An End to Califorvacation

So I couldn’t have asked for a better end to my California vacation (or what I’ve labeled my photos as Califorvacation; try saying that three times fast). One week in Los Angeles. One week in Oakland and San Francisco. But since I’ve already shared my L.A. experience, including the men with no pants, I thought I’d give a brief overview of the week I spent in Oakland with my family (which was slightly less scandalous).

In Oakland I stayed with my cousin Seena and her husband, John. When I first called her about the trip, she warned me there might be a lot of down time; this was a few months ago, of course. But as soon as I stepped off that plane and into her car I realized she’d set up a makeshift itinerary, a list, an epic journey.  

So this is what I did:

Got a manicure, pedicure, haircut (in which they cut four inches off my locks); went shopping and got what Seena calls my Marilyn Monroe dress; saw lions, tigers, and elephants, oh my! at the Oakland Zoo; went to the California Academy of Sciences on a behind the scenes tour (also went to the planetarium and watched a show narrated by Whoopi Goldberg); saw Wicked (which was glorious) and a frozen rat; watched pieces of about fifteen movies plus part of a marathon of Rocko’s Modern Life; ate my first buffalo burger; visited more family; hung out with my friend Karl in San Fran (and ate delicious Thai food); watched old home movies showing my grandma as a little girl; walked up and down hills (which means I got in my weekly workout); realized I don’t like heights; realized I don’t like flight delays; and realized I’m going to miss my family more than they know.

Seena and John, thank you for an amazing week. I love you.

An on-the-spot poem about a San Francisco hill:

Stairway leading up to nowhere
my feet wait breathless at its base
and farther up my friend is waiting,
laughing at my tired face.