California
As many of you may know, I spent the last 10 days (including Thanksgiving) in California. I had such a marvelous time with some very dear friends and family, and many many adventures.
MONDAY
12:30pm is such a reasonable time to fly. You can actually get a full night's sleep the night before. I got to the airport in plenty of time, with my two bags and proceeded to the Starbucks to purchase a salad, a cookie and a hot chocolate. These things were not easy to juggle along with my bags (since I didn't check anything through. you heard me, I took a 10 day trip and was able to pack in a such a way that I didn't need to check a bag. efficiency win. juggling loss.). I stepped off to the side with my purchases to allow those in line behind me to put their orders, and as I was arranging myself something about the person at the counter caught my eye. I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't mistaken. The person was Joshua, of Project Runway fame. If you've watched any of the more recent seasons, you'll remember who he is. And I have to say, he looked exactly like himself and completely camera-ready. Also, even with his hair, he's not that much taller than me.
The non-stop flight from O'Hare to San Diego was uneventful, and at the end of it was Kristin! It was so good to see her again. Hard to believe it had been more than two years since we'd seen each other. We drove to the house she's been looking after for her fiance Stephen's relatives while they're in DC. A quick snack, a shower, and a change of clothes and we were off to the theatre to see In Red And Brown Water (lighting design, naturally, by Kristin Hayes). It's the first part of a trilogy written by young playwright, Tarell McCraney. Truly, a beautifully written piece of art. Now that I'm home, I'm realizing that the entire trilogy we first performed here in Chicago, at Steppenwolf, with actors I know. And to make the world even a little bit smaller, the actress at UCSD who was playing the lead is from Chicago herself, and was in CPS's production of Hamlet (before my time). Just some really cool connections there. It was a great performance, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The show is about a young, African American girl who has a sick mother and becomes stuck in her neighborhood, rather than being able to follow her dream of being a track star. There are three boys fighting for her attentions, a crazy awesome aunt, and the young neighborhood scolds for her to contend with; and the cool thing was that part of the actors duties were to speak some of their own stage directions. Really, really effective. I hope to get the chance to see the other two parts of the trilogy one day.
TUESDAY
I got to sleep in, kind of catch up on the jet lag feeling, while Kristin swung by school for a couple of meetings. When she got back, we ate a quick lunch and headed to the San Diego Zoo. (photos and videos have been posted to facebook) We were there until they closed, seeing an array big cats, elephants, a giant komodo dragon, meerkats, flamingos, reindeer, polar bears, peacocks, koalas, and a two-headed snake. It was such a gorgeous day. Perfect for walking around and getting to see all these amazing animals.
After we left the zoo we headed to this adorable little restaurant. Everything on the menu was either gluten-free, vegetarian, or vegan. I got a pork shoulder with mashed potatoes, served in this adorable little oval dish and a hard cider. Oh and did I mention who we met there? Blair Nelson and his fiancee! I had not seen Blair in almost 8 years, and he was one of my best friends in high school. When I heard that not only was he a grad student in the sound design department of UCSD, but that he and Kristin had become friends, I was beyond delighted. I couldn't visit her and not see him. It wasn't physically possible. And so we met him and his fiancee, who is the nicest guy. They are completely adorable together, and I am so happy for them. It was a wonderful night.
