Memorial Weekend

Memorial weekend started off with a bang… well, more with a crash… literally.  I had just left work to start driving out to California to visit my brother Jeff, and one of my best friends, Jodee.  I made it maybe one-half mile away and hit someone.  There was a guy sitting in the suicide lane waiting to turn across traffic into a parking lot.  When he originally started turning, there was plenty of space for him to complete the turn but for some reason he was moving so very slow (kind of like he pressed the accelerator to start the turn but forgot to keep pressing the accelerator afterwards.)  I saw him start to turn so I slowed down a little bit.  As I continued to approach and he still was not moving very fast, I slowed down even more.  At this point, I went through the green light at the intersection and he was maybe half-way through the lanes and I was maybe 300 yards away.  I slammed on my breaks as I did not know if there was someone in the lane next to me or not in an effort not to hit him.  I even still turned my wheel in another effort to not hit him but I still got him in the back passenger bumper.

This man should not have still been driving.  He could barely write and kept repeating over and over again that he could not see me.  Ummm, my car is blue….. How could you not see me? (And no, he did not say anything about being color-blind.)  Even though I hit him, it was still his fault as he was crossing traffic.  Ultimately after exchanging information, talking to my insurance company, and determining that my car was still drivable and that nothing was leaking, I continued on to California.

It has been a few years since I have made that drive but I do not remember it taking that LONG!  Maybe it was because I left right after working all day.  I kept having to stop and take naps; better to take multiple naps and arrive safe and in one piece then in less than one piece…

I finally arrived in Walnut Creek at Jodee's about mid-morning.  I took a most heavenly shower and then Jodee and I were off to get brunch at Denica's Cafe!  I tried Eggs Benedict for the very first time and it was better than I was expecting.  I am not a fan of any eggs with runny yolks, which is why I have not tried them before.  I like my eggs hard and kind of dry without any chance of anything being runny.  I think this goes back to growing up on a farm with chickens and every now and then finding something in the eggs.  I would not go as far as saying Eggs Benedict is my new favourite dish but I would probably eat it again.  Denica's had free chips and salsa (so good!) and they even had cinnamon rolls that are bigger than your face!

Jodee and I then went to go visit the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose.  The whole premise of the house is interesting in and of itself but part of why I was excited to go see it is because a couple of months prior, I had listened to a podcast about it.  Initially, I did not put two and two together when Jodee first mentioned it until she started talking more about the history of the place.  It was just kind of cool to go see something that I had learned about randomly on a podcast.  You can learn more about the house on their website (www.winchestermysteryhouse.com) or you can always wikipedia it (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mystery_House).

Until you do, enjoy some pictures in the meantime.

                



After the Winchester Mystery House, we hit up the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.  I have never been before and even though it was starting to get a wee bit chilly, it was still a lot of fun.  We walked around for a bit, rode one of the aerial view rides over the boardwalk and then rode my first roller-coaster in YEARS!  I may or may not have pulled out my camera while we were on the roller-coaster in an attempt to take a few pictures of Jodee and I on the roller-coaster.  I did so well that the picture they always take of you on a ride for you to purchase shows me taking a picture of the two of us!

 

The next day, I drove into San Francisco to spend the day with Jeff.  We hiked around in Land's End, headed down to Golden Gate Park, walked up the Sunset stairs, explored the park around the Golden Gate Bridge, and then finally ended up at Mels Drive-in eating some delicious food.  Long day but SO MUCH FUN!

 

 

 

The adventure did not end though!  Jodee, Jeff and I met up in Walnut Creek do have some more fun before I had to start the LONG drive back to Utah.  We headed out to Lafayette Reservoir to walk around, explore, and rented a paddle boat.  I am so glad that it was more of a relaxing paddle boat ride than a vigorous one as my calves were so sore from all the hills and stairs Jeff and I had done the day before. 

We finally reluctantly headed in to have lunch at Fenton's Creamery in Oakland.  Fenton's has really good food and delicious ice-cream.  And if that is not enough, their servings of ice-cream are ENORMOUS!

On the way home, we made one final stop for some goodies at an old-fashioned candy shop that even carried some international candy.

The weekend was fun and lots of new memories were made that definitely made the long drive worth it.

San Francisco

While I was in California for Susan's wedding, I took the opportunity to explore San Francisco some more. I love the diversity of San Francisco and how because of that things are always changing. Anyways, when I was there last May, I did a lot of the usual touristy things then like visiting Alcatraz, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Coit Tower, Muir Woods, etc. . . So this time, I decided to just wander around a bit and in general, just explore the city itself more. I was not able to get to most of the city that I had wanted to explore because of time constraints but it was still a lot of fun. I also went down to Ghiradelli Square for a few minutes. I did not have time to really go inside and see everything but maybe next time. I went into an art gallery that was right next to the square to see some of Salvador Dali's work. They had a sign up and so I decided to pop in for a few minutes. I rode the cable cars again. If you are not in a hurry then the cable cars are for you but if you are in a hurry, definitely do not take the cable car. They make a lot of stops and even when they are going, they still have a lot of constraints that they travel under but they are a lot of fun.

Over the months since November, I have had the opportunity to get to know one of the tax partners in PwC's San Francisco office pretty well. He knows that I am interested in the area and so when during one of our last conversations he found out that I was going to be in San Francisco for a few days, he offered to give me a tour of their office! How sweet is that?! It was not anything official or anything like that but still, I had an office visit at one of the big four accounting firms and I am not even in the accounting program yet (I just have to finish writing my essay now that we have grades back from this semester). Some people would kill for kind of an opportunity (even though it was not an official office visit geared towards getting me an internship or job). Anyways, he introduced me around the office, explained how things operated, and showed me around the different floors of the office. While we were talking, I was able to ask a bunch of questions. I felt like I asked a decent amount of questions that were good but not too few where he could perceive it as me not really being interested after all or too many questions and having him think, "Oh my goodness. Will this girl shut up already!"

