Wish You Were Here

All my bags weren’t packed, I wasn’t ready to go. But I had to get myself packed. Wednesday was a whirlwind of activity, as we prepared to travel to The City. That would be San Francisco. When I come to this vibrant place to visit my son, I feel like I’m in my element. I belong here, and those are hard words for a fifth generation Texan to utter. First, however, I had to get here. As I get older, preparing for a trip has become more excruciating.

Do y’all remember how easy packing was when you were younger? All I had to do was grab a toothbrush and I could be out the door. That was then. I’ll spare y’all the details of the creams and foundations that an older woman needs (and I won’t tell you about the tweezers necessary to pluck the stray chin hairs that sprout overnight and grow long enough to braid). Wednesday was spent in a whirlwind of packing those accouterments of middle aged beauty. I also had to find underwear that wasn’t my “Sunday” ones—-the holey kind.

On top of the packing, I had to arrange a cat sitter, secure the house, and I had to get these packages of crocheted squares out the door to volunteers, so that they could continue to crochet for Share A Square.

Then, as I was about to do laundry, we discovered that the plumbing had backed up. Eric got to rent a “snake” from Home Depot and clear out the lines. How happy was he? Not very.

After a lot of frustration, and the usual wondering of what we forgot to do, we made it to the airport before the crack of dawn on Thursday. I needed a bit of an eye-opener, so I had my Bloody Mary before I got on the plane. It was served by a little girl who was just too perky in the morning, but she understood my needs. That’s all I cared.

A long flight later, we arrived at SFO, and I tried touching base with my son. Of course he wasn’t awake yet, it was only 11:00. The child is an artist, which I think translates into “night owl.”

Yes, it IS San Francisco…see the cable cars?

Eric CAN smile, even when toting heavy bags across town to our hotel. Well, he can smile if strangers are taking our picture.

Union Square is a shopping Mecca.

But I much prefer the tiny wonders you can find on any side street. On Sutter, near our hotel, I found a shop called Three Bags Full, with marvelous hand made sweaters. Yes, I bought one, and Eric had to drag me out of the place before I pledged my first born son to her in payment for more.

She had a magnificent sweater made in the UK which was dyed with natural materials. It was the most expensive thing in the shop, and worth every penny. But, it was far beyond my pitiful means.

After meeting with my son, we took a cab ride across town that was wilder than a ride at Disney World. We went to a cafe called “Gratitude.” It was a “vegan” restaurant, and I wasn’t happy not to get my bacon, but it was actually quite delicious.

Matt was grateful for “Zen-like cab drivers.”

A trip to The de Young Museum

And a visit to the Japanese Tea Gardens were included in our day.

More to come if I can find a decent internet connection. Right now, I have to get out of this hotel room and into the streets of San Francisco. There’s a world out there waiting for me to explore it. I wish you were here!

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Tagged as: San Francisco, travel, vacation