WEDNESDAY
With Tuesday afternoon spent at the San Diego Zoo, the only logical place to go on Wednesday is the Safari Park. And so, that is where Kristin and I went. We got there soon after it opened, so as to avoid lines for the trolley tour. For those of you who don't know, when visiting the Zoo and its sister facility, the Safari Park, go to the Zoo first. The Zoo is awesome. The Safari Park is immense and wondrous. Many of the animals are in very large enclosures that give them more space to roam than any Zoo. Many of the African herbivores are in the same enclosure, and the carnivores are nearby so they smell what would be their natural prey. Sure, there are reptiles, a few rarer birds, and bats in smaller enclosures. But seeing rhinos, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, cheetahs, gorillas, lions, tigers and elephants in as natural habitat as they can get in North America, was pretty breathtaking. And it was a great day to visit - we got very lucky. So many babies! Baby gorilla, baby giraffe, two baby tigers, and a baby elephant. None of them are very cute at all. Videos on facebook. We were especially fortunate to see the tigers. Apparently they never approach the fence of their enclosure. They normally stay very far back, if not completely out of sight. As we passed by, however, one of the keepers at the park arrived with snacks. And mamma and her two 9-month-old boys came running. We, and about 15 others stayed around and listened to the keeper talk about the occupants prowling the perimeter for raw beef. Mother's name is Delta, she weighs about 180 lbs. Her two sons with her are Thomas and Conrad, each weighing about 90 lbs. This is Delta's fourth litter - and she had them just before she turned 14 - which makes her the oldest tiger on record to have cubs. Thankfully, for her, she is now retired. And she has the most beautiful eyes. We also got to see the cheetah run at top speed (twice) and the lions....ahem....well, one of the lionesses was in heat. So yeah. After more than 6 hours at the Safari Park, we left to make a grocery run and to pick up Stephen (Kristin's afore mentioned fiance, coming in on the train from Irvine). Finally, we arrived home, all of us exhausted. Pasta was made, pasta was eaten, Inception was dozily watched, and we all went to bed fairly early.
THURSDAY (Thanksgiving)
A nice quiet day. The parade, the dog show, Matt Lauer gave Gershwin's lovely song the new title of "S Wonderful" (instead of S'Wonderful. I'd heard it had happened before I saw it, and it was so much worse than I'd imagined) Stephen is a vegetarian, so there was no turkey. Instead, Kristin made a vegetable jambalaya. Carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, a parsnip, garlic, onion, and all sorts of spices; served in a something delicious that I can't remember what it was. Kristin? Anywho. We also had crescent rolls, pumpkin bread, cranberry sauce, roasted asparagus and brussell sprouts, and a lemon tart. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner frightens me to death, so I didn't cook anything, but I did wash all the dishes afterward. We watched The Sting and Breakfast At Tiffany's.
FRIDAY
Guess who wakes up at three in the morning with plugged ears! This girl! And after half an hour of tossing and turning, I get back to sleep, wake up at 7am with an irritated throat. Soon after the runny nose and the headache kick in. Oh the joys of a head cold in the middle of a vacation. But before it really got going, we went to Lego Land. A fun little trip, mostly for kids, but there are some cool exhibits. Miniature cities (New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, just to name a few), there were some amazing automated jungle animals and dinosaurs, a dragon, busts of famous people, and an amazing Star Wars exhibit - including character statues and fully fledged scenes from every movie (again, pictures on facebook). We came back, a few board games were played, phone calls to parents were made, naps were taken. Then it was off to the theatre again! This time to see another Kristin Hayes lighting design called, A Hammer, A Bell, And A Song To Sing. Music of protest, peace, and revolution throughout the last century. It was absolutely wonderful. I only wish I hadn't been blowing my nose through most of the show. Luckily, because of the great music, the only person who I'm sure noticed was the gentleman sitting on my right. Stephen was sitting on my left, and he had no clue.
SATURDAY
The time has come to say goodbye to Kristin and Stephen, even with the cold and no turkey, it's been an amazing week. But the time has come to continue my journey, and so off I go to the Budget Car Rental lot at the San Diego airport. I pick up my gps and my little blue Nissan Versa and I'm on my way to LA for lunch with my cousin Keith and his girlfriend. I hadn't met Annie before, so it was fun to get to know her. I learned I learned that Keith has made her into a bigger Bears fan than he is, and we talked about movies, and going to Disneyland and touring Warner Bros next time I visit. But lunch none of us are truly capable of talking for hours on end, and my parking meter had a limit of two hours. So soon I was on the road again, this time to Palmdale to see my Aunt Liz and Uncle Brian. I arrived just in time for cocktails and the end of The King's Speech. News travels faster than I do, my bedside table was decorated with magazines, tissues, and a bowl of cough drops and ibuprofen. But the driving had suitably distracted me from my cold so that I was up for going out to dinner. We went to this great little off-the-beaten-track rustic feeling italian restaurant. My god the food was good. And the waiter was pretty cute too - extra good at his job because he made eye contact with each person he was talking to.
SUNDAY
After NyQuill an excellent night's sleep in the most comfortable bed ever, I awoke to the melodious sounds of the first quarter of the Bears game. Unfortunately, since this particular television set was in California, FOX decided that we wanted to see a more competitive game, and after halftime, switched to showing Atlanta versus Tampa Bay. So those of us who wanted to watch the Bears continue to cream the Vikings were out of luck. I had a long day and a long drive to get to anyway.
The drive to San Francisco from Palmdale, on a regular, low-traffic day, should have taken 5 1/2 - 6 hours. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I knew it would be bad. It was very, very bad. I got to pretending all the cars I saw regularly were good acquaintances. I had nicknames for them all: Texas, Ladder with an Honor Roll, Speedy Gonzalas, Tennessee Greenie Ford, Safari Van, and Jerry Brown, just to name a few. I learned not to get stuck in the left lane when traffic is inching forward. And I when I couldn't find a good oldies station, I settled for current pop music. Listened to KeSha's latest song waayyyy too much. Really don't like the song at all. I left Palmdale at 2:23pm and arrived at the airport in San Francisco to drop off my car at 11:30pm. My directive was to drop the car off with an empty tank, and I have to say, I'm really please with myself that I managed the gas tank in such a away that I made it to the SF city limit just as the dashboard started to tell me I was running very low on fuel. My host for the last stop of my California adventure, my great friend, Ben, picked me up at the airport and proceeded to get lost on the way back to the condo he shares with his partner, Fred. I can't blame him tho - I know from experience that one missed exit can really get you turned around. We got to the condo eventually, and once Fred got home (coming in from ATL) we all ended up chatting until 3am.
MONDAY
Their living space is super cool. A comparatively small place, but still three stories tall. Front door leads to an entry way - turned office, up the stairs to the main floor. Living room with attached kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom, a couple closets - one with a washer dryer. And there's a straight, white, metal ladder up to the loft - which is where I slept. Very cool. Definitely had blisters on my hands by the time I left tho. By Monday morning, my cold was all but gone. Both Ben and Fred had to work, and so as per options discussed the evening before, I took the streetcar (the real, classic line that still runs and stops right outside their building) down to the Wharves. I got off at Pier One and walked. I passed ads for sailboat racing competitions, the Alcatraz tour (sold out for the day) and all the way down to Pier Thirty-Nine. This implies that there are 39 piers. There are not 39 piers. I stopped at Pier 39 because, in case some of you are not aware, Pier 39 is the tourist pier. It's filled with shops and restaurants, even a carousel. They don't have a Shakespeare theatre though
;-).
After perhaps a little too much time there, I was feeling very run down, so I went back to the condo to phone the mother and read my book until the guys came home. They did, later than expected because the subway broke down. But it was all good. We talked and had a turkey chili, went to bed early.
TUESDAY
Ben works at Berkley in the education department. We had tickets to see The White Snake, by Mary Zimmerman on Tuesday night, and since Ben had to work, I went with him in the morning. But first I had to mail something I'd picked up the day before to Palmdale as a Christmas/Thank-you gift for Liz and Brian. The Fed-Ex office was just a short walk. Not only did I have a box to mail, but I had my change of clothes for the evening. The middle-aged man at the counter couldn't have been more helpful. He was very festive, wearing a necklace of flashing Christmas lights, and he found a shipping box that perfectly held the gift. After we crossed the East Bay Bridge in Ben's blue beetle, and arrived at the office, I realized that I had left my dress for the show at the Fed Ex office. The same man who had helped mail my package answered the phone when we called and assured my bag would be safe there overnight. So it was with relief that I went out an explored the town of Berkley. After I got the tour of all the theatres, and the new property under construction, of course. I went to see Skyfall (loved the new Bond girl! - and no I'm not talking abe Berenice Marlohe or Naomie Harris). The theatre had couches instead of seats, instead of seats - very comfortable. Then I really just wandered. Spent a lot of time in the half-price book store, and a little in a scandinavian furniture store. Then it was time for Ben and I to go to dinner. We went to this sweet little italian place called Giovanni's, which was celebrating its 50th year of operation. We're pretty sure Giovanni, himself, greeted us and brought us to our table. A very quiet, unassuming elderly gentleman; whenever he wasn't seating guests, he was looking over the room, seeing that everything was going well. The food was delicious - even though no spoon came with the pasta and the bread only came with butter. After dinner, it was time to see the show! 1 hour and 40 minutes, with no intermission. The White Snake is a beautiful story, and was beautiful to watch. I have to say, however, that it was written in such a way that the actors should have been speaking chinese-accented english. As it was, much of the dialogue sound very awkward with the unaccented colorblind casting. And the lyrics of the few songs were just bad. I haven't seen Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphosis, but I'm pretty confident that, as good as the story is, this is no Metamorphosis. After the show, I was completely exhausted, so I was in bed fairly quickly after we got back to the condo.
WEDNESDAY
Ben and Fred are so cute. And I hate that it only takes them 20 minutes to get ready in the morning. My flight was, again, at 12:30. The evening before, we had planned to leave at 9:15a, and I had not yet begun to pack. So I was up at 7am (with the construction workers next door - a whole foods with condos above is opening late next year), quietly padding around, getting all my stuff together, showering, etc. I even went down to the Fed Ex and collected my bag from the day before. I was completely ready to go and was just sitting down with a cup of tea when the boys woke up. We were in the blue bug and driving through the rain by 9:23am. The rain was so crazy that it was raining under the bridge (two-level bridge, west bound traffic is on top, east bound traffic is underneath). Upon arrival at the Oakland airport, I said a heartfelt goodbye to Ben, gave Fred a hug, and proceeded to my gate. This time, instead of a one-way flight, I had to connect in Phoenix. Luckily, we were able to take off on time, during a lull in the storm, and I had just enough time to use the restroom and purchase a salad before boarding the second plane. On flight number two, I decided I'd earned a Chardonnay. But the flight attendant told me she had to go and get it, and she went through and finished taking orders. I, and my already paid for Chardonnay was forgotten. An hour later, I stopped another flight attendant and explained what had happened. She apologized and came back with not one, but two mini bottles of wine. Life is good sometimes. Otherwise, the flight was uneventful, and after an hour and twenty minutes on the EL, I was finally home.
A glorious California vacation it was. And I discovered that 10 days of vacation time in a place that's not "home" is my limit. Perhaps I can go longer if I can stay healthy.
And now that it has taken me 24 hours to write this, I'd better finish up. I doubt that many will have finished this, if you have - my congratulations.
MONDAY
12:30pm is such a reasonable time to fly. You can actually get a full night's sleep the night before. I got to the airport in plenty of time, with my two bags and proceeded to the Starbucks to purchase a salad, a cookie and a hot chocolate. These things were not easy to juggle along with my bags (since I didn't check anything through. you heard me, I took a 10 day trip and was able to pack in a such a way that I didn't need to check a bag. efficiency win. juggling loss.). I stepped off to the side with my purchases to allow those in line behind me to put their orders, and as I was arranging myself something about the person at the counter caught my eye. I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't mistaken. The person was Joshua, of Project Runway fame. If you've watched any of the more recent seasons, you'll remember who he is. And I have to say, he looked exactly like himself and completely camera-ready. Also, even with his hair, he's not that much taller than me.
The non-stop flight from O'Hare to San Diego was uneventful, and at the end of it was Kristin! It was so good to see her again. Hard to believe it had been more than two years since we'd seen each other. We drove to the house she's been looking after for her fiance Stephen's relatives while they're in DC. A quick snack, a shower, and a change of clothes and we were off to the theatre to see In Red And Brown Water (lighting design, naturally, by Kristin Hayes). It's the first part of a trilogy written by young playwright, Tarell McCraney. Truly, a beautifully written piece of art. Now that I'm home, I'm realizing that the entire trilogy we first performed here in Chicago, at Steppenwolf, with actors I know. And to make the world even a little bit smaller, the actress at UCSD who was playing the lead is from Chicago herself, and was in CPS's production of Hamlet (before my time). Just some really cool connections there. It was a great performance, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The show is about a young, African American girl who has a sick mother and becomes stuck in her neighborhood, rather than being able to follow her dream of being a track star. There are three boys fighting for her attentions, a crazy awesome aunt, and the young neighborhood scolds for her to contend with; and the cool thing was that part of the actors duties were to speak some of their own stage directions. Really, really effective. I hope to get the chance to see the other two parts of the trilogy one day.
TUESDAY
I got to sleep in, kind of catch up on the jet lag feeling, while Kristin swung by school for a couple of meetings. When she got back, we ate a quick lunch and headed to the San Diego Zoo. (photos and videos have been posted to facebook) We were there until they closed, seeing an array big cats, elephants, a giant komodo dragon, meerkats, flamingos, reindeer, polar bears, peacocks, koalas, and a two-headed snake. It was such a gorgeous day. Perfect for walking around and getting to see all these amazing animals.
After we left the zoo we headed to this adorable little restaurant. Everything on the menu was either gluten-free, vegetarian, or vegan. I got a pork shoulder with mashed potatoes, served in this adorable little oval dish and a hard cider. Oh and did I mention who we met there? Blair Nelson and his fiancee! I had not seen Blair in almost 8 years, and he was one of my best friends in high school. When I heard that not only was he a grad student in the sound design department of UCSD, but that he and Kristin had become friends, I was beyond delighted. I couldn't visit her and not see him. It wasn't physically possible. And so we met him and his fiancee, who is the nicest guy. They are completely adorable together, and I am so happy for them. It was a wonderful night.
WEDNESDAY
With Tuesday afternoon spent at the San Diego Zoo, the only logical place to go on Wednesday is the Safari Park. And so, that is where Kristin and I went. We got there soon after it opened, so as to avoid lines for the trolley tour. For those of you who don't know, when visiting the Zoo and its sister facility, the Safari Park, go to the Zoo first. The Zoo is awesome. The Safari Park is immense and wondrous. Many of the animals are in very large enclosures that give them more space to roam than any Zoo. Many of the African herbivores are in the same enclosure, and the carnivores are nearby so they smell what would be their natural prey. Sure, there are reptiles, a few rarer birds, and bats in smaller enclosures. But seeing rhinos, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, cheetahs, gorillas, lions, tigers and elephants in as natural habitat as they can get in North America, was pretty breathtaking. And it was a great day to visit - we got very lucky. So many babies! Baby gorilla, baby giraffe, two baby tigers, and a baby elephant. None of them are very cute at all. Videos on facebook. We were especially fortunate to see the tigers. Apparently they never approach the fence of their enclosure. They normally stay very far back, if not completely out of sight. As we passed by, however, one of the keepers at the park arrived with snacks. And mamma and her two 9-month-old boys came running. We, and about 15 others stayed around and listened to the keeper talk about the occupants prowling the perimeter for raw beef. Mother's name is Delta, she weighs about 180 lbs. Her two sons with her are Thomas and Conrad, each weighing about 90 lbs. This is Delta's fourth litter - and she had them just before she turned 14 - which makes her the oldest tiger on record to have cubs. Thankfully, for her, she is now retired. And she has the most beautiful eyes. We also got to see the cheetah run at top speed (twice) and the lions....ahem....well, one of the lionesses was in heat. So yeah. After more than 6 hours at the Safari Park, we left to make a grocery run and to pick up Stephen (Kristin's afore mentioned fiance, coming in on the train from Irvine). Finally, we arrived home, all of us exhausted. Pasta was made, pasta was eaten, Inception was dozily watched, and we all went to bed fairly early.
THURSDAY (Thanksgiving)
A nice quiet day. The parade, the dog show, Matt Lauer gave Gershwin's lovely song the new title of "S Wonderful" (instead of S'Wonderful. I'd heard it had happened before I saw it, and it was so much worse than I'd imagined) Stephen is a vegetarian, so there was no turkey. Instead, Kristin made a vegetable jambalaya. Carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, a parsnip, garlic, onion, and all sorts of spices; served in a something delicious that I can't remember what it was. Kristin? Anywho. We also had crescent rolls, pumpkin bread, cranberry sauce, roasted asparagus and brussell sprouts, and a lemon tart. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner frightens me to death, so I didn't cook anything, but I did wash all the dishes afterward. We watched The Sting and Breakfast At Tiffany's.
FRIDAY
Guess who wakes up at three in the morning with plugged ears! This girl! And after half an hour of tossing and turning, I get back to sleep, wake up at 7am with an irritated throat. Soon after the runny nose and the headache kick in. Oh the joys of a head cold in the middle of a vacation. But before it really got going, we went to Lego Land. A fun little trip, mostly for kids, but there are some cool exhibits. Miniature cities (New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, just to name a few), there were some amazing automated jungle animals and dinosaurs, a dragon, busts of famous people, and an amazing Star Wars exhibit - including character statues and fully fledged scenes from every movie (again, pictures on facebook). We came back, a few board games were played, phone calls to parents were made, naps were taken. Then it was off to the theatre again! This time to see another Kristin Hayes lighting design called, A Hammer, A Bell, And A Song To Sing. Music of protest, peace, and revolution throughout the last century. It was absolutely wonderful. I only wish I hadn't been blowing my nose through most of the show. Luckily, because of the great music, the only person who I'm sure noticed was the gentleman sitting on my right. Stephen was sitting on my left, and he had no clue.
SATURDAY
The time has come to say goodbye to Kristin and Stephen, even with the cold and no turkey, it's been an amazing week. But the time has come to continue my journey, and so off I go to the Budget Car Rental lot at the San Diego airport. I pick up my gps and my little blue Nissan Versa and I'm on my way to LA for lunch with my cousin Keith and his girlfriend. I hadn't met Annie before, so it was fun to get to know her. I learned I learned that Keith has made her into a bigger Bears fan than he is, and we talked about movies, and going to Disneyland and touring Warner Bros next time I visit. But lunch none of us are truly capable of talking for hours on end, and my parking meter had a limit of two hours. So soon I was on the road again, this time to Palmdale to see my Aunt Liz and Uncle Brian. I arrived just in time for cocktails and the end of The King's Speech. News travels faster than I do, my bedside table was decorated with magazines, tissues, and a bowl of cough drops and ibuprofen. But the driving had suitably distracted me from my cold so that I was up for going out to dinner. We went to this great little off-the-beaten-track rustic feeling italian restaurant. My god the food was good. And the waiter was pretty cute too - extra good at his job because he made eye contact with each person he was talking to.
SUNDAY
After NyQuill an excellent night's sleep in the most comfortable bed ever, I awoke to the melodious sounds of the first quarter of the Bears game. Unfortunately, since this particular television set was in California, FOX decided that we wanted to see a more competitive game, and after halftime, switched to showing Atlanta versus Tampa Bay. So those of us who wanted to watch the Bears continue to cream the Vikings were out of luck. I had a long day and a long drive to get to anyway.
The drive to San Francisco from Palmdale, on a regular, low-traffic day, should have taken 5 1/2 - 6 hours. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I knew it would be bad. It was very, very bad. I got to pretending all the cars I saw regularly were good acquaintances. I had nicknames for them all: Texas, Ladder with an Honor Roll, Speedy Gonzalas, Tennessee Greenie Ford, Safari Van, and Jerry Brown, just to name a few. I learned not to get stuck in the left lane when traffic is inching forward. And I when I couldn't find a good oldies station, I settled for current pop music. Listened to KeSha's latest song waayyyy too much. Really don't like the song at all. I left Palmdale at 2:23pm and arrived at the airport in San Francisco to drop off my car at 11:30pm. My directive was to drop the car off with an empty tank, and I have to say, I'm really please with myself that I managed the gas tank in such a away that I made it to the SF city limit just as the dashboard started to tell me I was running very low on fuel. My host for the last stop of my California adventure, my great friend, Ben, picked me up at the airport and proceeded to get lost on the way back to the condo he shares with his partner, Fred. I can't blame him tho - I know from experience that one missed exit can really get you turned around. We got to the condo eventually, and once Fred got home (coming in from ATL) we all ended up chatting until 3am.
MONDAY
Their living space is super cool. A comparatively small place, but still three stories tall. Front door leads to an entry way - turned office, up the stairs to the main floor. Living room with attached kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom, a couple closets - one with a washer dryer. And there's a straight, white, metal ladder up to the loft - which is where I slept. Very cool. Definitely had blisters on my hands by the time I left tho. By Monday morning, my cold was all but gone. Both Ben and Fred had to work, and so as per options discussed the evening before, I took the streetcar (the real, classic line that still runs and stops right outside their building) down to the Wharves. I got off at Pier One and walked. I passed ads for sailboat racing competitions, the Alcatraz tour (sold out for the day) and all the way down to Pier Thirty-Nine. This implies that there are 39 piers. There are not 39 piers. I stopped at Pier 39 because, in case some of you are not aware, Pier 39 is the tourist pier. It's filled with shops and restaurants, even a carousel. They don't have a Shakespeare theatre though
;-).
After perhaps a little too much time there, I was feeling very run down, so I went back to the condo to phone the mother and read my book until the guys came home. They did, later than expected because the subway broke down. But it was all good. We talked and had a turkey chili, went to bed early.
TUESDAY
Ben works at Berkley in the education department. We had tickets to see The White Snake, by Mary Zimmerman on Tuesday night, and since Ben had to work, I went with him in the morning. But first I had to mail something I'd picked up the day before to Palmdale as a Christmas/Thank-you gift for Liz and Brian. The Fed-Ex office was just a short walk. Not only did I have a box to mail, but I had my change of clothes for the evening. The middle-aged man at the counter couldn't have been more helpful. He was very festive, wearing a necklace of flashing Christmas lights, and he found a shipping box that perfectly held the gift. After we crossed the East Bay Bridge in Ben's blue beetle, and arrived at the office, I realized that I had left my dress for the show at the Fed Ex office. The same man who had helped mail my package answered the phone when we called and assured my bag would be safe there overnight. So it was with relief that I went out an explored the town of Berkley. After I got the tour of all the theatres, and the new property under construction, of course. I went to see Skyfall (loved the new Bond girl! - and no I'm not talking abe Berenice Marlohe or Naomie Harris). The theatre had couches instead of seats, instead of seats - very comfortable. Then I really just wandered. Spent a lot of time in the half-price book store, and a little in a scandinavian furniture store. Then it was time for Ben and I to go to dinner. We went to this sweet little italian place called Giovanni's, which was celebrating its 50th year of operation. We're pretty sure Giovanni, himself, greeted us and brought us to our table. A very quiet, unassuming elderly gentleman; whenever he wasn't seating guests, he was looking over the room, seeing that everything was going well. The food was delicious - even though no spoon came with the pasta and the bread only came with butter. After dinner, it was time to see the show! 1 hour and 40 minutes, with no intermission. The White Snake is a beautiful story, and was beautiful to watch. I have to say, however, that it was written in such a way that the actors should have been speaking chinese-accented english. As it was, much of the dialogue sound very awkward with the unaccented colorblind casting. And the lyrics of the few songs were just bad. I haven't seen Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphosis, but I'm pretty confident that, as good as the story is, this is no Metamorphosis. After the show, I was completely exhausted, so I was in bed fairly quickly after we got back to the condo.
WEDNESDAY
Ben and Fred are so cute. And I hate that it only takes them 20 minutes to get ready in the morning. My flight was, again, at 12:30. The evening before, we had planned to leave at 9:15a, and I had not yet begun to pack. So I was up at 7am (with the construction workers next door - a whole foods with condos above is opening late next year), quietly padding around, getting all my stuff together, showering, etc. I even went down to the Fed Ex and collected my bag from the day before. I was completely ready to go and was just sitting down with a cup of tea when the boys woke up. We were in the blue bug and driving through the rain by 9:23am. The rain was so crazy that it was raining under the bridge (two-level bridge, west bound traffic is on top, east bound traffic is underneath). Upon arrival at the Oakland airport, I said a heartfelt goodbye to Ben, gave Fred a hug, and proceeded to my gate. This time, instead of a one-way flight, I had to connect in Phoenix. Luckily, we were able to take off on time, during a lull in the storm, and I had just enough time to use the restroom and purchase a salad before boarding the second plane. On flight number two, I decided I'd earned a Chardonnay. But the flight attendant told me she had to go and get it, and she went through and finished taking orders. I, and my already paid for Chardonnay was forgotten. An hour later, I stopped another flight attendant and explained what had happened. She apologized and came back with not one, but two mini bottles of wine. Life is good sometimes. Otherwise, the flight was uneventful, and after an hour and twenty minutes on the EL, I was finally home.
A glorious California vacation it was. And I discovered that 10 days of vacation time in a place that's not "home" is my limit. Perhaps I can go longer if I can stay healthy.
And now that it has taken me 24 hours to write this, I'd better finish up. I doubt that many will have finished this, if you have - my congratulations.