Go West, Southern Girl! Part One

I must begin this post with a confession. Travel is not one of my strong suits. I adore the travel channel because it's the closest thing I get to a vacation. There are many reasons for this. I'm a workaholic. Big time. I'm the mother of a toddler who loves his routine. Big time. I'm married to a man that doesn't particularly like to do the tourist thing, and our ideas of vacation couldn't be more opposite. One of the downsides to our relationship. But I digress.

This past week, I got the opportunity to attend a conference for work. I went to San Francisco. My first ever trip to California. I was only there for 3 days, but I gathered a lot of blogging material!

I caught a cold right before I left town. Nothing major, just a general nuisance. I made a very painful discovery, though. When an airplane descends from its cruising altitude, havoc is wreaked on already swollen and painful sinuses. A searing, sharp, intense pain cut down my face and neck on four different occasions as I made my way there and back home again. Good times. I've been home for 3 days, and my ears are still popping and crackling as though Rice Krispies have set up housekeeping in their canals.

I also learned the meaning of jet lag. I traveled across 3 times zones. I know it's child's play for many people, but you have to remember I've never done this. I arrived home at 9pm Thursday night, and I had a to be at a meeting in Kentucky (an hour and fifteen minutes from my house) at 7am Friday morning. It is now Sunday. I still haven't recovered. Well, there is the little matter of the cold, and another female inconvenience that I will not elaborate on, as it's unladylike enough that I even mentioned it all. I'm one tired belle!

I saw some really amazing things, though, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to go. I was there with two of my co-workers. They're from Georgia. Three Southern girls out on their own! I will elaborate further in additional posts to come.

As for San Francisco, I made a little game of identifying jobs that would guarantee you could make a living there, based on my observations. In no particular order, here they are:

1. Hairstylist. It gets way windy there! The three of us had what we thought were wind-defying hairsprays in our arsenals, but not one of them survived the streets of San Fran!

2. Brake mechanic. Hills of the roller-coaster variety lend themselves to some cars in need of frequent brake jobs.

3. Orthopedic surgeon. Walking those hills are hard on the knees. And a lot of people are walking there. Knee replacement, anyone?

4. Back pack sales. Seemed like all the locals carried one. Why? It's warm in the morning, and windy and chilly at night. Hence the need to carry a coat and a place to put it as you traverse the roller coaster hills.

5. Coat and scarf sales. Something us Southern folk rarely need and I really didn't expect to be so popular on the west coast. But that October wind is really cold!

This isn't the best of the Go West posts, but I had to start somewhere. Stick around because the best is yet to come!