Saturday, August 9, 2008

RWA conference and pictures

I had a great time in San Francisco, mostly sightseeing. I had never been to SF and I wanted to see the city. You never know when you'll place a book there. I have one in the back of my mind as I type.

The weather was great!!! It didn't rain once I was there which is a good thing since I didn't take an umbrella or a raincoat. During the daytime it was usually in the 60s while it got colder at night (in the 40s at least once). I thought I had packed correctly with the temperature in mind, but I hadn't. I only wore half of what I took--the other half was inappropriate. I didn't take into account the wind chill factor. There were a lot of places where the wind would whip by you, chilling me even when I wore a warm jacket which I purchased in Chinatown for $10. That was my best buy in SF. While I was contending with a cooler climate, back home my family was contending with temperature above 100 (and humid). I wasn't looking forward to getting off the plane and feeling the heat (over 105 when I returned home).


I saw the redwood forest near SF and the Napa Valley. I went to the Golden Gate Park as well as the Golden Gate Bridge which we took to get to the forest. I traveled through some quaint towns around SF and I spent a lot of time in Chinatown where my roommate shopped until I dropped. I went to Fisherman's Wharf and it was so crowded that day (a gorgeous Saturday) that I was amazed so many people could be in such a small area. The seals were neat to see at the pier.




My favorite thing, however, was seeing the most crooked street in the world and finding myself having to go down it in the car. We hadn't intended to do that, but that was the only way to go so down we went.



I walked the streets until my feet hurt so bad they were going numb. The worst part of walking in SF is that the landscape isn't flat in a lot of places. Some of the streets we were on were at a VERY steep angle. There was one time the taxi I was in went down one that I had to close my eyes. I felt like I was on a roller coaster or in some chase scene I'd seen in a movie. The taxi cab driver was going fast!

Six members of his blog met several times during the conference. In the pictures below you will see Roxanne, Lisa, Debby, Terri, Pamela and myself enjoying the food at a late lunch and the party Harlequin throws for its authors.



5 comments:

Anita Mae Draper said...

Hey Margaret, thanks for the photos. It's nice to see what the authors look like.

When you were talking about the fast taxi ride down the street, I was imagining Michael Douglas in The Streets of San Fransisco. :-)

Margaret Daley said...

Or Steve McQueen in I think the movie is called Bullet. Thankfully the cab didn't bottom out.

Margaret

EllenToo said...

I would love the chance to return to SF and see the sites as an adult. I was 17 when we went as a family (minus one brother who thought he was too old to travel with his family) and I remember seeing Alcatraz, the crooked street, Ghiardelli Square, riding cable cars, the painted ladies, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge but we did not go to the redwood forest.
Glad you had a wonderful time there.

Jessica Nelson said...

Well, I thought something was wrong with brain for a sec. I just read your personal blog, then I came here and was like, "wait, didn't I already read about no rain somewhere?"
LOL
Glad you had fun.

Terri Reed said...

Anita Mae,
Did you see there you're a winner for our July contest? See the sibebar.
Congratulations.