We might actually be crossing the pond...

[mouse_chalk]

I almost don't want to post this, in case it somehow jinxes us, but we are going to San Francisco!:shock::shock:

Our holidays have been ill-fated all year, but there's a chance that this one might actually come through. We were due to go in April, but I had a pretty big operation on my back(ish, lol) and we had to postpone it. Then, we had a holiday to Kefalonia booked for late September, but I got Glandular Fever, ended up in hospital and was told I was in no fit state to fly (they were right as well lol). Then we had a couple of days in the Lake District, which were lovely but rushed due to only staying 2 nights, having one day there and the 4-5 hour drive either side, so we just ended up being more tired lol.

And THEN, all this week we have been thinking that we would have to cancel San Francisco because of Chalk's abscess, and then she had the surgery on Friday and wouldn't eat, and we've been SO worried and SO stressed over her... But it seems she's finally pulled through and is doing a lot lot better, and we have great care organised for her whilst we're gone.

So we're ACTUALLY going!!! :biggrin2:

We've booked this hotel:

http://www.parc55hotel.com/

It looks pretty nice! And central! We only booked it a couple of hours ago, and got a great deal with it being last minute!


There's still no end to our troubles though- we only found out this evening whils checking in online that the booking agency spelt my surname wrong so the tickets have my surname a letter out, which doesn't match up with my passport :? We called Virgin Atlantic and they were great about it, but at this time it's too late to change the details on the flight manifest!!! So they've apparently put a note 'on the screen' to let customs etc know :? It sounds scary to me. I just hope they let me fly!!

Anyway, I need to go and pack my little butt off :biggrin2: I will be around for a couple of hours yet, and then it's off to the airport at 3am (it's 22.55 here right now :shock::shock





anic:anic:anic:anic:anic:anic:anic:anic:anic:anic:anic:

 

[slavetoabunny]

Your hotel looks lovely! You can't go wrong staying on Union Square - lot's of action. I can't wait until you are on US soil - if you get bored, hop on over to Florida and visit the beach bunnies.

 

[Elf Mommy]

That sounds awesome!!! How incredibly exciting! I hope you have a marvelous time. I've got your news covered next weekend!

Minda

 

[BSAR]

Lucky!! That is a lovely hotel!

 

[mouse_chalk]

Thanks guys! I'm so excited now I know what's happening!

Just taking a quick break from packing to sit down for a few minutes. I've pretty much done it all apart from a couple of tops in the dryer and my hand luggage- got to bag up all those liquids etc etc- what a pain! :X

I've got 2 pairs of boots, one pair of heels and 3 pairs of flats for a week long trip- too much do you think? And 4 pairs of trousers, a skirt and 3 dresses? I'm not telling you how many tops... My weight allowance is 23kg though and I'm only at 19kg! :biggrin2: Room for some more shoes!

I've been up since 9am, our flight is at 9.30am, so that will make 24hrs straight being up. The flight is 11 hours, so that will make 35 hours being up. When we arrive in San Francisco it will be 8.30pm for us, but 12.30pm local time..... OMG WE'RE GOING TO DIE!!!! :shock::shock::shock:

I'm going to miss RO!!

 

[Maureen Las]

Have fun!!!!!
I was in San Francisco years ago.........
great place for a vacation!
You deserve it

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Remember one pair of sensible athletic shoes for climbing up all those huge hills!
And a rainbow T shirt

 

[undergunfire]

NorthernAutumn wrote:

Remember one pair of sensible athletic shoes for climbing up all those huge hills!
And a rainbow T shirt

hehehe!



Ohhh, Jen...you are coming sooooo close to me! Get to Arizona!!!

 

[mouse_chalk]

NorthernAutumn wrote:

Remember one pair of sensible athletic shoes for climbing up all those huge hills!
And a rainbow T shirt

:shock: I don't own any sensible shoes! LOL!!!

What's the rainbow t-shirt about? Is it one of those 'you'll see' things?

Thanks guys! Just over an hour til we leave! Steve has gone for some shut eye :X Whilst I am toiling away sorting out the fridge and writing instructions for meds etc!

Amy, meet me in the middle! :biggrin2: I'd love to meet you and your bunners!


