Well, it's over and was great fun. Bob is the host with the most. He's Mr. Personality and it was so nice to meet his wife,too. Everything went smoothly and it was very well organized...he and his wife should start an organization business.I think his wife was sitting and taking notes.The room was beautiful and the food delicious. Bob presented some gifts to those of us who came from far away and commented that he knew how elaborate the gifts were at the Hawaiian GTG, but that he was "cheap". Then he presented me with a gift that he said Jim Thompson had sent over. I then reminded him that Jim Thompson was dead! So, I asked if it was possibly the ghost of Jim. I was then handed a beautiful Jim Thompson bag stuffed with tissue paper...no folks...the tissue paper was not the gift...he's not THAT cheap....I opened it and pulled out a HUGE bottle of Vaseline hand lotion...the deluxe model...with the pump even! I nearly went into laughing hysteria. Bob has photographed my hands...they should be on the internet soon...perfection....as soft as suede! Thanks for the gift and the great laughs. Carole also received a gift...I'll let her tell you about it....I'm still at the hotel...and will fly back to L.A...tomorrow...in the early afternoon... after being given a mini tour of Boston by my friends who drove all the way up from N.Y./N.J. to be with me and to be at the GTG... They are not Fodorites. After the mini tour of Boston, they will drop me off at the airport. I'm SO lucky to have such great friends! Thanks again...all... for such a fun time. Happy Travels!

guen...i just also posted...maybe you can add something on there as well...

great of you to come all the way and we too loved meeting you and your friends....people as lovely as you should not remain a mystery!!!

It was nice to meet you, Guen. Thanks for coming all clear across the country to be with us.

guen
I only regret that we didn't get a chance to converse. Since we were each sitting at a different table, we talked mostly with the folks around us. But I did chat with one of your friends, and he was telling me about your travels around Europe. He was very nice, and a good friend, I'm sure.

NEXT TIME we'll aim for the same table.

Enjoy your trip around Boston. I see we have full sun today, after all the rain. Son and I are headed for Ct in about an hour.

Carol

Thanks for coming, Guenmai. Your presence imbued the GTG with an importance that was palpable. Your "hands on" approach was a welcome relief from our normal New England dourness.

Thanks folks. I had originally planned to post under Bob's thread, but the thread wasn't up yet when I started my thread. And since I don't have my own computer, I decided that I'd better take advantage of the free computer use at the Hotel@MIT. So, I wanted to send a computer thank you to you all before I flew back to Los Angeles.By the way, pencil me in for the third annual GTG next October! And Carole...yes, next time we definitely WILL sit at the same table and you,too Laurieco...and BobLax, I wanted to chat with you more,too. Happy Travels!

Guenmai, Eric and I look forward to it. I can't wait for the next GTG! Safe trip back to LA and Happy Travels to you too!!!

Who knows, maybe I'll throw a GTG in L.A. one day. Happy Travels!

guenmai
Just say when and where!!!!!!!
Carol

I don't know when although I know where. I'm just SO busy now until I can't even give it any serious thought at the moment. I can only run the idea through my mind. But, if I decide to do it, I'll keep everyone posted. I think it would be really cool to do it either two days before whenever the 2006 Hawaiian GTG will be... maybe over Labor Day weekend...like have the L.A. GTG on a Friday and the Hawaiian GTG on Sunday and then everyone flies home on Monday and back to work on Tuesday...the day after Labor day. Then folks could do both since they'll most likely be routed through L.A. to get to Hawaii anyway...and could use L.A. as their stopover...jump off the plane...go to the L.A.GTG...rest up a day and fly on to the Hawaiian GTG two days later and do that one,too. Now how jetset is that? Everyone could knock out two birds with one stone. If that happens the L.A.GTG would be 3 days after I get back from Bangkok.I'll really need to call my facialist for an emergency...breathe-some-life-into-this-jetlagged-skin treatment. Ha...Ha...Ha... I already have my ticket for August 2006 in S.E. Asia. It came last week...I cashed in frequent flyer miles for L.A.-Singapore-Bangkok-Singapore-L.A. Happy Travels!

guen, what airline miles did you use to get that routing?

la gtg, sounds good, especially if hawaii has a game in lv before the gtg, then even ht might be motivated to go.

Kuranosuke...I cashed in the Delta miles which is hooked up with Singapore Air, so I'm on Singapore Air.I called in the first day that I was able to book the outbound flight...300 and something days in advance... and then had to call back two days later for them to book the inbound flight since it was too early to book. Once again, Singapore Air would only put me on a 6PM flight between Singapore and Bangkok, so I'll have to leave Singapore for Bangkok a day early.... As for a possible L.A. GTG, Memorial Day weekend would be another possible time unless everyone will be away on other trips. But, that weekend...or Labor Day weekend... would be nice...less traffic and fewer people since they'll all be out of town! Plus, Memorial day weekend, I won't have to deal with jetlag since I won't be just coming back from somewhere. Happy Travels!

so, your free tix allows you to go to sin-bkk-and back to sin then to lax? good deal. are you on sq19, the non-stop with exec. economy seats? great flt, gets in sin around 5-530am.

I don't remember if it's non-stop or not.But, I don't think it's in the executive economy class. I remember asking Delta and they said it wasn't, but then again, Delta has given me incorrect information before. So, when I have time, I'll call Singapore Air directly. Happy Travels!