Feel free to refer to me as such! Here’s the story: On April 11, the BF turned 31. We had a great night out with friends to celebrate, but on his actual birthday, a Sunday, it was totally rubbish weather – windy, rainy and cold. We had really wanted to go and do the Urban Zipline, a marketing stunt set up by the British Columbia tourist board or something. Basically it was a big zipline strung up down by the water on the Embarcadero. People were waiting hours in line to get on this thing (especially as it was free), but when we saw the weather on Sunday we decided not to bother. At around 6, the skies cleared so we thought, what the heck, let’s go see if we can do this thing. We got there half an hour before it closed and the people running it said, Nope, no way, you should have been here at 8:30 this morning. I was having NONE of this. I turned it on, big time. I gushed about how it was my BF’s birthday, I’m leaving soon, no no, you don’t understand, we HAVE to do this, please? Please!…and so on. Aaaand, it worked! Twenty minutes later we were on, last zipliners of the day, and all it cost me was a few faux almost-tears and a biscotti for the guy in charge. It was totally brilliant and a fantastic end to the BF’s birthday, even he says so. Hey, that’s why they pay me the big bucks to do PR, right?! (Not that I beg and cry and bribe journalists with biscottis to get coverage…usually.)
In other birthday happenings, this past weekend it was my friend Natalie’s birthday and she invited us all to go wine tasting at the winery where she’s a member. It was fabulous and I totally recommend it, hence talking about it here! (That’s what travel blogs are for, right?!) The winery is Ledson in Sonoma. A big castle-y type place with fountains and turrets and whatnot. It was a beautiful day and we had our own personal wine tasting dude (Kelsey) and special menu just for Natalie. Kelsey said weird stuff about how wine was made of crushed Smurfs and described everything as being “B.I.G.”, but it was entertaining nonetheless and he did tell us good stories about some celebrities who’ve been up there. Harry Connick Jr. showed up with his mistress once, apparently. Ooh. La. La.
On the travel front, I have an accumulating “To Do” list that has little crossed off. Timing-wise, I have two more weeks of work and just under three weeks left in San Fran. More importantly, The Gargantuan Cloud of Ash has one month and four days to get the hell outta my way so I can get to my first destination. I’m obsessed with the ash cloud, by the way, and not just because it might throw a wrench in my plans. It just doesn’t cease to amaze me that with everything human beings control in the world, we are completely, totally powerless against this thing. There’s absolutely nothing anyone can do.
In other news, the vaccination count is up to eight. It now includes rabies, the most expensive one of all. At $600, I almost WANT something to bite me.
Susie Hughes is a UK transplant to the United States, moving from London to Connecticut as a teenager. For five years she worked in technology public relations in San Francisco, quietly putting money away into “The Travel Fund”. In May 2010, Susie left San Francisco to realize a lifelong dream of an extended trip around the world – seven months visiting more than 20 countries on four continents.
