Highlights... and reflection

Tomorrow the time traveling begins again. We fly back to the future.
And because I haven't blogged much while away, I thought I would write a reflective blog today. (I really intended to blog more than I have, but you do have to admit I posted a lot of photo's via Facebook, so no one can really feel that neglected!)

Currently I am in Canada. But we'll get to that later. Let's do this in some sort of order?

For the bulk of this trip we were in Fairfax, Virginia and Washington, DC. Pretty sure you all know how I felt about that. (Yep, It's home.) So many things were right during this phase of the trip that it was EXTREMELY hard to leave Virginia. and yeah, the whole way to NYC on the train I wanted to go back.

I might have been quite vocal about it - especially when confronted with the utter crazy that is Penn Station and then Times Square. My advice - don't go to Times Square, it truly is hell. I would never stay there again, nice hotel or not! But once I got out of that god awful place, NYC was okay. I met some great people, that I would not have otherwise met.
During our first real day in NYC, William Freedman came to visit and took us into the subway and to The Strand bookstore. It wasn't so scary.
Thanks to The Mysterious Bookshop and Sara J. Henry. our first real  night in the dreadful city was okay- and greatly improved after a few drinks - okay, maybe more than a few. But it wasn't so bad. :) I still need to send photos to Sara so she can tell me who I met!! Come on, a room full of writers... the terror of such a small space so crammed with writers. We're lucky I could remember my own name.
Day 2: Sara and I went to Greenwich. We had lunch at Fiddlesticks. We visited her books in a bookshop. :)

That night - dinner was at Carmine's with  Lorenza Ponce. Dinner was fun. Really fun. We drank red wine, we ate, we laughed, and Admin Bubbles blew out a candle on birthday bread pudding. (She'll never forget that birthday, huge hugs to Lorenza for making it so memorable!) So Lorenza has been warned that Breezy will be making video again, once I get home... yeah, I bought her a video camera while I was in Virginia.

Flying out of La Guardia - flights were delayed due to storms and fog. I wanted to go south. The thought of being stuck in Montreal over night (no one was sure if the plane would take-off and if we'd make connecting flights) was horrendous. With no internet access it was kinda hard to let anyone know what was going on. we got to Saint John, late but we got there.

When I get home I will fill you in on the rest of the trip. And there will be some in depth blogs about Virginia and the things we did there and in DC.

At sometime during the trip killerbyte drifted back up to #2 on Mobipocket suspense/thriller list. Not sure where it is now, but for the most of the trip it was #2. Gotta love it.

More later...

Love you long time x

Wednesday in NYC

So last night was fun - who'd have thunk it? Obviously not me. But it was. I got to meet some very nice people. I got to put faces to the names I see on Twitter. And that was just downright cool.

Today was hungover.

Sara dragged me out of the hotel and into the Subway. It was less scary. We went to a book store in Greenwich then had lunch at Fiddlesticks.
Nice.
Sitting outside, eating lunch, and talking. Very Nice!

Then we walked the 30  blocks back to the hotel, had coffee, played with Twitter, hung out.
Rose and Megan came home.
Sara left to have a rest before a party tonight.

I pretty much blobbed on the sofa and half-heartedly wrote a scene I was working on earlier. Discovered I missed a few calls and text messages. Lorenza got us an earlier booking for Carmines tonight. Awesome!!

Finally managed to get ready and am reasonably presentable and ready for Italian food and more red wine.

All in all a pretty good day, in a city I know I'll never see again.

Today I have managed to not be Irish. No telling how long I can keep this up though... I hear the voice in my head. (Jesus mother Mary, is says loudly at everything I think!)

There are some fuc'n awful photos of me from last night, and no, I won't be posting them.
There is also video, and no, again!

Hope you're all having a good day.

Looks like we are missing an impressive storm in Fairfax... bugger!!!

But Sara took photos today and one of those might be okay!

I promised a blog...

And I regret it. Because quite frankly I don't have anything to say, that you haven't already heard.

So to re-cap. I love Virginia. I adore DC. Not so fond of NYC. (feel free to jump down my throat and try to convince me otherwise, but first impressions people - a city that smells like urine and is filthy - No!! and I didn't even mention the scary people lurking near Penns Station.)

Here's some pretty pictures of Virginia...

Burnside's Bridge

Gallows Road

Harper's Ferry.

Today we started out about 9 a.m. Exeye, me and both Admins on a road trip... Exeye was driving. What started out as a cold rainy day, ended up in very warm and sunny.

