California Trip Part 1

I've not been able to update as often becuase when I got back from my trip to CA, work just kind of exploded! So on top of pregnancy appointments and work and trying to visit family and trying to keep our home orderly, the blog fell by the wayside.

Before I get started, just a quick PG update (that is pregnancy, not a rating system!)... I had my first visit with my regular OB this week, and she was very pleased with my progress. I got to hear Peanut's heartbeat on the doppler (which is like a high tech stethescope on my belly). It was amazing to say the least!! Totally reassuring, and a good stroke of luck to hear it this early. The majority of women don't hear it until their 11th or 12th week, and I was just under 10 weeks. I am glad Peanut is growing, but hope this doesn't mean I'll be giving birth to an 11lb baby!!

So the trip to California...... exhausting but really fun. Saw so much and experience a lot. I'm going to post more pictures than "stories", but have to talk about my run in with royalty. Or at least the closest thing to royalty that I'll ever experience! But the women's conference I attended the one day had former Prime Minister Tony Blair as one of the guest speakers. His talk was very empowering, and quite interesting. After his speech, we had a break. I went out to the car with a few of my co-workers; we were dropping off some things and walking back towards the auditorium. We saw a cluster of people walking in a group, all in suits. I instantly recognized the pink tie that Mr. Blair was wearing, and we all stopped in our tracks and whipped out the cell phone for pictures!

Well, one of my co-workers was brave enough to ask his secret-service men if we could snap a photo. The man looked at Tony Blair unsure, and Mr. Blair spoke up and said "Sure, but would you like to be in the picture with me?". Well, I think not even a full second elapsed before we all let out a well synchronized "YES!"

It was really cool to shake his hand, thank him for his inspiring words, and wish him good luck in his future endeavors. Personally, I was so tongue tied and star struck I think I didn't manage more than a few sentences, but it was still awesome!


This trip to Long Beach (where the conference is) we stayed not in a regular hotel, but in a floating one - upon the Queen Mary. And I have to admit, while the idea of this seemed cool, compounded by the fact that it one of the most haunted places and it was nearing Halloween, it was surprisingly disappointing. Call me a hotel snob, but traveling for work has gotten me used to free Internet, rooms that have been updated prior to 1950, and more importantly, a normal way to flush to toilet. Updated plumbing is not over-rated by this traveler!

See the white knob sticking out of the wall above the toilet - well, that is how you flush the toilet. Except that you have to push all your body weight onto the thing becuase it is so hard to move! I have no idea how these little people in the 1930's did this. Oh, and the 4 knobs in the bathoom shower - one is for hot fresh water, another for hot salt water, a third for cold fresh water, and the last for cold salt water. Can you say mix-your-own-shower? Weird...

Here's my room - people could totally see in through the windows from the outside parking lot, so I had to draw the curtains making it even darker in there!!

No ghostly encounters or even weird feelings upon being aboard. Though there are some really spooky parts of the ship! One of the things I found most unsettling was the maze to get from the main areas to the passenger rooms (pics below). Aside from the bad carpeting which was spotty and outdated, and the heavy wood paneling everywhere, I just kept expecting to round the corner and see a scene from the movie "The Shining" take place. It wasn't hard to envision those twin girls standing there saying "Red Rum!" or the little boy riding his tricycle through the halls. Just plain creepy!

Totally creepy hallways!!! RED RUM!

I did take a haunted tour of the ship; while I had hoped it would be a walking tour full of history and info about ghosts sitings, it was sadly just a haunted house on board the ship. So way more hokey than factual. But I did get to see some of the places that regular passengers do not get to see - being 36ft below sea level in the hull of the ship was downright creepy! It was dark and large and scary!


The first morning of my stay, I woke up early to shower and prep for the conference. I went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Well, not even 3 seconds later a loud booming voice comes over the room (via speakers) "Emergency! Emergency! You must evacuate the ship!" My instant thought is "Good lord, what did I do?! I just wanted a shower!" So I grab my wedding rings, jewelry and purse and leave immediately. In the hall, I run into my coworker who is pretty much as panicked as I am. (Funny that we're acting like the ship is going down, but yet it is docked!) We have no idea what could be happening, and now the fire doors are shutting, trapping us in the maze. And oh, by the way, while my co-worker is in her work clothes, I am in my PJs!! That's not embarrassing....


So we all assembled at the registration desk, and there are only about 5 other people. I'm thinking that there HAS to be more than 7 of us on board, but where is everyone? Am I dreaming? Well, some had even gone outside to the parking lot! Turns out that the smoke from the CA wildfires south in San Diego had set off the smoke alarms, but the ship never issued an update that it was a false alarm.... Ugh.....


More on the CA trip later, with prettier pictures of Napa and the CA coast from my travels.