RWA Day 1

Day 1 wasn't really RWA. Day 1 was flying, and sitting, and flying, and running through the airport, dragging Lisa behind me, because of being this > < close to departure time for our last leg to Oakland. Which was late. So, not unexpectedly when you have two layovers, we got to the hotel well after 11:00 p.m. We didn't sleep until 4:00 a.m. Eastern. Yay, good start against the jetlag!

Our flight wasn't supposed to be so long. When we booked them, she was flying from Boston to Atlanta, where I'd join her for the flight to Oakland. But Delta added a stop in Salt Lake City.

And let me tell you, I am so glad they did!

Usually when I fly somewhere, it's on the east coast. I haven't been to California since I was 9, and haven't been any further west than Dallas since then, either. So while there are some minor differences when I fly over terrain--Texas is flatter, Georgia has bigger driveways--everything looks pretty much the same.

That is SO not true of Utah!

The mountains, and plateaus, and lakes, and whatever those dark spots are that are evenly spaced between rises and look like they have roads to them and are either small bodies of water or gigantic homes...those are all cool enough. But MAN, is the area around Salt Lake City gorgeous! It's like a different planet, one of those fantasy concoctions, with mountains right up against the lake, and salt everywhere, and even the more familiar agrarian areas laid out in humongous squares instead of little plots.

As we circled for our approach, the sun dipped below the cloud cover and shone brilliantly red, reflected on the lake, with enough beauty to crack even my unsentimental, icy heart. I got out my camera--and immediately dropped it, causing the beauty to become second only to my fear that the camera was sliding all over the plane every time it banked. (It didn't, but I lamented every minute I couldn't take pictures of gorgeousness).

I fly through LA instead of Salt Lake City on the way home. Yay.

We took a cab from Oakland's airport to SF. I'm not really a city person, and tend to think they all look alike. As we drove past downtown Oakland, the cabbie pointed it out like a really interesting landmark. I was "eh." It looked just like Dallas.

But San Francisco is definitely unique (that's the main reason I wanted to come!). As you cross the Bay Bridge at night, you can see the crookedy, hilly streets illuminated on either side of the (okay, common-looking) downtown area. The view didn't last long, a benefit of coming in so damned late--traffic was awesomely light.

So Day 1, I saw Lisa Mondello and new author Tracy Madison (the cause of our very late bedtime) and did nothing else.

Stay tuned for Day 2's much more interesting awesomeness!