Plan B

We took the kids out of school before spring break so we could make the flights. That's the thing when you go space available, you have to go before or after the big days. It's easy to predict the big days around here since the only big thing going for this town is the university. Hence, leaving a few days before spring break.

We flew to San Francisco because it looked like we would have a good chance of getting first class (called Business Elite on Delta). We did not plan on the plane being weight critical and full of cargo (produce) going to Japan. We didn't make it on the flight we intended to get on. Huge disappointment. I think they let 3 non revenue standbys get on. The next two days looked good for getting to Japan but then the flights to Taiwan were oversold. It turned out there was a holiday in Taiwan. Argghhh. So, we did a plan B. We stayed in Northern California a few days and saw Pete's friends and the beautiful coast. Seriously, if it weren't for all the people, Northern California would be to die for. But, the people are at least friendly. I was struck with how nice they were to strangers. I miss that.

We stayed two nights with a friend of Pete's from high school. You might remember him. We flew to Brazil for his wedding. They now live in Northern California and have two boys. Our son enjoyed having a kid to play with.

I got to see (and drive over) the Golden Gate Bridge. And we rode the cable cars in San Francisco. Not bad for Plan B.

We then drove down the coast through Carmel and on to Monterrey. We stayed there two nights and went to the Monterrey Aquarium. Another hit according to the kids. But the highlight for the kiddos was probably the empty beaches where we could look for all kinds of things. To hear the water and birds was just what we needed. We even found a huge, beautiful Abalone shell!

Pete needed to be back home by March 3rd, so we decided that the kids and I would try to go on to Taiwan. So, we were only going to be there for 3 days, but it would be worth it.

More to come...