I'm in a chatty mood right now and I thought, what better way to relieve this feeling with a long overdue blog :) I guess the best thing to do would be to recap this past with PICTURES (and words) Shall we begin this journey?
Friday August 29th
I managed to drag myself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 6 am, a feat of which I am still amazed. After showering, packing, and chatting with the parents, I was on my way to Irvine. I dropped off the sickest sandwich ever created, picked up my two passengers, and commenced the 7 hour drive. It was long. Very, very long, and uneventful for the most part. We stopped in Gorman (5 points if you know where that is) for lunch. Ask David about the bathroom! Driving Driving Driving Driving San Lorenzo! Only after my navigator fell asleep and got us lost. All was good though. I tried duck that night. Interesting. Tasty? Messy! And I met....errr....got to know the coolest person ever! This guy.
His name is Mike. He is my cousin. He is freaking awesome. He is the shiz, if I may. He is my twin, sort of kind of. I've never been able to connect with someone so fast and just be completely open and myself around them. If I could, I would move up to San Francisco right now, just to be around him. But alas, I can't. And I will have to settle with a few visits a year, if that! I'm going up again in October, for anyone who would like to visit with me :) After staying up til 2 am, we called it quits and headed for bed, only to awake....
Saturday August 30th
....at 7 am the next morning! It will be your job to tally how many cups of coffee/tea/caffeinated drinks I had in this time span. Mike got me coffee bright and early. Breakfast was delicious. Biscuits and gravy, always a winner in my book. Then San Francisco! I mistook the Bay Bridge for the Golden Gate, which was slightly embarrassing, but it was still awesome! Our first stop was Coit Tower. Many steps. Steep sidewalks.
High altitude. It was pretty cool. We couldn't see the Golden Gate because of all the fog or smog or whatever it was. But there was a nice view of Alcatraz. (Not as good as from the Golden Gate) But still awesome. Going back down the steps was a lot easier. As soon as we hit the streets again we were bombarded with smells, people, visuals, but mostly people. San Fran is crowded to the max! China town was the next stop. Cherri insisted that we try boba. Needless to say, I am not a fan of whatever those little ball things are. If you ever go up to China Town, you might find the remnants of them strewn about. The tea was good though! We went into a lot of shops. I was a little, a LOT overwhelmed by it all. I tried wasabi peas. Disgusting. Shrimp garlic fries. Not that great either. Then we hit Barney's. Oh the manaquins. Starbucks was our next stop. Mas cafe! Then if memory serves me, Golden Gate Bridge!!!!!! When I told my mom about this, the almost had a panic attack. (She hates bridges, cliffs, overpasses, and anything of that nature) The drive across the bridge was nothing too spectacular, slightly better than the Bay Bridge drive. We found a sweet parking spot and discovered that the other car
had gotten lost. BUT. I came to San Fran to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, and walk across the bridge, I did. And let me tell you, besides the people that I was able to hang out with,
this was the highlight of my trip. I stood on this piece of history; something that is a global icon for San Francisco; something powerful enough to withstand thousands of cars drive across it everyday. It was breathtaking, if I may. The view to Alcatrez was really good too. About as close as you can get without actaully going out to the island. And after careful observations, I realized that I could not swim from the island to the mainland, contrary to my previous beliefs. We reconnected with our group after that up in Headlands?? Hawk Hill?? An area near the bridge. Joey and David, cutest couple ;) I tried a pork
donut, Dim Sum as Cherri referred to it. Not the best part of the cuisine, but I ate it! After our pit stop on top of the hill, Mike and David displayed their manliness to us all by taking apart Cherri's car door! She was very concerned. But, they were able to fix it. And I learned how to disassemble a car door. We began the trek to Peir 39 after that. Driving in San Fran is CRAZY! There are so many pedestrians, more than I've ever seen. Everyone is trying to get everywhere all at the same time. The streets are narrow, the cars are huge. The lights are confusing. I can't parallel park, though I attempted. After almost killing my cousin, we decided that it would be best if he drove. I don't think I've ever had to go to the bathroom quite so bad, but we made it just in time. (Thank goodness. That might have been awkward)We walked the pier a little, saw a sweet pianists, went in to a few stores, nothing worth mentioning. After our other half arrived, we walked some more, and stopped at another starbucks. After a while, everything just seems to run together. Dinner was definitely worth mentining! Crab, in large quantities. We played a crazy game of tic-tac-toe. I lost, sadly. But I challenge anyone who is daring enough. Cherri ordered her first alcoholic drink on this occasion; a mimosa. (She wasn't a fan) She was a fan, however, of Mike's
vodka and redbull :) Can't say that I didn't enjoy it either. Then came the sad drive home, err, to Cherri's. I had to say good bye to my cousin, someone that I hadn't seen in almost 10 years. We'd only spent one day together, and it didn't feel like nearly enough time. There was never a dull moment. I'm going to miss him. Ok. Now that I'm done being a baby.... Cherri, David, and Joey finally made it back to the house. We chatted it up, went our separate ways...
