Hanging Out inSan Francisco

Friday night, after checking in, Brett located his sister and brother.  The entire family is staying in the same hotel.  Brett's sister, the mother of the bride, was busy with wedding prep, errands and the rehearsal.  So, we hung out with Brett's brother and his wife until time for the rehearsal dinner.  Brett's brother lives in Arizona so we don't see him very often.

The rehearsal dinner was across the street from our hotel, in a small Mexican restaurant in the Ferry building on the embarcadero.   Rather than a sit down dinner, we had endless appetizers and margaritas.  Brett, his brother and sister posed for a picture.

Brett, Dana and Kurt

The bride and groom to be were radiant.  We talked to all the nieces and nephews, friends of the family, and the groom's family.  I had a great time, and I don't like parties as a rule.  This gathering was very warm, friendly and welcoming. 

Saturday morning, Brett and I walked back to the Ferry building in search of breakfast.  On our way, we ran into the bride on her way back from the Farmers Market with a bouquet of flowers. 

After eating a pastry and drinking our coffee, we shopped for our lunch.  We bought a picnic to eat in our room (since it was still raining): cheeses and honeycomb from Cowgirl Creamery (the best cheese in California), a French baguette and a half bottle of Pinot Noir. 

The wedding guest shuttle to the San Francisco Zoo leaves at 3:15.  The wedding has been moved inside to a banquet room, but we will still need to walk through the zoo in the rain and wind. 

Rain, Rain and More Rain

Thursday morning, we did the morning chores and packed the car under rainy skies.

The freeways were wet but traffic was light, as we drove up the coast under light rain.  We stopped in downtown LA, at Philippe's, so I could have a beef dip sandwich.  I've been eating these since I was a little girl.  My dad has been eating them since he was a little boy.  I order our sandwiches double dipped at the counter.  Then we sit at little rickity tables, with sawdust under our feet, and I slather on their house spicy mustard.  I take a bite, my nose prickles and my eyes run.  I'm in heaven.

As we drove further north, the weather got colder and wetter.  We stopped again in Santa Maria at a little coffee hut and had the most amazing Mexican hot chocolate (Brett) and Mexican Mocha (me).   Mexican hot chocolate has a hint of cinnamon... so good.  We arrived at our Best Western hotel in Pismo Beach in the late afternoon.  The room was inexpensive so we weren't expecting much.  We were pleasantly surprised.  The hotel is old, but the rooms were clean with recently remodeled bathrooms and a comfortable bed.  And a view of the water.  We opened the sliding glass doors and listened to the roar of the waves drowning out the sound of the rain.

We had dinner with my son, Kyle, who is going to school at the university in nearby San Luis Obispo.  Kyle will be 21 on New Years Day and he seemed more young man than than the teenager who went off to school a little over two years ago.  My heart didn't know whether to be proud or whether to miss the little boy who climbed on my lap with a book.  Pride won.

In the morning, we woke to grey skies and a couple relaxing on our balcony.  When they saw us, the guy left but his girlfriend stayed behind and posed for pictures.

We met my parents for breakfast, lingering over our coffee and enjoying each others company.  I gave my mom my old Kindle, which is dying.  She's a big reader and my Kindle has 50+ books on it.  She can try mine out and, if she likes the Kindle, get one of her own when mine bites the dust.  It is getting difficult to charge and doesn't have a back light.  Brett is getting me a new one for Christmas. 

We got back on the road to finish our drive to San Francisco.  The rain was steady as we drove up the 101.  Brett munched on Good & Plenty while I stared out the window at the fields of wet cattle and vineyards.  An alarm went off, startling us both.  It was my iPhone telling us we were in danger from a flash flood.  ...and sure enough the traffic ground to a halt and then we crept forward through a foot of water that was flowing across the freeway. 

We were very happy to reach our hotel.  It will still be raining Sunday when we head home.  We are not going to take the 101.  We will take the 5 freeway which is boring, but wide and drains well.