Sleepless in Seattle

To save some money (a good deal of coin, actually) I went standby thanks to a lovely Alaskan friend of mine. This means you're not guaranteed a seat and have to wait until everyone has boarded. It's against my nature a little cause you have to be flexible and, if the flight is fully booked, you're relying on someone missing their flight. You're kinda selfishly wanting someone to be late. 

So it was in this situation I found myself in Seattle. It's ok when you're bumped once, but when it looked like I was going to be bumped over night, I found myself thinking of just buying a proper ticket. 

I was tired and jet lagged. I became one if those people that you step over in the airport. I curled up and went to sleep. Thank goodness I brought the little tri-pillow. 

Time passed and seven hours later I got on the last flight of the evening, arriving into Chicago at midnight. I was very glad to see my hotel room at two am. The problem now is that it's currently two am now and I'm wide awake. It's dinner time at home. So I've munched on a cookie and hope to sleep again soon. 

San Francisco

What an amazingly vibrant city. I can understand why it's one of the most visited. Bring really set up for tourists, it's easy to find a hop on/off bus to see all the sights. So I spent my $30 bucks and off I went. 

I love that you meet great people when you're traveling. I chatted with an English couple, an Australian couple and a circus performer from Michigan. He took the photo below by the foreshore.

The Golden Gate Bridge was in fog most of the day, but I think this added to its charm. 

It's very touristy. But it's ok. I felt reasonably safe. At one point in the tour we went through a rough area called the Tenderloin. We were heckled from the street. A few people were hanging out outside a shop while we were stopped at an intersection. The girl yelled out, "Wave to the white people". It was then I realized that, in fact, we were all white on the bus. Of course, there was a range of nationalities but we were all white. There's a real division here between black and white.  The girl spotted me and said, "Hello Miss America. Yeah, you in the black and white top." I tried to correct her: "No I'm Kiwi!" But she couldn't hear me. It was a friendly enough interaction. And I'll take that complement. I mean, she couldn't see the wrinkled me from the road. 

Maybe she noticed the flower in my hair. 

What I should have paid more attention to is wearing sunscreen. Check out my sore nose. 

Being hot and dehydrated, I went to find some water. This was as close as I could find. 

City Hall. Apparently they have two falcons called Grace and Kelly on the roof to dive bomb the pigeons and stop them from pooing on the gold plated fittings. 

Now check out these San Fran houses. 

Perhaps next time I'll book near this spa. 

St Mary's Church. The photo doesn't do this building justice. 

It's a great city. 

That's Oracle in the background. Couldn't find Team New Zealand. 

View from my hotel window. 

Here's some tall ones. 

This woman fell asleep on the tour bus. Her head kept getting lower and lower. Perhaps she didn't find San Francisco as great as I did. I loved it!!

The trip here

These two photos show what a twelve hour flight does to you. The first is me at the airport. Everything is rosy and I enjoyed a day of people watching. 

The second photo is on the train to the city. I arrived at lunch time after a very long flight. The plane was set to what felt like thirty degrees, it was more squashed than I remember seats to be and the movie system didn't work. The only movie that didn't jump around for me was Wreck It Ralph - a cartoon that didn't do it for me. iPhone to the rescue again! I watched series of West Wing and tried to sleep. I think I managed a few hours. 

On arriving to San Fran, I suddenly had to organise myself. The train station is right upstairs, and I just got on and hoped it would take me to the city. That's when I took the photo. I look pretty wrecked. 

The city is so vibrant. I arrived at the main square. There were people everywhere, and I kept smelling pot. I began the walk to the hotel. It was up this great big hill which is no big deal unless you're carrying a bag, are over-heating and have only had a few hours sleep. 

My hotel is very quaint and clean. I resisted the urge to curl up and sleep. Instead, I went for a walk around the city.  The next post will talk about the city. Just know that I was asleep by 7pm and woke at half 6. And I'm still pretty tired. But I'm off to see this city. 

Wellington Half Marathon

I'm about to post indepth about my run on www.swimmingwiththetide.com

But for the meantime, here's some pics. It was a great day. I ran it in 2.18. Really proud of Jess who ran her first half in 2.14. The weather held up, and I enjoyed a cold beer afterwards. 

The beginning of my big adventure

Here's my short travel blog where I will be uploading quick posts and photos of my trip. For more indepth and better written posts, visit www.swimmingwiththetide.com thanks, Cushla

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Day 1 - The beginning of my big adventure

Wellington

Saturday, 22 June 2013

The beginning of my big adventure. If all you can see is grey, that's cause it's all I can see too. Horizontal rain and heavy wind is what this storm promises. Tomorrow we have to run in this. On our way to the Wellington Half Marathon today.

	Photo 1 [Map]

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