Travel Day

I'm in California! And man was it a process. As far as flights are concerned it was one of the less annoying actually, but the process of going to the airport, checking in luggage (and paying for it), getting through security to the gate, boarding, flying (with no water unless you want to pay $2 for it), deboarding, finding your way to the next gate (which in Atlanta is a process in itself) while lugging everything you didn't want thrown around the bottom of the airplane through the airport (which in this case was quite substantial), sitting for 3 hours while you flight is delayed (thankfully I had my computer so I could entertain myself), boarding again, flying (this time you got water), deboarding again, finding your way to baggage and getting your bags (which amazingly enough were actually there).

Then the fun began. As I was walking out of the gate in San Francisco I was spinning my rings on my finger because my hands were cold and I thought 'oh, I need to remember to leave these at the hotel when I go diving tomorrow because my hands are going to be super cold then and I don't want to lose them', then I thought ' I hate taking my rings off because I inevitably have a moment where I panic and wonder where they are, and if we don't change at the hotel I won't be able to get them again', and then I thought 'I'm sure we'll change at the hotel, I don't want to have to pack all my diving stuff and pack clothes to change into and try to keep them dry on the dive boat', and then I thought 'oh, my God, I didn't pack my swimsuit'.

Now that may not seem like a scary thought to some people, but to someone who it supposed to dive the next morning, it's a bit unsettling. Before I could really do anything about it I had to go find my luggage and get my rental car. So, off I went, got my luggage and followed the signs to the rental car place which involved going, down a set of stairs, across a parking lot, up an elevator, across a road, up a set of stairs, down a loading area, into a train, and then into the rental car terminal. All the while I'm thinking of all the various ways I can deal with the fact that the next day I'm going to be diving with people from work, which means I feel a little more self conscience about what I'm wearing, and I don't have a swimsuit.

Once I finally got my car, I then needed to maneuver my way out of San Francisco and south to Monterey. At one point as I was trying to follow faded green signs to 101 South I started hysterically laughing at myself because I'm sitting at a stop light after having made one U turn already in my trip, wondering if I can make a right turn on red in California, and wondering if I'm even going the right way. I finally get onto 101, which for those of you who have not been there is a 12 lane highway. YES, 12 lanes people. So, I'm driving, and of course it's dark and it starts to rain. And all I want to do is a) find a swimsuit, b) find something to eat and c) get a map of California. I feel better when I have a map, even when I have directions, it's just not the same as actually seeing the road that I am on listed on the map. I figured I would wait until the road narrowed down and became less busy and then I would find a place to stop...right, then I remember I was in California. About an hour later when it was still an 8 lane highway I gave up on waiting for it to narrow down and started looking in earnest for things on the side of the road. Eventually I saw a Target and the off ramp looked pretty easy, so I took my chances and exited.

If you want to make someone laugh, go into a Target in November and ask them where their swimsuits are. Of course they don't carry them, why would they! So, I made my way to the exercise section of Target and picked out the most unrevealing lycra sports bra I could, and then to the underwear section to pick out some lycra boyshort underwear. There weren't even running shorts or pants so, underwear it was. So, yes the next day I got to stand in front of two guys I work with on a regular basis in underwear. Sweet. At that point I was over caring. So I found myself some food in the grocery section, looked for a map, but they didn't have one, paid, and headed back on my way.

I got to Monterey in one piece, found the hotel, dropped my stuff in the corner and went to bed. Granted it was only 9:00 there, but it was midnight as far as my body was concerned and I had just had quite the day!