Overall, I really feel like I made a very positive impression on everyone that I met and that the whole visit went very well. Plus, I was able to make new contacts within that office and strengthen the ones that I already have there. Walking out of there, I just felt so happy and pleased with how well the visit went. Success!

Hanging of the cable car. Entrance to China Town.

Transamerica Building. Coit Tower.

The beginning of the crooked part on Lombard Street.

A view of Alcatraz.

Giants

  While I was in California, I took the opportunity to drive up north to Humboldt Redwoods National Park.  It was most definitely worth the drive.  If nothing else, the drive through Sonoma was gorgeous!  Once I got up there, I drove through a tree and along the Avenue of the  Giants.  I was able to see several of the more famous redwood trees like the Chandelier Tree, the Living Chimney Tree, the Eternal Tree House, the Immortal tree (survived lightning, loggers axe, floods, and a forest fire), the Giant Tree, and the Tall Tree.  I drove through the Chandelier Tree, walked inside the Chimney Tree and the Eternal Tree House, hugged the Giant Tree, and walked on the Tall Tree (it fell down a few years ago or so).  It was just pretty and very green.  Walking along the trails definitely made you feel as if you were an ant (or something else small) among giants.  But yet, it was so serene and peaceful walking along the trails and being enclosed on all sides by the redwoods.

  Since it was April, the park service had not put out the seasonal bridges yet.  This presented a problem when I went to go find the Giant tree and see the Flat Iron tree as they were across a rather large stream/ small river, only the Tall tree was on the same side I was on.  Luckily though, not too far down the stream/river were two fallen trees.  I was able to cross safely and get to the other side.  I was not going to have come all that way and be so close to seeing the widest redwood tree (at 53.2 feet back in 1991) and be stopped by the lack of a bridge!

  All in all, Humboldt Redwoods National Park was most definitely worth the 4.5 hour or so drive to get up there from San Francisco.  And now I can say that I have walked (and driven) along the Avenue of the Giants and that I have stood among giants.

 

A view of the vineyards in Sonoma.

  

  Getting ready to drive through the Chandelier Tree.

            
   Hugging the Giant Tree.  However, this is not the first redwood that I have hugged.  I hugged a redwood tree last May when I visited Muir Woods above San Francisco.  Both times I have hugged a redwood, I have been wearing my "hug a tree" shirt.  And no, I am not about to take up a career in tree hugging either.
                   

                                                            A view of the Tall tree.

Susan's Wedding

  Towards the beginning of April, I had the opportunity to go to my mission trainer's wedding in California.  She lives (or used to, now she lives near Las Vegas) in Sacramento and got married in the Oakland Temple.  I flew to the San Francisco airport (it was a lot cheaper than the Sacramento airport) on a Wednesday night and spent the night at a hostel in San Francisco and then drove out to Sacramento Thursday morning.  Susan's family was very gracious and left Laura Sheridan (Susan's MTC and mission companion) and I both stay with them.  I was very grateful that they allowed me to stay with them.  Plus I appreciated the opportunity to get to know them better.  I had met most of her family last May when I was in California but I was only there for an evening versus the 3 days or so that I was there this time.

  On Thursday, we ran around getting stuff ready for the wedding and reception.  The three (Susan, Laura, and I) all did facials Thursday night too.  We did the whole process: scrubbing, steaming(complete with lemons/limes), mask, cleaner, and toner.  Friday morning was the wedding and then in the evening, we set up for the reception.  We set up enough chairs and tables for 400 guests!  That is a lot of chairs.  I am not too sure how appreciative the young men who were helping to set up were of Laura and I making them hunt down more chairs repeatedly.  Saturday morning rolled around and with it came at least 20 Hmong men and women to help cook the food for the reception that evening.  Within 4-5 hours all the food was ready to go (keep in mind that they were making enough food for 400+ people)!  Both Laura and I concurred that if it was white people in charge of the reception, it would have taken them at least 2-3 days to make all the food and not that many people would have shown up to help make it.  At the reception, we definitely filled all the seats that we had seat up and could have used even more.

  In the Hmong culture, you have a program and a sit-down dinner, not the stand-up line and finger foods that are more common these days.  According to Penny Lo, Susan's program was a shorter one running about 30 minutes or so.  Penny said that some programs go as long as 1-2 hours!  Another nice thing that happened is that everyone helps to clean up.  The men take the chairs, table, etc. . . and the women take the kitchen.  The women  dominated the kitchen!  They had all the dishes and food packed up and cleaned up in no time at all.

  It was all so much fun and I am really glad that I had the opportunity to be able to attend Susan and VaYee's wedding.  However, I definitely felt like all I did was eat, eat, and then eat some more.  But, I probably would eat it all again because I love Hmong food!

 

Chicken popsicle, anyone?                                    

    

 The three of us with the masks on (Me, Susan, Laura).  

                   

The Oakland Temple.                               Susan and VaYee. 

  The picture depicts the making and end result of one of my favorite Hmong dishes: papaya salad.  You can see it in the lower right part of the picture.  Papaya salad is soo good!

    This picture represents a portion of all the food that was made.

 Susan and I.