Good morning from the Phoenix hotel, San Francisco, USA. If you're wondering about that Rice a Roni reference...well let's just say it was a staple around the Rickwalt household. So, here I am (Angie) sitting around the pool....waiting for Amy to get ready. I think this will be a reoccurring theme during this trip. :)

We arrived yesterday on a uneventful Southwest flight, where we were picked up by Ted, lead singer and jokester from the band The Heavenly States....one of Amy's clients. He took us out for a nice birthday lunch at a Vietnamese place in Oakland. We then hopped in the band van to head to the "city" for the upcoming show at Cafe du Nord. It was at this point that we scared off a cab driver we had pulled over to take us to our hotel. Apparently he saw the amount of luggage we had and decided no frickin' way was he taking us. Of course Amy chases him down the middle of the street to demand an answer! "I don't do moves," was his reply. (We think he saw the band unloading their equipment...it really wasn't OUR luggage that was this issue!)

So finally we check into the lovely fiftyish style Phoenix Hotel (apparently, quite the rocker place to stay. Courtney Love has stayed here...kind of makes me glad they just put in new beds!) Then it was off to meet Matt and Chuck for dinner. Some of you will recall Chuck from Amy's Detroit days. Matt, from LA via Detroit knew Amy later in life. We will leave it at that. :) After a lovely meal at "Home" where we dined on favorites such as Mac and Cheese (yuck says Angie) and Pot Roast (Yuck says Amy) it was off to the bar for some Heavenly States. Of course Amy had to work...and was briefly whisked away by a local promoter to get the nickle tour of another nearby venue. I bonded with Matt and Chuck. THS (that would be the band) blew the roof off as always. (Amy told me to write that, but they were good.) After a brief reminiscing with the boys and a cute girl named Rachel, a friend of Chuck's who once lived in Chicago and worked at the Heartland Cafe and Tomboy of all places, it was back to the hotel and bed. (SEPERATELY!) Alas...we couldn't do Courtney proud...and didn't partake in any after hour shenanigans. Apparently, turning 36 and 37 was a bit too much for us.