Manager's Meeting

Even though it's been nearly a month ago, I still wanted to blog about our manager's meeting in San Francisco. We had such a good time! I am a San Francisco lover and being in the city for that long was wonderful. We saw pretty much everything we wanted to see except for Alcatraz. We decided we would visit that spot when the boys were with us.

Ryan at I at Pier 39.

Chinatown was definitely a highlight for us! We haven't been to San Francisco very much so we definitely wanted to see what Chinatown was all about. It was very interesting and we learned a lot about the Chinese culture. I think our favorite stop was this little fortune cookie shop that someone on the street told us about. It's kind of hidden in the back of one of the allies, so unless you knew where it was, you most likely would pass it by. It was very cool to watch them make the fortune cookies right there. Talk about time-consuming work! The little old man in the store was so excited to have us there that he kept giving us free samples.

One of the streets in Chinatown.

A building in Chinatown. Not uncommon to see their laundry hanging out in the wind.

The alley where we visited the yummy fortune cookie shop.

We also walked Fisherman's Wharf and spent quite a bit of time on Pier 39, which is probably the most famous pier there. I was so busy watching for the "Bush Man" that I'm sure I missed out on some of the sites. I am always on the look-out for him because I don't want to be caught in his trap. We walked up to Ghirardelli Square and walked around the shops there, too. We walked A LOT!

The meeting was very nice. It's always nice to see old friends and co-workers. Of course our two favorite people to see was Joe and Donna. We love them like they were our parents and miss living away from them. I can't believe how many people we have come to know through Les Schwab and how many of them used to be a sales-and-service guy when Ryan was an assistant manager that are now manager's themselves. The company is always changing, that's for sure!

The blog wouldn't be complete without talking about the shopping. It was superb! One of my favorite places to shop. Ryan was very patient with me and let me wander into whatever store along the way. We spent most of our time with our friends Tony and Jani from the Escalon store, so Ryan and Tony would stand outside and talk shop talk while Jani and I would wander in and out of the stores. I didn't really buy anything except for a pair of Skecher shoes but I loved just window shopping and browsing the stores. I saw this sign on one of the stores and it made me laugh, so I took a picture of it.

I want this printed on a t-shirt.

All in all it was a great week. The best part was being with Ryan and spending time together, oh and eating cheesecake every night! I am thankful that Ryan and I can go away like that and not look at each other and wonder what we're going to do next because we don't have the kids with us. I'm glad that we still have our own relationship separate from the boys. I am grateful to a company that recognizes all the time these managers spend away from their families and give them a chance to spend some quality time with their spouses. Next year.....Seattle! Yay!!!