold, fog reduced visibility and there was a slight constant drizzle. But we just kept clicking the camera. We posed; we made others pose; we made others take pictures of our pose. The bridge was far from ordinary. The two giant steel piers shot up from the base before their apex hid behind the fog cover with only their red silhouette visible. The steel-reinforced chords which were as wide as an elephants head ran along the length of the base holding the base from one pier to the next while shorter and much slimmer chords provided additional support. Standing next to one of the piers gave a clear idea of its magnanimous structure and how little a speck was the human standing next to it. I read somewhere that the bridge is so long, that when they start painting it from one end, by the time they get to the other end, they would have to start all over again. For more than an hour, we spent watching and wondering at the sight of the spectacular structure, never concerned about the fact that we were getting drenched in the light, but cold rain. May be we could have enjoyed it better if the weather was sunny, but I thought it was something special, in a different way. I imagined all the people who were driving across the bridge not giving the beauty of the bridge beneath and around their cars and trucks a second thought, but then again, they were residents of that city, and had probably seen it a thousand times. For us, it was definitely special. If you take a look at the pictures, you’ll know what I am talking about. We drove a couple of times across the bridge (losing 5$ excess to the toll machine) and when we finally got satisfied, it was time to the next spot.

As per our plan, we headed towards the Exploratorium, sort of a do it yourself science museum. After losing our way and going around the location a couple times, which is interesting given the fact we had GPS navigator, we finally reached the place at about noon. We paid the entry fees; couple of our guys showed their expired student ID card and got discount for a couple of bucks. It was a good exercise of a fast mind, since the area we were about to enter demanded it. The whole room was occupied by articles and models of various concepts and achievements of science since t began. There were working models of complex equipment like motors and engines. There were scenarios and practical do-it –yourself examples for all kinds of scientific phenomena like magnetism, light and wave. One thing that really got its hooks on me was the mind and perception arena. That section of the auditorium was dedicated to the multitude of stimulus that can influence our brain, and the different ways in which it perceives such stimulus, the incredible decisions it makes out of it and more importantly, the ways in which it can be tricked to believe in things. I have always wondered about awesome power of our brain and its mysterious behavior and that day I learned more about it than I did in all of my school science classes combined. But that was not all. The explorotoriam had answers for almost all the practical questions you get when you observe the world around you, A to Z. If you are the kind who believes in evolution, then this is a place you cannot miss.

We had a great time there; more like a refresher course in level-2 science in a fun way, and then it was time to pick our friend from the airport. We confirmed that his flight has been delayed (stupid weather!!) and we went to the airport once he landed. Then we did what all great people do when they meet their old friend, We went for lunch (were you expecting a punch line?!).

Now this lunch was some thing to be noted. It was not really a restaurant or a small eatery. It wasn’t even a fast food store. It was kind of a small, but well laid out place with menu item that were similar to breakfast from south. They had sliced turkey, mash potatoes and english muffins, for lunch!!. And the taste was wonderful. After a hearty lunch, we sat there had a discussion about the next place to visit. As often as it happens, the discussion turned to debate. The final decision was made, by a show of hand, to drive along the coastal highway to Los Angeles.

On our way we made a short stop, after searching a long time for an uncrowded one, at one of the scenic beaches of the coast and spent some time with nature. There is nothing like being at the beach at sunset. Oh, did I forget to mention that there was a swimsuit model photo shoot going on (really!!) on that exact same time. We chose this location since it seemed to be unperturbed by crowds, and apparently the photographers also felt the same. So once again my luck proved to be quite something. I cannot go in detail what we did there but let me just say that the time spent at that beach was like none other. We continued our journey to the south, picking up some farm grown cherries on the way, and reached the hotel, the story of which is not a pleasant one and it’s for the next chapter.

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Continued in next chapter….Our journey leads us to a terrible lodging and delightful movie magic.

