Sendero Group Travel Blog

The cab arrived at my house at 10:15 as planned. He got me to the Day's Inn at 10:40 where I was to catch the Sonoma Airport Express at 11:15. As he was letting me out, I got a call from Marty (the contractor who was doing some remodeling on my house while I was gone) who told me that my tickets were lying in the driveway. No cabs could be found in the east so my cab driver, Carl, immediately left for my house. He had the tickets handed to him by Marty, like pony express. As the bus was pulling into the driveway of the Days Inn the cab was right behind him. The original fare for McCall, our bags, and myself was $33. The fare for the tickets was $70. Wow, what a start!

Taking the Sonoma Airport Express was definitely the way for McCall and I to get to the ship. The bus pulled right up to the Dawn Princess inside Pier 35 in San Francisco. As soon as I got off the bus, Irene met us. She handed us off to Brian, who escorted us through check-in. At that point Mike took over and escorted us to our cabin on the Aloha deck, deck 11. The only challenge with this process was that my luggage was split up and did not make it to the room very promptly. McCall and I arrived at our cabin at 13:30. McCall's bag with his food in it arrived at 14:30. The ship past under the Golden Gate Bridge at 17:00. My luggage with my clothes finally showed up in our cabin at 17:45, just in time to get my jacket out before we hurried off to dinner at 18:00.

Arrangements had been made for McCall and I to have roommates. They were Rod and Justice from Spokane. They took Amtrak to get to San Francisco and ended up being the last to show up.

At dinner there was some confusion about the seating arrangements for Rod and I. As a result we ended up at a rectangular table for six persons. We did end up with six persons, but also four guide dogs. That meant that there were 28 legs under the table, not including the four for the table itself. The attendees were Judy with guide Tipton, her sister Pat with cane; Carol and Joe with his guide Mogen; Rod and Justice; and McCall and myself. Too many legs in too little space. But we were all able to enjoy our dinners.