Skipping Around the US

[smofbabe]

So, I've decided that I'll be coming the US in time for the election after all. I'm pretty sure that I can get my employer to pay my hotel and car in LA as it is to their benefit that I visit the area office. Also, they're getting away really cheap for the conference I'll be attending in San Diego, as Stephen's employer will be paying for the hotel room and possibly even the car, and I'm not charging my employer for my airfare there. I was also able to get some cheap flights from San Diego up to the Bay Area, where I'll also be working, although I'm on my own for expenses up there.

It's going to be a whirlwind tour: I land in LA on the Sunday before the election, spend the day with my brother, then work Monday and Tuesday in Monrovia. Then I drive down to San Diego for an election party at the home of tilthouse and sweetennui. The next morning, I fly from San Diego to the SF Bay Area to spend the rest of the week working at my old office and spending the Sabbath at my old synagogue.

Then I fly back down to San Diego for the professional conference that Stephen is attending and at which I'm delivering a speech. (I'm very nervous about it, too: the audience will be system administrators rather than the technical communicators I usually address.) On Thursday night, I take a red-eye to Jacksonville and drive to Gainesville to have a much-anticipated cosy visit with eackerman and her husband.

The Florida trip is made possible by the fact that we will be in Boca Raton in south Florida for the bar mitzvah of the son of a long-time friend. (I've known him since I was 3 although we haven't always been in close touch.) Stephen wants to stay in the Art Deco district in Miami Beach beforehand and it's been an adventure trying to find a hotel during the season that's even remotely affordable and that the reviewers on TripAdvisor don't think is a total dive.

Unfortunately, this itinerary means that I'll only be on one leg of the flight with Stephen, so I'm on my own in terms of luggage. However, I think the visits hither and yon will be worth it.

Comments

[debgeisler.livejournal.com]

I notice you are not hitting the northeast. Someday, you must drag Stephen here in the autumn...when it's beautiful and colorful and there's no snow. :-)

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

Indeed. We're thinking of doing the long-delayed check-off-the-Northeast-states trip after Montreal. Summer isn't as good as autumn, I know, but it's better than February!

[daveax.livejournal.com]

After Montreal is nice...if your timing's right, you could even hit the Philly Folk Festival while you're in the area! (Or, at least, hit Philly when I'm not working at that event...)

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid we'll won't be going that far south. Stephen wants to hit a few of the NE states he hasn't yet checked off his list, like Vermont and Maine :->

[jane-dennis.livejournal.com]

I hope we'll see you on election night, but just found out that my idio--- that *Scott* booked us on the freaking 6:45 am flight out of SDF on the morning of November 5th! Which means not only will we miss the party, but we can't even stay up at home to watch the returns since we'll have to leave the house at 4:30am.

It'll "only" cost $300 to change flights by 24 hours.

We may do it anyway, or come up with some clever alternative plan, or the horse may talk. I will keep you posted.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

Well, fooey! Let me know. BTW, where do you usually stay? You mentioned a Residence Inn but there are a few different ones in San Diego.