USA trip

April 9th 2008. San Francisco

It is time to visit the county where all of my guests come from: the US of A. My last visit was in 2002, when I visited many travel agents and some of my previous guest, this time only previous clients are on my travel schedule. Mind you, over 60 % of my guests are word of mouth referrals, so that’s where I put my energy and expense.
After a 3 hour delay I arrive in San Francisco (SFO airport), and I experience a refreshing difference from my last experience at LAX. This time no cues, no lengthy check ups and no digging in suitcases. Just a walk thru from the plane to the shuttle. Didn’t even had to open my laptop. Outside it is surprisingly cool here for the time of the year? (50s F) with a stiff breeze.
Relax for the afternoon, and a meal at the Hungry Hunter around the corner of La Quinta Hotel. Get used to American meals: salad first, bread, water and large portions of everything. Also, speed is a factor. No time to quietly sit and ponder for a while. One AM flights, the CalTrain and the next door cool houses creating some noise throughout a restless night.

April 10th 2008. San Francisco.

This day will be drafted in the history books for the big day of confusion in the worldwide Olympics Torch Relay. I took the BART to downtown, and walked along the Embarcadero towards where the torch was supposed to start from. Since I was early enough, people were gathering along the road behind the set up gates, and enormous amounts of police in any way shape or form were gathering around. Waiting at an intersection, many pro Tibet protesters were congregating, and an escorted bus turned the corner-all the protesters jumped on that bus and stopped it. The bus was empty – or perhaps it had the torch in it (under the seats??) Even now we don’t know for sure, because due to all the protests, the entire route was changed and changed again.
I went for lunch at Pier 39 and luckily missed most of the commotion and the many disappointed people who were waiting and did not get to see the torch because of the different route.

April 11th. 2008. Los Angeles.

Daytrip to Los Angeles for presentation and update at Tourism New Zealand. This time, check in at the airports is more strenuous; shoes off, laptop out etc. and the ticketing is all ‘punch it in yourself’
A little delay for my United flight –not as bad as American Airlines who have huge problems with cancelled flights. Darrell, an old friend of Joan’s who lives in LA meet me at the airport and drives me to the meeting with Tourism New Zealand in Santa Monica after we have lunch. At the meeting we exchange information; I present our update and hear about some of the trends. We also explore the new possibilities for us with the new flights from Canada direct into Auckland. On the way back to LAX Darrell shows me his beautiful hillside house (5 rooms 6 bathrooms- one person) just outside Santa Monica, actually within Los Angeles. Many ‘celebrities’ reside in that area. On the way back to LAX I took some pictures of the 2 x 8 lane highway which was very busy. A long line at security where extra details were looked at. There was also a sort of check-up point driving onto the airport, which indicated they had something going on. I managed to rebook the return flight an hour earlier than planned however when everyone was loaded onto the plane and sitting down, they discovered that there was no pilot and co-pilot-oops. So, and hour later after waiting in the plane, we took off back to San Francisco. Altogether a long but successful day.

April 12th. 2008. Redwood City (San Francisco peninsula)
Catching up on work in the morning, and planning to travel by train to Redwood City, however I changed my mind about the train and had the cab drive me. Had a look around in Los Altos and later in the afternoon met up with potential guests. They are planning to visit New Zealand next January for a three week custom tour. Tonight I will stay with Joan and David, previous guests from a custom tout a year or so ago. We have a great dinner at the Woodland Pub.

April 13th. 2008. ATLANTA

After Joan and David drop me off at SFO, I fly to Atlanta, Georgia. From the air the area looks very flat and green and in the midst of the flat a few clusters of skyscrapers popping up in the distance. Late arrival at the hotel. Disruptive day
Due to loosing 3 hours (time difference)

April 14th. 2008. ALEXANDER CITY

Ralph picks me up from the hotel and we catch up on the drive from Atlanta to Alexander City. Ralph and Allyn were on our custom tour in 2006 and we cast our thoughts back and talk about any changes. At 5 PM Allyn and Ralph have invited some 25 plus friends whoa re interested in travel (and New Zealand) I do a lot of talking and ‘selling’ We’ll follow up with the people most interested in the next few days. The house is on Lake Martin, on a very pretty and secluded point, however today was a very windy day. From my olden sailing days, I would say a great day for rough sailing. The house is bright and colorful and contains a great selection of arts and crafts from all over the world. I notice a few familiar (Hoglund) glass pieces from New Zealand. Also added my gift to them which is classic Maori art.