West Coast, yo... part 1

(Driving over the Bay Bridge...)

The shuffle gods have been trying to get me to blog about my trip for days now... today I am finally caught up on sleep, the jet lag has worn off and I have a few hours to myself. So here goes nothing...
(p.s. The photos I don't post here can be found on my flickr page... they are private though so friend me to see them all)

My flight left Saturday February 28th at 7:10 from Tulsa International (ha!) Airport. This meant Karen was awake at 4:45 trying to triple check that she had in fact packed her underwear. I finally pulled Husband out of bed about 5:15 and we were off...

(He's excited can't you tell?)

I successfully passed through airport security without a strip search by that burly security guard Wanda I mentioned previously and then proceeded to have a small panic attack while waiting to board the plane. I forgot how much flying scares me until I found myself crying during take-off. lol Yea I felt like a total idiot and I'm sure the woman sitting next to me thought I was insane.
The flight to Dallas was short and sweet (half an hour) and it was kinda fun though to watch the sunrise from the plane...
I get off the plane in Dallas and what's the first thing I do? Look for the nearest Starbucks, forget finding my gate... I needed breakfast.
Breakfast O' Champions I tell ya... Of course as soon as I settle in at my gate with my breakfast they announce a gate change... all the way across the airport. At this point I would like to say I love the monorail system at the Dallas airport... freaking sweet.

(supposed to be a picture of the Grand Canyon but I was in the aisle seat so therefore the picture is sorta lame)

The flight from Dallas to San Jose was long and drawn out. I ate my pretzels, read and listened to massive amounts of Nickelback to pass the time. Of course Starbucks before a (nearly) 4 hour flight is not a smart thing and I found myself fighting my way to the bathroom mid flight.

Arrived in San Jose safe and sound. After a quick stop at Michelle's place we were off to San Fransisco for Comicon. Comicon was packed... The line for the Star Trek panel was wrapped around the building. (Good thing neither of us cared about Star Trek) I got exactly one picture that entire day. I should have taken a picture of the guys dressed up as X-Men (Night Crawler looked phenomenal!). Alas jet lag had dulled my common sense. Eventually we headed back to her house and nachos.

Man I miss Taco Bravo. They make some mean nachos. I felt bad for the girl behind the counter though because I took FOREVER to make up my mind. (I felt like a zombie lol) We giggled our way through nachos and The Water Boy... with me eventually admitting defeat and hauling my delusional butt off to bed.

Guess what though? I was wide awake at 6:30. Stupid time change.

That day we hit The Winchester Mystery House.
That place made me not feel quite so bad about my house...
I also developed a strange obsession with the wallpaper in the house. Most of the pictures I took are of the wallpaper, forget the door to nowhere... I want that wallpaper.
After we dropped the boy off we headed back to San Fransisco where we promptly got turned around trying to find Fisherman's Warf. So we walked the streets of San Fran with Michelle's pepper spray at the ready. We eventually found it but instead of actually going to the warf we went to Ripley's Believe it or Not.

I brushed up on the tools needed to kill vampires...
The great Zoltar read my fortune...

"The crystal gazer has wonderful things in store for you. A dear one will return from a long trip and your whole life will be different. You have a very patient disposition and your patience is about to be rewarded. Despair not I say for your days of despair will soon be over. Your calm spirit, and your good sense will see you through all emergencies. You have many friends, particularly in the armed forces. They are loyal to you, and are glad of an opportunity to be of "service" to you."

I also found out what will be written on my tombstone:
Monday I met up with the wonderful Josie and we headed back to San Fransisco to have lunch at a delicious raw/vegan restaurant.
Cafe Gratitude stole my heart and made me long for something half as wonderful in good 'ol T-Town.
The lunch sampler that we split:
And the most delicious cheesecake I've ever had...
Go on... call me a dirty hippie if you must... and yes I bought their recipe book.

Tuesday after Michelle attended a parent/teacher conference for the boy we attempted to hit Berkeley but the freezing rain didn't inspire us to ever really leave the car to walk around.
That night we got Thai food...
I liked everything until my entree came out... as you can tell. I felt like my head was going to catch on fire it was so spicy and evil...

Afterward Michelle was determined to hit the beach. So we went, in the freezing cold rain...
(See?! Freezing cold rain)
The waves were huge and horrifying...
After being thoroughly soaked and scared half to death by the incoming tide we cranked up the butt warmers in her car and drove home.

Michelle and I at the airport. What you don't see is me forgetting my jacket at her apartment the first time she tried dropping me off or the second time I forgot it in her car and had to fling myself at her car as she's driving away. Yea airport security got a kick out of that one...

So there ends the first half of my trip. Again much love and gratitude goes out to Michelle for loaning me her bed and putting up with me. Many thanks to Josie for the wonderful lunch date. You guys rock!