Queen of Rambles

We’re back! For what, 24 hours? Something like that? We had a great time down in San Francisco, though it was very intense and tiring! We had signed up for a compact car with the hopes of being upgraded. Boy, were we ever upgraded. We spent the weekend in a big ol’ Trailblazer that wasn’t exactly good for sneaky lane changes on a California freeway.

The trip down (and back) was really quick. It only took us about seven hours each way, which made me wonder why we haven’t done it sooner. Of course, we were so uncertain about our financial future that a nice trip just wasn’t in the cards any sooner.

We really picked a pretty terrible weekend to visit Mike’s friends. Steph was out of town all weekend on a business trip and Greg was very, very, very busy working. He and his buddies are trying to sell their company (they make transducers for sonograms) and he had to get a giant presentation ready. Basically, we were on our own for the weekend. Totally ok for us, but we just felt bad about them feeling bad about abandoning us. Anyway, no need to worry over guilt. We were all grownups and had a good time when we were able to spend Sunday evening together.

Saturday was totally cool. We met and at a chocolate factory in Berkley. I had no idea how chocolate was made, but now I know it all. Or at least I know all they were willing to tell me. It was very, very interesting and it was a lot of fun to meet new people.

Then we headed off on a grand adventure. Grand adventures always involve a little bit of “uhhhhh. . wasn’t that the exit?” and this was no small grand adventure. This was a full-fledged “why are we so stupid and lost” kind of adventure. Luckily Jenny was also lost so we ended up beating her to the Palace of Fine Arts. We took a wild ride through San Francisco and got a nice Italian dinner while gossiping about all the Freaks. Then we took a walk to Fishermen’s Wharf and regretted not listening to everyone who said “take a coat!” I was stupid and wearing shorts so we ended up leaving about 9, getting lost again, and finally getting back to Greg’s place at about 10. Poor, poor Greg. He’d gone in to work at about 6 am and didn’t get home until 2 am. You read that right. We didn’t see him at all, though Mike talked to him on the phone briefly.

We were supposed to hang out with Greg on Sunday but he had to work again, so Mike and I took off for the coast and had a nice, leisurely drive back up to the Palace of Fine Arts (again!). We had a superb Italian meal in Half Moon Bay (Is that the setting of a Dean Koontz book?) and I even tried polenta. I didn’t think I would like it. I almost didn’t try it. It looked way, way too much like grits. I took a bite and the choir started singing. I liked it! I really liked it!

We spent a couple of hours at the Exploratorium and kind of regretted that. It was a cool, hands-on science museum, but it was so crowded that we didn’t have good access to all the toys. We got back to Greg and Steph’s and spent a lot of time out on their deck. They have a wonderful little deck/backyard area that we envied. We want to take it (and the weather) to DC with us. Greg and Steph came home and we finally got to visit! I have no idea why I was so worried. They are the nicest people in the world–very down to earth and easy to talk to. I wish we lived closer so we could hang out more often. I think I may have done more talking than Mike, if you can believe that. I have no idea what happened with my shyness.

The one bad thing? The lack of pictures! What happened to the part of me that wanted to be a photographer? We hardly got any shots of anything, which kind of makes me mad. We didn’t get any at all of us together or of Greg and Stephanie!

The one good thing? We went down on this beach and I knew it was going to be a LONG hike back up a STEEP hill. If you recall, I don’t like walking up hills. I think my elliptical work is really paying off because I didn’t have to cry or whine a single time. I was winded when we got to the top, but so was everyone else. I really like being in better shape. It makes life a whole heck of a lot easier and less embarrassing.

Should I even mention the wonderfully divine chocolate cheesecake at the chocolate factory? I think I’ll be doing at least six hours on the elliptical tomorrow. I guess that’s not very practical, but I sure do need it. We did do a lot of walking, so that really helped, but I missed exercise. What has become of my lazy slob-ass self?

I guess I better go. I’ll probably make one last post tomorrow before we pack up the computer and ship it off on the UPS truck. I miss you guys!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2004 at 7:54 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.