San Francisco

Over the weekend, my family and I flew down to San Francisco! My dad had work in San Jose so we decided to keep him company over the weekend. With a short flight of just 1.5 hours, we landed at 8am and started our adventure in this dry, flat, and hot region. I have a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee so when we rented the new edition from Enterprise, I was so ecstatic to test out all of its features. From a double sun roof, to assisted parking, and a shiny black coat, I was able to live my dream for a few days. We dropped off our dad at the Amazon buildings and found a popular breakfast spot in San Jose. The restaurant was called Bill's Cafe and offered every breakfast option. From eggs Benedict, french toast, and quesadillas, we satisfied our hunger so well that we couldn't even eat lunch.

We stayed at an interesting hotel called 'The Domain'. It seemed to have been renovated in the past because of the interior facing rooms. But the lush drapes and indoor water features were inviting and relaxing. We had ocean and forest styled rooms which were thoughtfully designed and even equipped with a sleep number bed. The hotel also had an amazing pool area with luxurious cabanas that we spent Friday afternoon's day at. We truly felt we were in California. Growing up in Pittsburgh, we had two babysitters that watched over myself and three brothers on a weekly basis. Erinn and Brynn were sisters and the daughters of my dad's old boss. These two lovely ladies are like cousins to our family. Brynn and Erinn both went to Stanford and graduated a few years ago. They both reside in SF and we were able to steal some time from Erinn over the weekend. Erinn now has two children, both extremely cute. Erinn and the kids played with us in the pool and then we met up with her husband and my dad for dinner at a Persian restaurant. Kellen is consistently good at choosing menu items that are exotic and not necessarily good...he ordered a fermented yogurt drink...enough said. But along with mango lassies, we ordered kebabs and stews. It was a great authentic dinner with the whole gang.

The next morning, my dad and brothers set out to find some baked goods for breakfast. They stumbled upon a gourmet walnut-bean paste-pastry cafe. They watched the machine systematically fill and cook these little bean balls. These warm walnut goods were tasty and almost tasted like Nutella. Around noon we head to see San Francisco, but not without a few stop in Silicon Valley. We stopped at a computer supply shop as well as a non-profit gaming museum. As we passed Facebook, Google, and Apple HQ's we head out to Berkeley to visit the beautiful campus of UC Berkeley and ate across the street from "Celia's Restaurant". After a torta and some chips, we waited in the 30 minute toll line into SF. The traffic here is terrible-worst than Seattle. I have never been across the Golden Gate bridge, so this was a high priority for me! As we went across the bridge in slow moving traffic, it was so beautiful to see the city and bay from above. The bridge is so iconic and looks great in this city. After a few scenic stops of the bridge we head up to Twin peaks to get a different view of the city from above. It was an extraordinary view in which we drove through many colorful suburbs to get to. After a long day exploring the city, we head back to Palo Alto to have dinner with Erinn. We ate near Stanford on the beautiful University Drive. My brother chose Burma Ruby and we enjoyed garlic pork, pad thai, fried tofu, and salt and pepper calamari. After a long day, we head back to the hotel to get a good nights rest.

The next day, we picked up some deliciously warm donuts and went over to Erinn's home. With extremely high home prices, their family decided to renovate their house to add 1,200 sq. feet. We saw the house torn apart and framed with its new layout. It was so cool to see their home in this stage and I cannot wait to see it when it is done! After seeing the home, we took the kids to the park and played until we were hungry. We went to a Mediterranean spot and ordered sharma, gyros, and hummus. After another full stomach, we head to a rare and popular Japanese clothing store that Kellen had been dying to check out, called Uniqlo. With fair prices and unique quality, we picked up something for everyone in the family! Finally, we all head back down to the pool to jump around, swim, and relax.

We went to dinner at a local place called Fish Market. This spot is a California favorite and one that my parents loved when they lived in CA over 20 years again. We had a delicious meal full of seafood and my parents were feeling nostalgic about being back. It was great to see them so proud of themselves and our family. It was a great last night in California and sad to end this trip. We head out to Seattle on Monday morning, I will be back to Bellingham shortly after and getting ready to move into my new apartment!