Look, lots of words I haven't really said anything! That's why I like my blog.
Yesterday, mom and I went our separate ways. Yay! What I would have really liked was a day just sitting in a lovely pub somewhere and all of my friends dropping in to say hello. I could have worked on Flippety, maybe read something, had some good beer. Flirted with servers. All that sort of thing. Instead, I decided to do a self imposed driving tour of the Bay Area. How freakin' relaxing was that? Not very. Fun, though, overall. And I did get to see five of my friends from the area.
Before I write about me, me, me, let me say a little about mom and mom's day. She got a relaxing pampered day. Our host took great care of her! They hung out, ate, watch videos, and generally had a pleasant time. Lucky them!
Meanwhile, I got up and drove out into a traffic jam! Yay! Auspicious start. Not. I didn't stay in it long. I tried the "detour" feature of my GPS. My old one had a cool "blocked" feature - the problem with that was it asked for how far away and how long the blockage was. Who knows that information? That's why it is good to have a handy co-pilot/navigator/private masseuse (ok that last isn't part of the general job description of the person sitting shotgun (though having a shot gun is pretty close to mandatory), I just think it would be nice - the first two parts are important, though)! They can take down the GPS and fiddle with it to get a good route - along with maps and atlases and things - while forward progress continues. This time I just pushed the button and hoped. I did, eventually, make it to my first appointment. Only 45 minutes late.
Rosanne was kind and patient and waited. And it was great to see her! I am not sure when the last time was, but the years melted away. Yay! I had a little taster of four beers - Veronica brought them over and wasn't quick enough to dodge a picture! My favorite of the four, though all of them were decent, was the Peach flavored beer. Yum! Rosanne had an appointment that she had to attend, so our visit was very short. She left, I settled my teeny bill, and headed to appointment two - 50 miles and a world away.
I have only been to San Jose once or twice before. It has always seemed like a nice enough city. This time, I had a GPS and it took me straight to the home of my friend Jules. Who I had never met. We are Daily Challenge friends. And she is the first (hopefully not the last) DC friend that I have seen face to face! Yay! We sat and chatted for a bit. She needed to get to sleep so she could work her night shift. I had to get back on the road for my next visitation.
Up to San Francisco. Let me say, that traffic all day wasn't that bad. Well, except for one part, but I will get there in a bit. I headed for Hayes Valley, which I had never really considered a neighborhood before. Of course it probably always was, but I hadn't spent much time there. Certainly a place to hang out, if I ever am back in the Bay Area again. Which I hope to be, but one never knows, does one? I was only about 10 minutes late to this get together. Phew! Murrey had staked out a table and had gotten a free pretzel 'cause she knew the owners! I snarfed the whole thing since I had yet to eat that day. She and I went to Andover together, many years and yesterday ago. It was a pleasure to have the chance to see her. Hurrah!
She needed to go to her dinner appointment, I needed to go to my dinner appointment. I drove further into the city to pick up Patti, a friend from Ithaca College. We headed to North Beach, on a Friday night. North Beach in non-peak times is a bear of a place to find street parking. Friday night is just ludicrous. But eventually, parking angels sang hallelujah and turned up a space. Yay! We had dinner at an Italian Cafe (go figure, in North Beach...) that was yummy. And listened to music from an old looking jukebox. Again, great to catch up.
After dropping Patti near her home, I headed to my last get together of the day, in my old stomping grounds, Oakland. And to one of my favorite places, Barclay's. Luckily, Susan and her husband frequent the place and were comfortable hanging whether I was there or not. They saw me coming and were surprised when I disappeared. I had gone to get my card - 1555 - upon which one marks the beers one tastes. Yay! I had a Breckles Brown (I think that was what it was called). They had a dearth of dark beers - it being summer and all. I probably ought to have gone for an IPA, but I didn't. I hadn't met Kyle before - great guy! - and mostly sat and chatted with Susan! She seemed to be happy and healthy - who can ask for anything more. Barclay's hadn't changed since I was last there - ten years ago? Except that the service staff has gotten more attractive...
I had given myself a curfew, so headed back to Sonoma around 10. Yay! I was in bed by 11:30 and asleep by midnight. A long, long day. Rewarding, and long.
I don't think mom missed me for a second. :)
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| Me and Rosanne! |
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| Chez Jules |
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| The beer Garden with Murrey |
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| Patti enjoying our time together! |
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| Kyle, Susan and me |
2 comments:
Sharing your feelings can be good ,although I certainly hope more than a few of us are following your adventureous travels :-) .I know I am really enjoying and learning about parts of the US I have never seen .. even your seems to be enjoying herself ..so it seems the trip had been good for her too ...yay Augustus
Thank you Brigitte! She does seem to, mostly, be enjoying the trip! I am happy we are sort of heading home, now, though!
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