San Diego, San Francisco, San Carlos, Roseville, & Sacramento
The scheduled arrival is 10 am. Upon arrival we will clear customs and head to the airport for a 13:25 flight to San Francisco. There really won’t be anything to report for the next couple days. I did manage to go online and book most of the excursions we wanted for the January 2025 trip from Cape Town, South Africa to Santiago, Chile. Mentally it is difficult to look at the advertising about “unlimited shore excursions” and then find, when you go on the website a year before departure and find out they are all sold out. I will try and call the main office on Monday. No it isn’t the the ONE we wanted is sold out, it is that for a particular port they are all sold out. We are now “gold” Seven Seas club members, and yea there are several levels above gold, but we get to book a whole year in advance. If the people who are above us took all the open slots, doesn’t that really mean there weren’t sufficient open slots?
Next January we stop in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic Ocean. Yes, that Saint Helena. A remote volcanic tropical island. 1,950 km (1,210 miles) west of the south-western coast of Africa. For good measure it is also 4,000km (2,500 miles) east of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Saint Helena is a little tiny place. It measures about 16 by 8 km (10 by 5 mi) and had a population of 4,439 in 2021. It was named after Flavia Julia Helena, also known as Helena of Constantinople and in Christianity as Saint Helen. She was an Augusta, a Roman honorary title given to the empress and favored imperial women of the Roman Empire and mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. She was born in the lower classes, traditionally in the Greek city of Drepanon, Bithynia, in Asia Minor, which was renamed Helenopolis in her honor, although several locations have been proposed for her birthplace and origin.
Helena ranks as an important figure in the history of Christianity. In her final years, she made a religious tour of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem, during which ancient tradition claims that she discovered the True Cross. The Eastern Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and Anglican Communion revere her as a saint, and the Lutheran Church commemorates her.
Helena is one of the most remote islands in the world and was uninhabited when discovered by the Portuguese enroute to the Indian subcontinent in 1502. For about four centuries, the island was an important stopover for ships from Europe to Asia and back, while sailing around the African continent, until the opening of the Suez Canal. Saint Helena is the United Kingdom's second-oldest overseas territory after Bermuda.
Saint Helena is known for being the site of Napoleon's second exile, following his final defeat in 1815. This is also where he died May 5, 1821. But all the tours were booked.A discussion will be held with Regent’s office in Miami. Just seems unfair ALL the excursions are booked.
The ship docked a little earlier than expected. Disembarkation began promptly at 10. Group one was off the ship by 10:15. Disembarkation simply took a lot less time than expected. The 13:25 flight from San Diego to San Francisco was already delayed ten minutes. The weather wasn’t doing anyone any good.
Apparently it has been raining in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Diego area for several days. At ten this morning it was raining lightly in San Diego but apparently raining quite hard and San Francisco. Getting a taxi wasn’t a problem in San Diego, and the taxi ride to the airport was just a few minutes.
When one plans for possibile obstacles and delays, it usually happens in the opposite direction. Although the San Diego airport is a major construction mess, getting to the departure area wasn’t bad. There were just a few people in line to check in and check bags.
The new big suite case was over weight – surprise. However being prepared, out came one of the folding suitcases, into it went a few heavy things. Out come the large black overcoat and on to my back. With the weight adjusted to less than 50 pounds in the large suite case, and sixteen in the small one, not mentioning the large heavy overcoat that I am wearing, the bags were ready to check.
Then it was off to go through security and then find the gate. Neither of which presented any issue and were completed in near record time. Now there were three hours to kill before the delayed flight to San Francisco. Finally on our way to San Francisco just ten or fifteen minutes late. After getting everyone on board the captain announces there is a weather delay and we will have to wait a few minutes before being able to takeoff. On top of that he announces that due to the rough weather expected, passengers and crew will have to remain in their seats throughout the flight.
It is getting dark and raining cats and dogs when the flight arrives in San Francisco. After retrieving the luggage, it is now time to make it to the car rental facility at the north end of the airport. Up the the “air tran”. First crossing through terminal one following the signs for air tran. Upon arrival at the bottom of the escalator up to the air tran only leads to some frustration. The escalator is under repair. Fortunately Mary spots the elevator for the handicapped. Good because there was no way the large suitcase was going to make it up the stairs on its own, or with help.
