At last - I'm getting around to posting about California. I'd say I've been busy and that would be somewhat true...trying to beat Final Fantasy X-2 is hard work! So, California was great. The weather was awesome, we saw did lots of things, and it was great catching up with Leslie and Bryan. I'll start from the top.
On Wednesday morning, we left the house and Murphy in the capable hands of Carolyn as Jerry took us to the airport. Flying American was super, except for us being in the back of the plane. We kept thinking how the people in the back of the plane were the ones who died in Lost. I wore my traveling maroon. I met one Aggie, class of '97. Getting the rental car was a little trickier...Dad got a super-budget car that required a ride from the airport to the rental place, followed by another ride by van to a hotel where the rental place was in the lobby, in what looked like a closet. It was a little sketchy. And then they directed us to the wrong gold Camry in the parking lot, so they had to drive around with our keys out the window, seeing which car honked back to find ours. Also, Dad had paid $6 extra per day for a new car, and ours had 29k miles on it (and a cracked windshield). Yeah, that's new...but in the car's defense, it did just fine for the 400+ miles we used it. So then we went to M&D's hotel and got checked in. We hung out there for a while, and I finished reading the book (The Lovely Bones)Mom loaned me to read on the plane. It was really good. Then we headed over to Les and Bryan's apartment. We chatted for a while and then somewhat watched the debate. And we all got a ReplayTV lesson. And Les and Bryan cooked dinner for us later, which was very good. Then M&D headed back to the hotel and I got settled in on the couch, which was very comfy.
Thursday: Leslie took the day off from work, which was great! M&D got to the apartment around 8:30. We got organized and then drove a long way on curvy mountain roads through Colorado-esque towns to Big Basin State Park, which has the best redwoods in the area. We did a short hike (walk) that took us by some amazing trees. And it was in the high 50's temp-wise, which felt awesome. Then we played around on a big fallen redwood they let you climb on (the roots were great fun to climb). Next we drove to Bonnie Doon, a winery, and did tasting (Les and Bryan have been there almost 10 times between them). It was interesting, and even though I didn't like the wine (Bryan didn't really either, which made me feel better), I appreciated the fact that it seemed like quality product. And it made me feel cultured... :) We had two dessert wines, including a rasberry one served in a chocolate cup, that were okay because they were really sweet. But still not something I'd really choose to order somewhere. Then we drove along the coast about 40 miles to Half Moon Bay, a really cool little town (okay, not that little). We ate at Bryan's favorite "seafood dive" the Flying Fish Grill, where we ordered garlic calamari as an appetizer, and I got fried prawns with sweet potato fries. Then we walked around the downtown, which was a lot like a Colorado town with all the little shops and restaurants. At about 4:30 we left and drove down to the beach just to see it. It was really foggy, which was cool. The waves were pretty big (surfers like the area). So, after the ocean, we drove back to fremont. We crossed over the longest bridge in the bay and could see Oakland and San Fran. It was cool. We went to Trader Joe's (the cool, totally California grocery store chain) and got stuff to have a laid back dinner. While we ate, we watched 'Best in Show'. Then Mom and Dad left and the kids went upstairs. I watched CSI and ER that Leslie had so kindly set up to TiVo for me. Bryan joined me for ER, which was nice, although regretably it was a crummy episode.
On Friday, Leslie had to teach (sad), and so Bryan was our tour leader for the day (what a good sport). We drove to Berkeley after contemplating taking BART like Bryan does usually. After some parking excitement, he left us at a coffee shop for M&D to get their caffeine fix while he met with a professor. After collecting us, we proceeded to tromp through all of the Berkeley campus, which I really enjoyed seeing. I kept my eyes out for Jenny McBee, but didn't run into her. We went through the library, which was just amazing. Very ornate but cozy. Then we had lunch at one of Bryan's favorite restaurants and headed back towards the car, stopping along the way to walk through the chemistry building for my sake. :) We drove through the neighborhoods around Berkeley before heading to San Jose. We saw neat houses and the coolest elementary school ever in those hills. Next we visited Leslie's class right before school got out, followed by a trip to the Winchester Mystery House, which was surprising cool (aren't insane people interesting?). Then Johanna (one of Leslie's TFA friends) joined us for vegetarian Indian food. That night I got to talk with Matt on the phone. I woke him up when I called - he'd fallen asleep on the couch. He'd reached the October 15th tax deadline and was done with working in Fort Worth (thank goodness).
Saturday: M&D arrived at 9 to pick Leslie and me up to head to San Francisco. Bryan was staying behind because his friend Doug was arriving in town later to interview for Bryan's old Apple job (and was also staying at the apartment). We drove around a place called "The Presidio," and then parked in a neighborhood right by Haight-Ashbury and had brunch at a cool place with excellent food. I tried to order a coke and was told "um, we brew our own sodas here;" they also made their own beer, including one called "Weekapaug Gruit." Phish reference woot! Then we went to Chinatown and walked around there. We got back to Fremont in time to watch the Aggie game, which was AWESOME! I was so proud of the Ags. FSN cut away to the Stanford game when A&M was in the 4th quarter, but I'd seen what I needed to. Leslie was a very nice sister to let me watch the game in her living room. :) :) At the end of the game, Bryan returned with Doug and another friend Phil. After a failed attempt to locate Chinese restaurants that would deliver to us, Mom and Dad picked up fried chicken for all. We feasted and watched Aladdin. Then M&D went to their hotel we and played DDR on Bryan's PS2. It has real well-known songs, unlike my Xbox version, and more songs in general, but the Xbox version is more polished and looks nicer. I agree with Bryan, though, that they all have a horrible user interface. Then Phil went home, Bryan got Doug settled on the dining room floor, and we all went to bed. I had to get up at 6:45 on Sunday to get ready to go to the airport.
So, to sum up, California was lovely. Leslie and Bryan were super-generous with their time, and it was great catching up with both of them. I read a couple books, Bryan loaned me the two PS2 Grand Theft Auto games...a good time was had by all. :)
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