Recently, I was asked to take a trip to learn more about the software that Quad-cities Online will be using for billing in August. Since I am not much of a traveller, it took much pushing and prodding to get me to agree to go. Yes, to many people it will sound odd to know that a 25 year old woman has never flown. Unfortunately, I am that woman. I would like to state, for the record, that I am not afraid of flying. I am, however, afraid of crashing. But, after much soul searching, I finally agreed to go. I made my plans (or rather Danine did) and I was ready to go.
I have more photos that I would share with everyone, but this page loads too slow already. I may put up some surfer pictures if I can get them scanned. I left many of them out due to space and the fact that one can only look at so many palm trees. I am also in the process of creating a page titled "What I did During Summer Vacation" that will contain more of my pictures and commentary of the events that have occurred in the summer of 1999!
I packed my bag (cuz I only needed one) and headed off to the airport. A special bonus to the trip was that I got the privilege of flying out of Peoria, instead of the local airport. After waking up at 3am, driving an hour and a half, and waiting at the airport, I had 5 hours of travel ahead of me. I would like to say that my first flight went well, since it didn't crash and I didn't vomit. By approximately 1pm California time, I arrived at the San Diego Airport. I would like to point out, this airport is utter chaos. No one knew where to pick up baggage or how to pick up a rental car. After finally hailing a shuttle, I made it to the rental car place. There, I picked up the lovely and reliable Dodge Neon, which would be my transportation for the next 4 days.
Hopping in my Neon, I drove up the coast to my hotel. Almost driving in to the Sea World entrance, I drove up to Mission Beach, Stopped at Mission Bay, then headed up to La Jolla. I only was lost once, but after looking at a few road signs, I realized I was headed in the right direction. Needless to say, if you travel, ::smirk:: make sure to bring along a navigator who can read the map!!! The map to the right is what I used for most of my travelling. I added a star to the location of my hotel. This map saved me a lot of time and confusion while riding aimlessly around the streets of San Diego.
After finally arriving in La Jolla, I was told by the nice, tongue peirced, reception girl that the room would not be ready for another 2 hours. Exhausted and cranky, I dragged myself out of the lobby and up to Prospect Place. Up the street from the hotel was A street called Prospect, where there were shops and restaurants. I ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, even though I was nausious from the flight and exhausted from being up since 3am. After returning, I was promptly given access to my suite at the Holiday Inn. Without unpacking, I passed out and slept most of the night.
The next morning, I woke up to go to my class. I spent the day learning about the new QCO billing software. I also spent time wandering through the two identical blue buildings, trying to remember where things were. I spent two days, total, learning the ins and outs of this software and how to configure it for Quad-Cities Online. As much as I was unwilling to go on the whole trip, learning about the software was well worth everything.
By the end of Thursday, I was ready to go home. I loved being in California, but I prefer being in Illinois. If for no other reason than the people in Illinois actually are literate and can read traffic signs. I didn't do anything "touristy" while in San Diego other than go to the Hard Rock. I was less than a block from the ocean, but never went. I was 20 minutes from Mexico, and didn't care. I was 30 minutes from Sea World and the San Diego Zoo, and still was not compelled to go anywhere. I spent my days in class and my evenings in my hotel room. I was treated to a beautiful dinner for my birthday at a restaurant called Shelby's, and a walked around the block a few times to take photos. I watched the ocean from the hotel balcony and took most of my photos from the hotel room window.