The last few days were full of unexpected adventure. I went back to the hostel I had previously been staying at to retrieve a couple of bags I'd left behind. The visit was supposed to last 2 minutes, but instead lasted 3 days. I was offered a free night's stay by a young american biker (motorcycle, not pedal-bike) who I had met during my previous stay (He was leaving but had already payed for an additional night he wasn't going to use). Considering my fatigue and the long trip back to my relative's house that I had ahead of me, I decided to accept. As I waited for the desk clerk to return to check me in, I met a beautiful british woman named Esther (currently living in London, I believe, though she's originally from northern England). My friends at the hostel knew, before I did, that romance was brewing. They insisted on giving us time alone when I invited them out drinking with us, though I thought that they were imagining things. Why am I always the last to know? Back in flagstaff, with Laura, we were nearly pressed face to face before she finally said to me, "You're really bad at making the first move, aren't you?". And with Aramie: I thought she was gay, and that our being alone in her apartment drinking homemade screwdrivers was entirely innocent, when she kissed me. Karine also took me completely off-guard. When will I get a clue?! Anyways, my friends were, of course, entirely correct. Her beautiful, lilting northern-english accent (very soft and irish sounding, for those of you wondering) made me shudder every time she spoke. And what conversations we had! She's a sagitarius, for those of you who lend some credence to astrology, and very typical of her sign (as am I). For once I didn't fall for a scorpio! Thank goodness! (Those of you who know my history with scorpios understand. They're passionate... but nuts :) hehehe) Anyways, after an incredible evening, we ended up in the hostel sauna together (no, I still wasn't sure she liked me - idiot), and I never did end up using that free bed I was given. The next two days were my best yet in San Francisco, and I think that my memories of San Francisco will center on these days, even though they were with an english girl who had never been to the city, and even though we didn't see much of it during those two days. She left on a plane yesterday at 7:30pm. If there weren't some mitigating circumstances I might have gone with her; If there weren't some mitigating circumstances she might have stayed. I suddenly understood something my friend Jon had told me before I left. He told me that I would have time-compressed relationships on the road: relationships that run the full gamut of emotions over the course of the couple of days that they last. I get it now, Jon. Esther is gone, now, but the future is thankfully full of possibilities.