Northern California again

This week was an interesting experience. I picked up Liz, a friend from Pomona, at SFO and headed to Harbin Hot Springs for 2 nights in Middletown, CA. It wasn't what we expected. Nothing like Sierra Hot Springs, although they are sisters. Harbin was packed with people, mostly men. It felt like a business rather than a place to relax. Thank goodness Liz was with me. We spent some time in the springs, dipping from hot to cold, hot to cold. And we ate some delicious food, watched the deer outside our window and went on a beautiful hike. But the energy there wasn't good. Due to the amount of people, it felt like a zoo full of naked bodies vegging in the sun and water. We stayed anyway, and used the baths as needed. But when we left, it was like a heavy weight lifted off of us. As Liz says, it's one of those places that you don't realize how strange the situation is until you leave. So, we spent my last day off this week in San Francisco instead of Harbin.

Now, most people I know say they love San Fran, but I just don't understand it, never have. It's just busy and dirty to me. It has some wonderful restaurants and I enjoy driving the streets that go up, flatten, up, flatten, up, flatten, etc. But I just don't see the draw. It's usually cloudy or foggy and pretty windy and chilly. We walked the city for several hours and went in to the art museum at Golden Gate Park, which was tiny. After just a few hours, I was ready to get out of there.

The event went well. We were extremely busy. It was definitely one of our busiest events yet, and we didn't have enough local help - so taking a real break was impossible for me. Anytime I ran to the bathroom, I came back to someone needing something. The weekend went well, all-in-all, but I would never want to work that weekend again. Kerri reminded us that we were so crowded because we were working on a little street with little space. A street, 2 sidewalks and lots of shops. I never really noticed how tiny city streets were until this event. We had huge lines waiting for bags and samples. Lots of people tried to sneak away with one as we were making them in the back. Most people were polite enough, but each person expected the royal treatment (aka. get a free bag without taking the "Little Step"). The Taste Here Tent was filled from open to close - so many people came back from the first day to eat more. It's really amazing to us how much people eat and what the meaning of "samples" is taken as. Liz, my friend, worked for us as local staff and she had some interesting things to report. One being that hearing my job from my description as opposed to actually experiencing my job are completely different things. I won't go into details, but it was nice to be acknowledged for the work I do. I sometimes forget that I'm 100% responsible for how these events run. The amount of people involved in each weekend. And keeping everyone happy, including myself, from consumers during the event to event coordinators to Relay (my company) to Kashi. It's nice for me to acknowledge this for myself as well. To remember that I have been given this responsibility because I've earned it and, so far, each event has gone really well. My job is absolutely exhausting and can be very stressful, but when I step back, and acknowledge the whole idea of what we're doing, it puts a smile on my face. It's a lot of work, but it all goes toward something great. Changing the world one step at a time. :) My crew actually acknowledged my work this weekend, too. They must have known I needed it this week. They bought me a pair of owl earrings; I call myself an owl - my eyes are always wide open. It was very thoughtful and sweet. There's always hope! :)