San Francisco - Part -I

Epilogue:

There was this long weekend, May 23-25 and we went to Sanfrancisco. We , as in me and my college buddies/ roommates (5 to be exact) took this trip. We had such a great time over the long weekend that I am forcing myself to type this narration from my office at 3.30 pm after a good meal. I am fleeing sleepy and the only work I was supposed to do, got over few hours back. And, by the way, for those of you who don’t know yet, I moved to a new city for my job that stared about a month ago. I am supposed to work for 40 hrs every week, but the company is flexible about the hours, so I work between 10 am and 12.30 pm and 4 pm to 4.30 pm (Half hour is to see if what I did in the morning was actually correct!!) before I call it a day. It’s a pretty relaxed work place.

Back to the epilogue. The trip was a greatly enjoyable vacation and I would like to share it with the web which is, incredibly, world wide. Now, the experience had so many things and it is would not be fair on me to expect myself to type the whole thing in one stretch. So I have taken the liberty to break them into chapters divided based on whatever criterion that my lazy (sometimes truthful) mind comes up with.hmmm..lets say the date.

Disclaimer: All names, accounts and events mentioned in the narration can be parrtially or entirely false. Side affects of reading this may cause increased world knowledge, loss of time, read rage and erectile dysfunction.

So Here goes..

THE TRIP TO THE WEST

-narrated by Myself

Chapter 1: Friday, May 23. The Arrivals

This was coming for a long time. The weekend started on May 23 and was made long due to the Memorial Day. The holiday is observed in remembrance to the brave men and women of US service who lost their lives during various events in American history(a.k.a wars which involved American personnel) and we decided to enjoy it aptly by getting together and having fun. To make this happen, people had to travel from all corners. One came from Nevada(west), one from Texas (south), three from Mid-West(Arizona, Missouri) and the longest was the one form New Jersey (East) Since we all hadn’t taken a good vacation for about 2 years, I was very much looking forward to the travel and meeting everyone. We booked the flight tickets about a month ago and all necessary arrangements were made. When the much awaited Friday finally came, to be honest, I wasn’t able to keep my excitement under check. For some reason, I felt that this is the best thing that was going to happen to me in a long time (it used to be me dating Shreya/Asin/ Rosie McGowan -preferably at the same time, but that hasn’t happened yet). I left work early and convinced my roommate to drop me at the airport well ahead of time. As though some one with control over nature and possibly the universe had sensed my excitement, the city I am in, which can be described precisely as a desert, started getting colder during the later part of the week and it actually started raining on that particular Friday. I kept my spirits up, and after an hour of weather- delay at the airport, I landed in the city, which I am now considering to permanently move in to—the city of San Francisco.

I always knew I was the lucky one among a random selection of people, and it got confirmed, again, when I landed. Three of my friends got delayed due to weather, and one guy couldn’t make it to his connecting flight (drastically altering our plans) and had to stay in a state with a funny name—Utah, overnight. When the rest of us finally arrived, it was past midnight and we had a mile (dramatized) long queue at the car rental.Now, since we needed a minivan kind-of vehicle, and we did not have a reservation at any other rental company, we had no idea how long we need to wait to get our ride. Again, my luck proved gold, when the guy behind the desk, at a different rental, answered my query with - “Sorry sir, without reservation, we don’t have any other vehicle, except a mini-van”. Sweet.

Next Stop, Hotel. Earlier during one of our extensive planning sessions, the task of booking hotel rooms was bestowed on me. As always, I did a great Job. Friday night we stayed at the almost-5-star Travelodge Motel (only 4 stars less). Whatmore, the hotel had IHOP right next to it. We had a nice little dinner/breakfast (the time was past midnight) and by the time we came to our rooms, the hour hand in the wall clock was dreadfully placed between one and two. We were tired, and sleepy, but had the task of figuring out what to do the next day, since the one of our guys, the one who missed his flight earlier, was not arriving until noon the next day and so we needed to alter our list of places to visit accordingly. Because of my prudent forethought, I had brought my new mac book, which by the way-totally rocks, and with free wi-fi, the (Google) search began. After some careful reviews of the various tourist spots in SFO we decided on 2 things.

1. We must visit Golden gate bridge, Fisherman's wharf, Science Explorotorium and Crooked street
2. We were already asleep!!

Coming up next, the exciting first day of our trip. Did we go to the Golden gate? Did the missing person arrive on time? Stay tuned for the gripping next edition of “The Trip to the West”.

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