Either Way...: San Fran

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.

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!