Sunday August 31st
...only to wake up bright and early for church! And breakfast. 3 cheese omelet. Need I say more. I thought so. Church was interesting. I may have fallen asleep, but I was really tired, so I think it's acceptable...ish. We went back to the house to set up for the frigging awesome barbecue! Food, good. Friends, awesome. The nap I took right smack in the middle of it, AMAZING! After deciding to go to trampoline dodge ball, yes, dodge ball on trampolines, I got in contact with my other cousin. A two-fer! Trampolines are intense. Holy cow. After 7 jumps, approximately, I was
tired out. We made our way to some crazy Chinese restaurant, where I was able to meet up with cousin number 2, Joe. He drove all the way from...where ever he lives, just to see me! And although our hangout was short lived, that's not where this story ends. We drove home and stayed up till all hours of the night talking, laughing, hanging out, watching movies, and other crazy cool things. After finally making my way to bed at 3 am....
Monday September 1st
...I woke up to my alarm at 7!!!! So I could drive to Martinez to have IHOP deliciousness with Joe. After 3 cups of coffee, some intensely sugar-fied pancakes, we drove to a park and just talked. We caught up, laughed, reminisced and just straight up chilled. He's pretty awesome. And no, I never hated him. I actually always wanted to be cool enough for him. Haha. Funny. We made plans for next time. We talked about pranking my grandma. (And later decided that it probably wasn't the best idea in the world) It was just so nice to relax and figure out where our lives had taken us. Very different paths, might I add. After a sad good bye,
I made my way back to San Lorenzo and got ready to leave. Talking and other things of the nature delayed our departure until 1 pm. It was great though. I knew I was in no state to drive, so reluctantly, I gave David my keys. It was a very scary experience, giving the keys, not the whole driving part. And after 7 hours of our 8 hour drive, I was finally able to sleep. It probably didn't help much, but what can I say! I enjoyed the company more than I would have enjoyed crashing for 5 hours. I made it back to Irvine safe and sound, headed over to my apartment, ready to sleep for many mane hours. I was not able to do so. I had to catch up with Laura, which was an experience, like always, and then we were visited by Kevin and Richie, an equally interesting experience. Then sleep, something I had missed dearly.
Tuesday September 2nd
I can' say that there was anything too terribly exciting during the day. I pretty much did what I've done all summer. I sat on my bed, on my computer, watched tv, talked online, and frequented facebook a lot. Things started to pick up later in the day. Movie/chill out with some friends. And then In n Out :) Funny story, if you were wondering. So I go to pay for my meal, $5.31. I give the guy $6.00, expecting a handful of change. I get back $4.61. Does that even make sense?! So I'm laughing on the inside and go tell Kevin and Laura. About 45 seconds later, Richie comes up to me, hands me a dollar and says, "He (the guy at the register) says he owes you a dollar." Bahaha. I couldn't control myself. I had to leave. So for my $5.31 meal, I was payed 30 cents. He must have known it was almost my birthday :) We went back to the apartment, where I received my riduculously awesome/amazing present. Cheese and video games! There's nothing better. Well, maybe one thing better....(Laura - hahaha) Then there was darkness.
Wednesday September 3rd
I'm 19! It's exciting. My phone started ringing at 7 am and didn't stop, forcing me to get up. Gay. It was a pretty relaxing day though. The highlight was the 3 games of Cranium we played, and the 3 games of Cranium I owned, in case you were wondering. There were some mad skills going on that night. Definitely birthday worthy. "Eff this game! It's 4 in the morning Grandma, YOU WIN!"
Monday September 8th
I won't bore you with tedious details of the last few days. I've been working up the butt and missing friends every second. 4 more days until Irvine :) Today will be filled with errands, laundry, shopping, cleaning, packing, moving, relaxing??? and possibly some cake. Scratch that. Definitely cake.
