Reality Tour 2: All things must end
Last night we drove down from Ft. Bragg. Dave, our tour manager, conspired with Drew to change up the route to ensure that we would travel over the Golden Gate Bridge on our way through San Francisco.
It was a nice touch. It had been too foggy to see much of the bridge on the first leg of the tour but this evening was spectacular – just a classic memory.
As always, Dave came through with flying colors. We finished off his “claim to fame game” as we drove. This game required people to write their claim to fame on a piece of paper. Dave then picked them out at random to read. The results were often hilarious.
I am sworn to secrecy so I won’t reveal what the passengers shared.
It was strange driving through SF. How could it only have been 7 days since we were here. We’d done so much.
After finding our rooms at the airport hotel, the group gathered one more time for a farewell dinner.
Now, I will admit that even after reading and writing about these “farewell dinners” in Collette marketing pieces, I fully expected to be pretty tired of the other passengers by the end of the tour.
Yet, when it comes down to it, they made the trip. I loved San Francisco, Yosemite, The Skunk Train, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento, and everything else but it’s the people I will remember.
There were some tearful goodbyes and pictures taken. Chad and I were really touched by it all. And then it was over. Just like that. Most of us would be going our separate ways; Providence, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Iowa, Texas, New Jersey, South Carolina, NYC, Massachusetts, Alaska, Florida… 2 dozen flights out of the San Fransisco’s airport.
What an excellent tour!
Keep reading Traveling Well… I have a feeling there are still a few more untold stories from the road.
posted by John Geysen
Collette Vacations
Tags: Reality Tour 2, Video
8 Comments to “Reality Tour 2: All things must end”
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I have to echo that…..what an EXCELLENT tour! And what an excellent Reality Tour to remember how much fun it was. Thank you, John and Chad!!
this tour was much more than we had expected….spectacular scenery…..fantastic food….unique train rides….super entertainment…..beautiful, historic cities and much more…
our tour guide Dave was simply “excellent”…..he was humorous, fact-filled, enthusiastic, well organized, and very helpful…all-in-all a great guide…..
chad and john…..what a great job you guys did on the travel blog….simply great writing, videos and pictures….you both are real professionals at your work….also enjoyed your company as travel mates….
the people on tour were interesting and mixed very well…..not a “bad grape in the bunch”….pun
we had a super time…..pete and adrienne geiss
Thank you very much for the kind comments. We had a great time on tour. Couldn’t imagine it ever being better.
This was so cool. I came across this because I was thinking about taking a CA train trip – and this really helped, seeing it. Thanks,
Gret
This was a great trip, our tour Director and Bus driver and the two nice guys that took all the pictures they are great people and the days went by tooo fast.
Marianne
This was a wonderful trip. We have also loved reliving it through this blog. Thank you so much John and Chad, you did a wonderful job recapturing some special moments for us.
We will always remember you both and were honored to meet you and share this special trip with you. Our tour Manager Dave was great and he was also responsible for the success of this tour. The food and scenery was fantastic. I can not say enough about it. I recommend this very highly!
Dear John and Chad,
Thank you so very much for your kind words regarding my son, Will, and my mom, Jo. They had a truly awesome trip with you. Your blog made me feel like I was right there on the adventure. I hope that my family can share future experiences with you both.
Laura McCleary
Our bucket list vacations all involve the train. Thanks for letting me live vicariously!