For a while there I wondered if X and I were the only ones having fun. I love cemeteries (as most of you no doubt know) - so any chance to wander through old cemeteries is great for me. Even better if there are wild violets under foot. Hanging out where dead people live = fun for me.

When the entire day settles into some semblance of order I will write a more in depth blog. A lot of today will end up in a book or two. Gotta feeling Ellie loves battle fields and history too.

Meanwhile here's some pictures:

I've seen so many violets as I've wandered through cemeteries. You really have to know me well to grasp the significance of violets and the dead.

Today

we were here:

Yeah that's right.

I know it may not be terribly helpful but it's as good as it's going to get tonight. :)








Maybe tomorrow I will manage a blog??

Apparently it's Tuesday.

Yes, Tuesday... was a busy day.

We started at Rosslyn - (the A on the map) and wandered about doing stuff until we reached G. Turns out it's over 10 miles of wandering about... which makes it 16 + km.

Awesome!

And the best bit... we kept coming across cool stuff, so none of us noticed how far we'd walked.

Hello, Starbucks on M!







Last night we went out to Texas De Brazil with X. Truly groovacious. Great meal, really fun company. Now the hockey game on Saturday afternoon is a no go, so we're free to travel the Shenandoah Valley with X. If indeed he's free. lol

Currently - we're drinking. Admin One is watching some Discovery channel program about crabs (catching them and no not rude ones... the kind you eat.). Admin Bubbles is iPad 2ing and looking for a condom thing to put on her iPad. :) Yep, that's how it is here... very very strange!

And it's been pointed out that the only other tall glass leaks. *Shrugs*

:)

Hope y'all have had a good day. We sure as hell have.

Nope no way to work Mark Valley into this blog... dang! lol

Inspiration comes in many forms...

Just lately it's followed two episodes of Human Target.

Tonight was especially productive. Three thousand words - while the Admins slept. Yay for the USB light that Action Man bought me. It works well. I can see to work, and Admins can still sleep. Soothed by the sound of my fingers on the keyboard. (Either it's soothing or giving them nightmares, either way - they're asleep... possibly having very warped dreams due to this tapping noise. lol)

So y'all know that Ellie talks to dead people, yeah? (as evident in Exacerbyte - actually more just dead person, rather than people!)
Well she's just discovered that she talks to live people that aren't there too... how fun is that? Or does she? We may never know. What we do know is that she has a very clever mind. Tonight was fun. Work was FUN.
Today was fun.

Sensing a theme?

Yeah, it's fun.

So here's some pictures:

This one amused the hell out of me. It's kinda an inside joke that spanned several years... trust me it's hilarious.

And this is just pretty - and a very enjoyable walk.












Oh dear God someone is snoring!

Last pic for today:

Let's see how clever y'all think you are...

Which handbag belong to which person.

Your choices:
Admin Covert (Bubbles)
Admin Spy (One)
Me

At this point I should tell you that I am the only one who had a handbag before a shopping crazy moment in Macy's. (And it was new wallets all round too.)
Guess away people... make me proud.

Can I be shagged blogging?

Well, not really!

Been way too busy working to be worrying about blogging.

Hope you're all doing okay... we're fine over here.

Have been many amusing moments. Admins now have new names. "Admin Covert and Admin Spy." One day we'll tell the story behind that.

Had fabulous fun meeting Stella (A.S. King) and Exeye (Not telling you his name, it's secret.... just like the squirrel). Would post a picture but - no. You'll have to wait until I get home and actually physically be present at my house for that.

Admin Spy just informed me how long it takes to cook ravioli - three drinks. And we would like to inform you that "Drinking while cooking kills" - this safety message was brought to you by FF Chambers. (Admin Covert)

Will not be sending any boxes home. Fuck UPS.
We will be buying an extra suitcase and paying the excess baggage charge!! Way fuc'n cheaper... That is what we learned today.

Well dinner is served... take care out there.

PS. I found some real cheddar today!!! It's just like home, NOT orange. :)

Washington DC - day one

Today we headed into DC for the first time this trip.

Bus, then rail.

We got off at the Metro. Tomorrow we'll take the train to the Smithsonian - which is where we ended up today, then caught the train back from the Federal Triangle.