Arrival at the car rental facility required a ride all around the airport before arriving at the car rental facility. Off air tran, into the car rental facility, up to the third floor, out to spot S40. A convertible Chevrolet Camaro. Convertibles generally do not provide good visibility for the driver. However I put my purse in the car, behind the front seat. Adjust the seat so I can get in and find the key and or the button to pop the trunk. Found the key, popped the trunk.
Get out and try to put the large suitcase in the trunk. There is no way it is ever going to fit. So out comes the suitcase, and it is back to the rental counter. This time they give us a grey Chevy Malibu. The suite case fits!
Off to the office to pick up the medications and additional suitcase which were left because we knew we were coming to San Francisco, and why carry all that. Of course now we know we have too many articles of clothing anyway. If it were just clothing, and not medicine and things like shampoo, we won’t bother getting off and getting them.
Now that they car is fully loaded, we head to A&W Root Beer in Marin for dinner. Lit is raining something awful and it is really dark. We park in the handicapped spot. I go to retrieve the parking placard from my purse. Where is my purse? Mary goes inside while I rip the car apart. No purse. Think, man, think?
Of course, it is in the grey Chevrolet Camaro! Behind the seat where I put it. Frantic calls to Avis. Unfortunately their system does not allow you to talk to the actual office where you rented the car. The only choice is to drive back to San Francisco and go to the Avis office. Mind you it is important because – everything is in that purse. Passports, all of them, money, credit cards, you name it it is in there.
Back at SFO, the first thing we do is drive to space S40. This is where we last saw the car with the purse. Empty! Holy Shit! Off to the Avis counter. Long explanation. Sorry there is no way to identify which car it was. It has only been three hours! Maybe you could see who rented a Chevrolet Camaro? Turns out they had rented over fifty Chevrolet Camaros. It was narrowed now a bit by color and it being a convertible, so not we were down to four possibilities.
One was being returned to San Jose on the 26th. One was due back in San Francisco on the 24th. The last was due in Roseville on the 22nd, the next day. Oops, it is 8 PM, Closing time. Please return tomorrow and talk to Niki. She’ll be here at 7 AM. Honestly it took a lot of searching to find those three, and we are grateful for the effort put forward. But, there probably wasn’t anything they could do tonight.
No sleep all night. At 6 it was just time to get up. By 6:30 it was rime for breakfast. & finally came an a called was placed to Niki, the night staff gave me the direct number. No answer. 7:30 still no answer. Time to drive to SFO and find out how to get ahold of Niki.
Arriving just before it could go 8, I marched up to the desk. Explained the whole thing – Again. Well, Lost and Found, is the office down the hall, second door on the right. No they aren’t marked. I pushed the doorbell and a nice lady named Patricia opened the door. Again, the explanation was given. She invited me and said there is not really anything she can do, we just have to wait and see if anyone turns in the purse.
Right about then I got an email from Avis. The grey Chevrolet Camaro in Spot S40 was reserved for you. Wait? Reading further it even gave me the license place. Patricia brought up the three contenders. San Jose and SFO had non California plates. The one held for me in space S40 had a California plate. The plate numbers were compared.
Hallelujah and praise the Lord on high. Oops, no contact number for the renter. Just an email. Can’t email from an AVIS computer, not allowed. So, Patricia used her phone, she said she couldn’t share the guys name with me, and she emailed the guy. She then called the Roseville office and left a message, they don’t open until 9.
Now what to do? Drive to Roseville now? Wait? The decision was made to return to San Carlos and have breakfast with Mary and then make a decision. Shortly after 9, Patricia called and said the renter of the Camaro turned my purse into the Roseville office before going to his meeting. Hallelujah, again.
9:30 in the car and on our way to Roseville. Should be a 2 ½ to 3 hour drive. Called Mike on the way to see if he and Maddie would join us for lunch. We arrived at the Roseville office of AVIS just before it has gone noon. Retrieved the purse, confirmed everything was still in tact. It was.
Called Mike to confirm lunch before we headed home. He hadn’t heard from Maddie, so we headed in his direction. We could at least have lunch with him. We met him for lunch, Maddie never responded. We had a nice lunch and headed back to San Carlos and the Resident Inn. Will sleep tonight.
Buonanotte e Ciao, and thanks to the Lord, Enrico
San Diego upon our arrival. Cold and damp.
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