At least, it makes sense to me. And in this blog? It's really all that matters.
For having 24,000 people and their C.R.E.W.s there, it could have been a class-A royal cluster. Instead, it was amazingly and wonderfully well-organized. The lines we stood in were thankfully short and well-manned. In fact, the biggest snafu was self-inflicted.
Heather and I arrived at about 10:30 a.m. the day before at the BART station. From there, we knew it was a fifteen or twenty minute easy walk to the hotel I had booked. Laughing and toting our bags and shoes, we set out. We were meeting my little sisters from Chi Omega there and then we were all going to trundle on to the Expotique.
The neighborhood got shadier as we walked on. Not shadier as in shade, but shadier as in bars on windows, fewer women, fewer...sober, non-drug-dealer-crackhead-esque people. I didn't say anything as we kept on. Then we came in sight of the hotel.
Which was not a hotel.
It as a motel.
With no bars, when all of the other buildings had bars. And by "lobby" they really meant a speaker in a plastic window in the parking lot. I could not envision the lovely pictures of lobby, dining area and lush, if aged halls that were on the website.
It was less than ideal.
"Is that it?" Heather asked, skeptically.
"I think so." I replied dubiously. "Siobhan's going to kill me."
Not that she really would. But the tension I felt in my sinking stomach would have been vividly marked across her expressive features. The dismay that crept into Heather's tone would have been visible in the line of her posture.
I was nervous. My littles would be nervous. It all boded for a sleepless night.
After checking on when check in was, Heather and I agreed to head to the Expotique. Lingering on the border of the Tenderloin of San Fransisco (which might has well have been dead center if you asked me), was not our idea of a good time.
On the way there, we kept saying to ourselves, "Okay...we'll be okay...but..." in highly skeptic and wary tones.
We started poking our heads into hotels as we moved in the direction of Union Square. Most were fully booked. We encountered one or two that had small beds which would not suffice for four young women. Finally, we encountered a J.W. Marriott that had a king-sized bed and would provide a rollaway at no extra charge (a good thing considering the already-exorbitant cost of the room). We called Siobhan and Vanessa and presented our options.
They heartily agreed that switching our lodgings was a good idea.
That settled, we checked in and Heather and I enjoyed our plush suite for a few minutes until the other girls arrived. Then we all happily head out to the Expotique to pick up our race packets and enjoy the little tidbits and swag that they threw our way.
Luckily, the City of Fog was smiling on us, and it was a beautiful, sunny day. There was some fun stuff to be had, and my good friend Robert joined us for the afternoon. Us girls knew that the real swag was to be had the next day.
Which is where I leave you for now.
Ciao,
kc
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