Oh, I forgot to mention- as well as coming in every morning and feeding the buns, cleaning them out and letting them run around for around an hour or so, she is also going to clean my house! I didn't ask her to, she just offered! She's going to change the bedding, do some laundry, dust etc for me. How great is she? (takes back all the ranting I did at the beginning of the week)

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Rainbow= pride flag
You'll meet a rainbow range of sexualities in SF... probably one of the most liberal places you'll find!

ETA: my someday sister in law (simpler than explaining ) eloped with her husband to SF, and brought their little girl too. They danced the night away as newly weds. One of (my) Jen's favourite memories was her girl Tessa twirling around with two 70 year old lesbians... Fabulous people!

 

[undergunfire]

Jen...I wish we could meet in the middle! Work has us tied down, though .

If I think this is what NorthernAutumn is saying.....rainbow is the "color for gay people". You'll fit right in if you wear your rainbows .

:laughsmiley:

 

[slavetoabunny]

mouse_chalk wrote:

I'm going to miss RO!!

Your hotel may have a business center where you can log on. Hope you can check in with us. Have a great time!

 

[JadeIcing]

Have fun! As you know I have been crossing my fingers.

 

[mouse_chalk]

I'm in the most beautiful city and I just WANT TO CRY



Steve somehow managed to lose his wallet on the plane. We think it was stolen, since he had it when we boarded, and didnt move it the whole flight. Got the airline to search the plane and it's nowhere to be found

He had the dollars in his wallet, along with all of his cards etc.

So at the airport we figured I'd withdraw some dollars and pay for a taxi, and he could just transfer me what money he wanted to spend this week. Pain in the butt, but not the end of the world.

Well, it was! My card wont work over here for some reason. I tried every ATM in our terminal, and they all just said that my bank was unavailable.

We literally just sat in the airport for 2 hours, not knowing what to do, while I cried my eyes out.

Eventually my card worked in a rail ticket machine, and we got the train to the centre of San Francisco. Tried several more ATMs, all to no avail. Wandered round trying to find our hotel- we couldn't get a taxi with no money!! Eventually found out hotel. Did I mention it's POURING with rain here and the streets are flooded? We were soaked, lugging our suitcases round, after an 11 hour flight and no sleep the night before.

I have been up since 9am Sunday UK time. In the UK it's nearly 2am now. I've not slept that whole time, except for a few nodding minutes on the plane.

My bank think there may be a problem with my card- I have funds there! They're calling me back but short of ordering a new card (to send to me at home) there's nothing else they can do.

We thought we'd Western Union Money Transfer some money through Steve's mum or something. But NO! The UK office is closed for another 6 hours. We can't use the US office because we're not sending from the US. Lol.... We had it all figured out, there is a branch 5 minutes down the road...

We have not a single dollar, no way of getting any and are starving!

The only way we can eat tonight is to order the ludicrously expensive room service... (On the bright side, the hotel is amazingly nice- they upgraded our room and everyone has been so friendly and sympathetic about our bad luck!)


I really, really hope tomorrow turns out better, and we can get some cash!!

:bigtears::bigtears::bigtears::bigtears::bigtears::bigtears::bigtears::bigtears::bigtears:


Miss you all! But love America so far (just not the ATM's lol...)

 

[slavetoabunny]

OMG Jen!! This is horrible. Sometimes, the card companies just need to activate international usage. This is necessary due to fraud. I learned to call ahead of time and let them know I was traveling and there was never a problem.

 

[JadeIcing]

*hugs*

That is horrible. I hope it gets better.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Aw Jen... I'm so sorry the trip isn't going well right now...
Hugs to you...

Things will always turn out...:hug:

 

[mouse_chalk]

Well, it's sorted now I think! On the very off chance that we might find somewhere it worked, we went out and tried the cashpoint (ATM- must get used to saying that!) that had declined me earlier, and it WORKED!! WOOO!!! Now we actually have money, and we got to go out to eat some dinner!

I'm absolutely shattered now- it's close to 48 hours that I've been up for now- I was hearing funny things on the plane!

I just hope nothing else goes wrong for us lol- surely we're done with the bad luck now?

Alcatraz tomorrow if the weather is better And I'm making it my mission to go 24 hours without crying lol

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Eat some sushi for me while you're there, Jen!
Fabbo- food out there on the West Coast...
We need a picture of you on the famous streetcars too!

 

[gentle giants]

Oh no, that's awful! What a horrible thing to have happen when you are supposed to be relaxing and having fun. I'm so sorry you guys are having such a rough time. :hug: