Into the TARDIS!
The Doctor is taking us back in time all the way to last week! Ooo.
My parents spent Friday morning going back to Napa to get their wine properly packed and labeled "Olive Oil" (not kidding), so they didn't arrive at my apartment until two-ish, which worked out fine for giving me time to catch up with life. My dad caught a twenty-minute siesta while I took my mom for a quick tour of the neighborhood. When we got back, everyone was ready to head up the peninsula again. Being quite the genius, I forgot my sunscreen, camera, and jacket, but the former wasn't necessary, the latter was resolved with my mom's spare one, and as for the middle, you'll just have to go without visual aids this time. :-P
Our primary target was Golden Gate Park, and within that, the Japanese Tea Garden; we went there last time we were up here as a family and all enjoyed it. It was windy, but warm in the sun, so we had a nice walk around the enclosed garden and then a lot of tea. Which went right through some of us. *g* But it was pleasant, nonetheless. Afterwards, we drove in circles around the park - on purpose, all right? Much better than hiking against the wind.
Of course, we didn't completely avoid that classic SF experience. We kept going north and west to hit the coast and then meander around the tip, stopping at a few vantage points so my dad could take pictures until it became clear that my mom and I were going to either freeze in place or blow over. It was frickin' cold and made me glad I hadn't decided to explore living in the city.
We turned eastward to do the traditional drive down Lombard Street. It really is absurd how people line up to creep sloooooowly down the twisty part. There was road work happening on the way up, too, which made the procession even sillier. We continued up the next rise to Coit Tower, and I really wished I had my camera then, because the fog was blowing in and the tops of the buildings were being obscured in interesting ways. Looking straight up to watch them was vertigo-inducing, too. But then, my fingers might've been too numb to take a decent snapshot, anyway.
By now, we were cold and hungry, so we headed back to Mountain View, and after walking up and down the street again, finally settled on the Indian-Chinese place - although my mom and I could pretty much have eaten dirt at that point and been satisfied. The service was questionable, but the food was good and I brought home lots of leftovers. After dinner, we went back to my place for a short while to digest, and the parents left just in time for the second round of Stargates (Dad totally would've stayed for them, but Mom was giving him the almighty Look).
And that was Friday.
My parents spent Friday morning going back to Napa to get their wine properly packed and labeled "Olive Oil" (not kidding), so they didn't arrive at my apartment until two-ish, which worked out fine for giving me time to catch up with life. My dad caught a twenty-minute siesta while I took my mom for a quick tour of the neighborhood. When we got back, everyone was ready to head up the peninsula again. Being quite the genius, I forgot my sunscreen, camera, and jacket, but the former wasn't necessary, the latter was resolved with my mom's spare one, and as for the middle, you'll just have to go without visual aids this time. :-P
Our primary target was Golden Gate Park, and within that, the Japanese Tea Garden; we went there last time we were up here as a family and all enjoyed it. It was windy, but warm in the sun, so we had a nice walk around the enclosed garden and then a lot of tea. Which went right through some of us. *g* But it was pleasant, nonetheless. Afterwards, we drove in circles around the park - on purpose, all right? Much better than hiking against the wind.
Of course, we didn't completely avoid that classic SF experience. We kept going north and west to hit the coast and then meander around the tip, stopping at a few vantage points so my dad could take pictures until it became clear that my mom and I were going to either freeze in place or blow over. It was frickin' cold and made me glad I hadn't decided to explore living in the city.
We turned eastward to do the traditional drive down Lombard Street. It really is absurd how people line up to creep sloooooowly down the twisty part. There was road work happening on the way up, too, which made the procession even sillier. We continued up the next rise to Coit Tower, and I really wished I had my camera then, because the fog was blowing in and the tops of the buildings were being obscured in interesting ways. Looking straight up to watch them was vertigo-inducing, too. But then, my fingers might've been too numb to take a decent snapshot, anyway.
By now, we were cold and hungry, so we headed back to Mountain View, and after walking up and down the street again, finally settled on the Indian-Chinese place - although my mom and I could pretty much have eaten dirt at that point and been satisfied. The service was questionable, but the food was good and I brought home lots of leftovers. After dinner, we went back to my place for a short while to digest, and the parents left just in time for the second round of Stargates (Dad totally would've stayed for them, but Mom was giving him the almighty Look).
And that was Friday.