December in San Francisco

12/10/2009

Tomorrow The Nancy and I are headed out to San Francisco for an extended weekend of fun and frolic – mostly fun.  My frolic is on the fritz.  Anyway, this trip is happening, it is going down, but thus far the planning of it (by me) could very easily be what is frequently described in the military as a “cluster fuck.”

I was supposed to attend a meeting near Los Angeles beginning this past Monday.  When I was told of the meeting dates about a month ago I immediately called my bride, who has never been there, and proposed she meet me Friday after the meeting in San Francisco.  The plan was to meet and spend two nights in San Francisco, a night in Napa, another in Sonoma and our last night back San Francisco near the airport.  Perfect!

I purchased a one-way ticket to LAX to attend the meeting, another one-way ticket from LAX to San Francisco timed to meet The Nancy when she arrived, and another from San Francisco back home.  I also purchased one for The Nancy from Dulles to San Francisco and a return on the same flight with me.

This is where the fun begins.  The first issue arose when The Nancy told me I had booked her a flight out of Dulles at 10:30 pm, not “am.” I changed it.  Then I realized I made my flight arrangements from LAX to San Francisco at 11:30pm, not “am” as I intended.  I changed it (only $69.00, but I had to toss the first ticket because it would have cost $150.00 to change it.) As luck would have it I got a call from my boss about ten days ago telling me the meeting was canceled, and since I made all my arrangements via one-way tickets and none was more than $130.00, I had to just let them go.  It would have cost more to change them or to cancel them then they were worth.  I bought a new ticket for me so I will travel with The Nancy all the way, which ain’t too bad, but I figure this min-vacation I had planned would cost us about $1000 is now up to about $1500.

This is our Christmas gift to one another.  It is just costing us 50% more than we planned.  That 50%, I am more than sure, will make it the best vacation ever, and I know it will be because I have found at least ten micro-breweries in and around San Francisco, Sonoma and Napa.  How bad can it be?

And that is all I have to say about that…