Fabulous day. VERY VERY hot and humid. (Not a fan of humidity and hot winds, but it was still a wankalicious day.)
Had to buy a tee shirt, as was wearing a long sleeve tee and light jacket - so not going to work for walking around DC in the heat.
We even saw the President's cavalcade heading home to the White House as we were walking over to the monument. Man it was windy up there... my hat tried to blow away, and the serviettes in my bag (from our hot dog stop by the White House blew right out of my bag and were gone within seconds.)

Admin One became official photographer - my camera batteries died. (We still haven't got more batteries.) And Admin Bubbles camera died on the train! (or was it the bus? lol)

We all had a great time. Bought tee shirts, and stuff for the girls. And Squealer if you're reading this... a very cool tee shirt for you and Breezy and pins too!

Updated to include:

Dinner? Well, really no surprise but we went over to Champs again. Was fabulous. Admin One remembered the word Admin bubbles came up with the other night - Bubblelicious.

Jim -- if you are reading this - Blackberry Margaritas! Truly delicious. :D

We left a Sheep shagger pen and a kiwi pen with Hunter and Ritchie at Champs. Cos that's how we roll.

Tired now. Still really hot outside.

Stay tuned for tomorrows DC adventure.

Admin One and me. It was HOT.

Friday/Saturday/some of Sunday

Yes this is me playing catch up... so you're getting three days at once, and let's hope I remember everything.
Quite honestly there is a good chance I won't.

Friday started early - we wandered over the Fair Oaks Mall for coffee well before the mall stores actually opened. Was quite nice actually... meant we could have a look around without lots of people. Coffee was the best I've had in Virginia. (But in all fairness there isn't a shit load of competition - and some of the coffees we've had were more like colored water...YUCK.)
Not entirely sure what we did for five hours in the mall on Friday... but we did 5 hours in the mall. That's pretty impressive. We have started a store card collection.
(whoops forgot the rest of Thursday... this is how that went, arrived at hotel about 10 pm - ordered pizza - ate pizza - went to sleep)
We wandered further afield. Up to Safeway. That was less than exciting but necessary... except we kinda bought junk food. Oh well, we are on vacation!
Friday night we ate leftover pizza and slept!

Saturday: we slept in. Bill called from New York. I washed my hair then had the fun of drying it... hair dryer kept over-heating and it's a tad gutless. Took quite a while and was just annoying really. We did eventually go over to the mall. I bought some things for Action Man. And sneakers for us! It's not good walking in fabulous boots... sneakers so much more sensible. Then we hiked up Fairfax County Pkwy to Fair Lakes shopping center - on the way we dropped into the Whole Food market on Market Commons Dr - interesting. Went to Dick's and got some cool stuff for the Boy Wonder. Then carried on up the road... Toys are Us was fun - got some cool stuff for Squealer and Breezy. Then we gave up and walked back to the hotel. Did a wonderful 8 miles of walking.

Despite 8 miles of walking, I didn't get much sleep last night. Was pretty shit actually. Admin Bubbles didn't sleep very well either.

As I write this - Admin One is asleep and Admin Bubbles is reading Exacerbyte.

Today we walked up to the NRA Museum. It's quite a walk. We did walk along Shirley Gate Rd - I wanted to head over to Park Dr, but gave up at Lee hwy! I'm not crossing that!!

Then it was a walk back to Barnes and Noble for more weak coffee. :)  And back to the hotel.

The day is not done... but we may well be.

PART TWO - the Spoof

So we arrived in SFO... we met the lovely Joe... and we discussed how awesome AirNZ is, correct?

The next joyful experience was NOT.

We boarded a United airline flight to DC.

Five hours of hell.

Yep, United don't understand service, smile, or well.... anything really. They're shit. From the moment we sat down - Admin Bubbles two rows behind me, Admin Rose two behind her... we knew it was gonna be shit.
The plane was a tin can with wings.
I was between two large men who were incapable of speech. The crew were nothing more than bar staff who couldn't pour a drink. None of their uniforms matched. They were incapable of taking control of anything, that included passengers... and they didn't know how to smile! I actually wondered if any of them could speak.

Stark contrast really.

AirNZ crew were awesome - fun, entertaining, welcoming.

So back to the hell flight. My first impression? Spoof airline. I mean seriously what airline could actually get everything wrong? well that would be United.

The airplane was nothing more than a tin cans with seats. Five hours of NOTHING TO DO. No personal TV screen, no headphones, no way of seeing the screen at the front of the main cabin... and no food! We did get orange juice or coffee. Both of which could've had help by a/ real oranges and b/ actual coffee beans.
It's not like we were offered food. But they were more than willing to sell snack boxes at ridiculously high prices - but no cash thanks we want your credit card... ummm... go fuck yourself!

