You Thought It Was Hot Here?

So I am home, safe and sound, from a great vacation in San Francisco. We had a ball! However, they are experiencing a heat wave of their own out there, so it wasn't much cooler in SF. Actually, the day we went wine tasting in Napa Valley it was 115, but we'll get to that later!

We got there on Monday afternoon and after navigating the rather ghetto San Jose airport, we got to our rental car and headed up the 101 to San Bruno where we were staying. San Bruno is about 15 minutes south of San Francisco, and is a nice little suburb. We checked in to the hotel and then went for a drive on Hwy 1 (I think it's better known as the PCH). It was awesome! Beautiful views, light fog rolling in...very pretty. We ate at a restaurant there in Pacifica, and our table faced the window looking over the water and watching the sun set. We went back to the hotel and absolutely zonked out! (We were so tired!) We got up Tuesday and headed downtown. We walked around SF, and made our way to Fisherman's Wharf. We walked all over and had yummy fish and chips and clam chowder - in a sourdough bowl, of course! We tried to go see Alcatraz, but the tours were booked up for days, so we walked around the pier, and then went to the aquarium. It was great! The last half of the aquarium has you walk through a tunnel with the larger fish swimming around you-very cool! I got to touch a starfish and David touch a stingray looking thing. (We were supervised, don't worry!) After that we went to the Franciscan restaurant and had appetizers and drinks and watched the boats on the bay. By then it was getting cold so we called it a day. We had been out walking and we were tired!

Wednesday we went to Chinatown. There is so much crap for sale there! Do people really buy all that? We bought a set of chopsticks and some tea to try at home. We had lunch in one of the restaurants, and then we went and got some bubble tea. That stuff is crazy! It's flavored tea with big tapioca balls (or "pearls" as they like to call them) in the bottom. You drink it through a huge straw big enough for the tapioca pearls to fit through. It was good! Wierd, but good! We walked around until we found the trolley car stop, and hopped on. We rode it to the end of the line and then back up to where we parked the car. They do all of the mechanics by hand on those trolleys! (all the stopping, turning them around, etc!) After that, we headed back towards our hotel. We'd walked so much I think my feet were going to fall off.

Thursday we spent driving around. We drove about an hour south of San Jose on the 101 into Gilroy, which is apparently the garlic capital of the world. There are also cherry orchards there, and we stopped and picked up a big bag of fresh cherries to eat in the car. They were incredibly sweet! We drove to Los Gatos and ate at a really good Mexican restaurant that had great service! I had seafood enchiladas and they were awesome! Then we had to pick up David's sisters, Cheryl and Lea Anne, from the airport. After we got them, we headed over to David's Aunt and Uncle's house in Newark for a BBQ. David has a lot of relatives! His parents were already there and it was nice to see them. I also met David's cousin, Carrie, who was the one getting married. Everyone was so nice! They loved all the Texans who came for the wedding, although we were getting blamed for bringing the hot weather! After that, we headed back to our hotel, about 30 minutes away.

Friday we got up and wandered out to Pittsburgh (Yes, in CA!) to meet David's sisters at his cousin's house. We all had lunch together at a Mexican place that made David and I not feel so good. We shouldn't eat anything for a good 9 hours after that. We drove to Napa to taste wines, but we got a late start and the wineries close at 4:30 or 5, so we tasted in one place and called it a day. We did get pictures of vineyards, though! We ate a late dinner at Chili's (grilled chicken and veggies for me!) and called it a day.

Saturday we went to go see the Titanic exhibit in SF. It was incredible! You were given a "boarding pass" that looked like the originals the passengers had. Each one had a different passenger's name, and at the end of the exhibit, you found out if your person survived or not. (Mine was a 1st class passenger who was a nightclub singer in Paris! How appropriate! She lived, by the way.) They had mock ups of the state rooms, the grand staircase, and the even had a piece of the Titanic that had been restored! It was awesome to see corked champagne bottles that still had champagne in them. It made it all very real, and we were both very glad we went. Afterwards, we walked around and found the coolest Old Navy store! We both ended up doing some serious shopping! And after that we went to AT&T Park to watch the Giants beat the Padres. It was a cool baseball field, but it was expensive to eat or drink there! Parking alone was $25! (Beer was $8, lemonade was $5, and it just gets pricier from there!) But we had a good time. It was a large group-all the out of town wedding guests, the wedding party, and the bride and groom. Lots of fun!

Sunday was the wedding day for Carrie and (her now husband) Patrick. It was a lovely ceremony and a fun reception. It was very hot in there, so I didn't feel much like dancing, but it was lots of fun and the food and the cake (especially the cake!) was divine! We enjoyed good wine and met lots of people. I got to visit with David's mother and father some more, and I really like them! :) After all the wedding hoopla, we went to the hotel and then changed into cooler clothes. We ran into Cheryl and Lea Anne in the hallway and we all went to grab a bite. We ended up at a Vietnamese place, which I have to tell you is not my bag. I ate some spring rolls, but I just don't get into that food at all. But the spring rolls were very good! :)

Monday morning, we packed up and headed out to the airport. On the way, we got pulled over by the CHP (Yeah, we met a real CHiP!) who informed us that the registration on the car was expired. Ugh! No ticket for us since it was a rental, and the cop was very nice. He helped us find a gas station ($3.16/gal) and then we turned in the car and headed to our terminal. It was a long day yesterday getting home, and as much fun as we had, we were ready to be back. Vacations are good, but coming home is wonderful!

So I am tired today, feeling a bit jet lagged, but getting back into the groove. However, I wish I wasn't at work!! I hope everyone has had a good week! I am still getting caught up with everyone, so if I haven't talked to you yet, I will!