the bay 2011

Our timing couldn't be better. We bought these tickets months ago, but never really sat down to plan it. September (WA), October (LV) and now November (SF) have been big vacation months for me and Nahdia. In the excitement of the other two trips we neglected the itinerary of this last trip, but thanks to recommendations from friends and internet bloggers we were able to fill our days and nights with some interesting sights.

Day One

Our Alaska Airlines flight was assigned seating so we dutifully found our 5D and 5E seats and tried to make the most of a tight situation...bucket list Life #1 or flying first class should be one of my immediate future goals (lol, immediate & future...that's how committed I am). Anyway, we squeeze in and this palagi lady strolls up talking about how Nahdia's in her seat and where's her bag.

Nahdia: This is my seat

Old Lady: Well then you're in my seat (pointing to the palagi lady in front of us)

Seat Swiper: Oh.

Old Lady: Where's my bag? It was on the seat? 

(Me and Nahdia stare at each other....)

Nahdia: There was no bag here.

(The Old Lady looks at the Seat Swiper, then she looks back at us.)

Old Lady: Is it under the chair?

I'm pretty irritated by now. This lady is acting like we're all inconveniencing her. Excuuuuse me, I'm on vacation. I thought I left all the loud, obnoxious people behind me.

Me: IS IT BLUE?

Old Lady: Yes

Nahdia: Is it an Adidas bag?

Old Lady: Yes. Can you girls move your legs so I can get it.

(We both look at each other. There is no way we're moving so this rude old lady can get into our air-tight row. We did a little/lot of maneuvering to get that cursed bag outta our floor space.)

(Old Lady sits down in her spot and proceeds to gripe at Seat Swiper. Seat Swiper realizes me and my traveling companion are not too happy and tries to smooth things over by saying it looks like we're all having a bad morning. Nope, nope, we weren't and although we were bothered, we didn't let it ruin our morning.)

Dun dun DUUUUUN

How much is the rental car? OMG, I have never spent so much. The insurance was more than the daily rate. Since we spent an outrageous amount on "Kitty" we decided to make the most of our investment.

Meet Kitty...

We logged almost 1300 miles in our six-day trip. Thank you Dollar Rental for your unlimited package, we took about four road trips while we were there. 

So when I read the reviews about our San Jose motel I chalked it up to champagne taste on a beer budget. As we near our Holiday Inn we pass a huge cemetery and ding! ding! ding! I remember one of the complaints was about a cemetery located across the street, that was pretty creepy. Our motel was old and could use some renovations, but hey, it was cheap. We spent the rest of the day relaxing, checking out the local Walmart and generally bumming it in the hotel.

Day Two

It's Saturday!! Time to hit up the San Jose Swap Meet and check out all the great buys!! We joked about how some of the merchandise looked a little like the stuff you see on Storage Wars. A lot of the venders had the same stuff...excuse me, who's your supplier? Nope? Not gonna share? We still walked away with some super nice stuff.

I like to think of myself as a bargain shopper and there are plenty of bargains to be had at the swap meet, but as far as haggling goes...I'm definitely a novice. 

We decided to head out to San Francisco to see what all the hullabaloo is all about. Baloo balooo balooooo =] It is stunning. 

"It's like a roller coaster" "Look at that house! I loooove the architecture." "There's the bridge!!" "Fire Escape...and another one. Fire Escape!!" "Awesome" "Amazing"

These are some of the things we said upon meeting San Francisco, "The city that knows how"

This city knows how to take my breath away, how to be consistently foggy, how to maintain ethnic neighborhoods with distinct smells, sights and flavors. This city knows how to do many things and I feel like we've only gotten to the tip of the iceberg here. We definitely have a repeat trip in mind.

49-mile scenic drive

The views from the Marina are beautiful, but my favorite part of this yet-to-be-completed drive was the Palace of Fine Arts. The detail and majesty of the structure paired with the bordering pond is truly incredible...took my breath away, lol.

I was literally running in and out of the columns trying to video tape and snap pictures of this awe-inspiring tribute to ancient architecture.

 

I cannot neglect to mention the ingenuity of my co-pilot in rigging the gorilla pod to the sun visor and rear view mirror. Those videos are upside down =) but when they're righted, watching them almost feels like a ride simulation. Woot woot! We's gettin' high tech! lol.

Pay the lady! We paid $5 for our first crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge. I honestly don't think the bay bridge gets enough love. It's much longer and it has a tunnel, people! It's cooler than the GGB in my book. *steps off soap box*

We were pooped after completing half of the scenic drive and after a quick bite to eat we hauled it back to San Jose to rest up before a trip to King's Egg Rolls...YUM...and the local stores for some Black Friday madness. Did you know it's about 50 miles from SF to SJ? We probably put almost 200 miles on Kitty that day...way to stretch that dollar! lol.

Day Three

The Lord's day =] We went to church, check! But we left right after they passed the sacrament. We were joking about how our Sunday worship gets shorter and shorter with each vacation. In Washington we stayed for all 3 hours, Vegas was sacrament only and SJ was the actual sacrament only. Okay, maybe that's not a joking matter. The building was pretty interesting. We weren't sure what the engraving on the outside was all about and the actual sacrament hall was humongous, with these weird side cut outs. 

[One thing I absolutely loved about this trip was the opportunity to see a different era and style of architecture than I'm used to seeing in Southern California. I told Nahdia that I love the outside architecture of the buildings, it has character; but I'm not into the "charm" of that old stuff on the inside of a home. Old houses could be haunted, but a new home with an outside patterned after a Victorian home and a modern inside seems like the perfect balance between my desire for character & convenience and my aversion to fantasmas, eek.]

The Lord's day, right? AAAAh, but we went back to the Swap Meet because there were some things we couldn't find anywhere else. We found the Tonga booth! I found the perfect gift for my momma and I'm hoping she can play it off if my idea of perfection doesn't match hers...she's notorious for speaking her mind, lol.

(My family draws names every year so that everyone can get at least one present and so we don't break the bank at Christmas time. When I was 12 or 13 I pulled my mom's name. Armed with my Christmas cash I scoured the store shelves for an appropriate gift. I remembered her saying something about needing a stapler and where is her stapler and why don't we put anything back where we find it? I decided to buy her a stapler. It's exactly what she needed and she wouldn't have to use her own money. This was my idea of the perfect gift and I was excited for her to open it. Imagine my surprise when she opens it and asks me why did I buy this and blah blah blah she doesn't want it. I don't think I have pulled her name since that year, phew...until now. If she doesn't like what I got her this year then I guess I'll try a gift card in the future.)

Oakland Temple!! I have always said that the Oakland temple is my favorite temple because it's the prettiest. It did not disappoint, especially all lit up with Christmas lights =))))) We met some awesome sister missionaries who shared the message of Heavenly Father's Plan for us and took heaps and heaps of photos of the Lord's House.

We also drove out to Sacramento to see Capitol Hill. The impressive building is huge and with a layer of fog it's quite intimidating and creepy.

ONE WAY STREETS - they're confusing and I don't like 'em, just thought I'd share. One way streets and psycho taxi drivers were two of the major dangers of this trip...that and sightseeing instead of paying attention to the road, oops. I didn't realize how much I enjoy sightseeing until I visited Washington--I loved the natural beauty of that state.

Sunday was a pretty long day...church, swap meet, Oakland temple, downtown Oakland, Sacramento, Oakland temple for the lights, Oakland Oracle stadium area and back to SJ. Many many millas that day.

The last half of our trip details to follow...my afternoon power nap is starting to wear off. 

xoxo from the golden state =]