Now I know what cattle class actually is.

We will never again fly United Airlines. The plane was in serious need of a refit and the crew needed training in... how to crew an airplane and not  - how to serve drinks poorly.

And the hell didn't end upon landing. I think Dulles must be punishing United for being so shit cos they made us  use carousal 3. Two escalators down one train ride, one escalator up and a long walk later we met carousal three.

Okay, admittedly it's a lovely airport but I didn't really need to see so much of it after such a shit plane trip. :)

Thank God the cab ride to our hotel was quick.

And tomorrow... Day one Virginia... and maybe day two. :)

Day One: How we got here

We're almost human today (which is our first full day in Fairfax, VA)... not bad considering how long we were traveling yesterday and well, yesterday. Thursday was a seriously LONG day, we did Thursday twice we liked it so much.

So, here's the blog I hand wrote yesterday on the United Airline flight from San Francisco to Dulles, Washington.

True to form traveling is never as straight forward as it seems. With that in mind, let's start at the beginning. Yeah?
WGTN-AKL - trouble free.
We on-checked our luggage to DC from Wellington to make things easier in Auckland - we also had all our boarding passes, so it made it easier all round.
We arrived in Auckland and discovered we should've boarded our international flight already.... hmmm... not clever. Luckily we didn't have to worry about our bags! So it was a fast trot across to the international airport. FAST trot. No time to piss around waiting for shuttles.
THEN we waited. Not boarding? NOPE.
There was a discrepancy between the flight times on our itinerary and the times on the ticket.
We did board, however... we just weren't late as the ticket suggested.
The flight although rough in patches (we hit a three hour stretch of turbulence but it was actually fun) was an Air NZ flight, so therefore - comfortable, entertaining and crewed by people who were fun, chatty, and genuinely seemed happy to be there. (This is important for part two - so remember who awesome Air NZ is)
We three sat together.
I watched Toy Story 3 (well most of it) and then Salt, and an episode of Big Bang Theory. I played a few games and listened to music. Rose and Megan watched movies, TV, played games and listened to music too. It was awesome. We had personal screens and headphones etc so could watch whatever we wanted without disturbing each other.
We arrived fifteen minutes early at SFO.
Immigration provided an awesome opportunity to plug all three books - while I was finger printed and photographed. All good fun.

Then it was off to locate our bags and drop them off at the next check in. That was easy.
This is where is all turns pear shaped.
There was a little man at the bottom of an escalator assuring us that we needed to go UP to United to make our connecting flight.
Rose thought otherwise. Little man was insistent. Up we went.
Through security we went.
At the end of this - after THREE different people had looked at, read, and approved our boarding passes and passports we found duty free stores. Funny thing to have, right? We're not traveling Internationally now - the connecting flight was internal. And what do ya know... our flight isn't on the board. It showed purely international flights.
Rose ducked into the toilet. Megan I and looked at a vending machine full of electronic geek gorgeousness and discussed how we were in the WRONG terminal.

My instincts kicked in. What do you do when you're lost? Find a cop of course.

Enter Joe Finigan.
(Who rocks by the way!) I asked for help... and instead of just pointing us to the right direction, Joe checked where we should be and walked us there. He then checked with the gate that it was our flight and found out when it was boarding. AND took us to Peet's for coffee.
So within minutes of landing and getting lost in SFO - we'd met ourselves a really nice cop and had coffee bought for us.
I tell ya, Virginia needs to up it's game... San Francisco has set the bar high!
So - we have pictures. I have Joe's email address and phone number - because you never know when you'll need a go to guy in the SFPD. Nothing like a smiley cop to make us feel right at home and make our day.
(And btw kiwi's - the Glock on his hip did not make him unapproachable at all - something to keep in mind when considering the arming of NZ police. Personally I would sooner have armed police than to continue this worrying pattern of attacks on police. They protect us, they need to be able to protect themselves too. *steps off soap box*)

It's a shame we're not flying out of SFO - we would've all loved to spend more time with Joe. He's interesting and quite the gentleman.

So there you have it... our arrival part one.

Part two (SFO -IAD) to follow tomorrow... just remember how awesome Air NZ is. Tomorrow I'll tell y'all the horror of United Airlines! (Thank God, we're flying home on AirNZ!!)