I mentioned I travel a lot in my work. Over the years, I had accumulated a wealth of miles and points with no particular plan for their use. A year ago in June my partner, CaDiva got the news she had follicular lymphoma. Part of the treatment plan was a recovery celebration. And by the next May, a celebration was truly warranted, CaDiva is in full remission.
Born and raised on the coast, CaDiva had not been back to “HER OCEAN” in five years. She also had a craving for the sights and tastes unique to a gathering known as the Sonoma County Harvest Fair. And so the plan was framed. We had two days in October we had to be in California and we built the trip around that.
Coincidentally, my sister, HRH, turned fifty in August and she was persuaded to let us take her with us. From cross-country car trips to an autumn orchard run that ended in a corn maze, we had proven to be compatible traveling companions but that is all for future issues. All that was left was to set an itinerary.
I had desires for day cruises and brunches, CaDiva wanted the Harvest Fair, Armstrong Grove, and the 17-Mile Drive. HRH wanted to believe everything she dreamt would happen could happen without any active human interaction. As always, she was right.
Magically and mystically the boarding passes were printed and luggage was loaded into the back of the car. It isn’t a car according to members of the boys club, but another rule for the girl trips is that anything with a wheel in each corner and aimed with a fifth wheel in the front is a car. On this occasion we can call it the giant pumpkin carriage since it bore us all, CaDiva, HRH, her spouse and daughter, and me, off to the airport at 4:15 one brisk Wednesday morning in September.
The mystical part is not that there is a 4:15 in the morning, which apparently happens frequently. Nor was it getting us all to the airport on time before God turned on the air. It was truly mystical by virtue of arranging a flight to California from one of those big square states in the middle without laying over in either O’Hare or Denver.
We took off on time and landed in DFW without incident and the appointed support staff awaited our arrival to carry us from Terminal A to Terminal C in time to purchase a light lunch and some version of caffeine unique to one purveyor known by white cups with green circles. This particular form of caffeine, required at regular intervals by my traveling companions, involves less coffee or tea than milk, chocolate, and or caramel. I mention this only because we were not able to stop in Terminal A to get the one and only true coffee from Dunkin Donuts which is apparently not found anywhere else in the airport and I was left drinking airplane water. But, again, this is a matter for a future installment.
The second and longer leg of our journey took us into the San Jose airport. By this time, our bodies thought it was 2:30 PM and we were still a car rental agency and two hours from our hotel. When you ask, as you probably are, why we didn’t fly into the city or even Oakland, the trick to using airline miles is you have to book the flights a lot earlier than you would think. By the time we settled on a travel time, we had to fly into San Jose or lose a day’s travel by landing late into the night.
We arrived at the rental car agency and discovered a major difference in location despite staying with Hertz. We were not impressed by the service, layout, or selection at the SJC Hertz lot when we have been very pleased at other locations. Regardless, we were on our way, with only a short stop at In-N-Out Burger (you have to go there if you ever get a chance…the only burger joint I have found to compare is Backyard Burger in Overland Park) we checked into the Double Tree, picked up our hot cookies and started to vacation.
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