cross-country road trip version 2013

On Saturday of my final weekend before heading back to Atlanta, I drove back up to San Francisco and picked up Elizabeth and Enzo.  I served as their transportation down to Elizabeth's cousin Matt's house in Santa Cruz in order to get a chance to see them.  We moved their luggage into Matt's house before heading out to pick up some lunch at a nearby market.  We took our food to Natural Bridges State Beach and enjoyed the sunshine and view before I had to get myself back to Cupertino.  That evening I had dinner with a friend since 4th grade, Robin - I hadn't had a chance to catch up with her in a few years, and it was unusual to get a chance for just the two of us to catch up since she and her husband have three kids.  I also briefly saw Susana and Steph, friends from CIBC, that night.  Sunday I mainly focused on organizing and packing, so I'd be ready to head out Monday morning.

me with robin after dinner

su, steph, and me at quickly for boba

Monday morning I picked up my snowboard buddy Pearl at her sister's place in Sunnyvale and we drove off to Valencia.  We hung out at Starbucks until Debbie (friend from Cal) got home from work, then Judy from my previous cross-country adventure joined us and we went out for some delicious Korean BBQ.

pearl, judy, debbie, and me

Pearl and I spent the night quite comfortably at Debbie's.  We got up early and hit the road, headed for Albuquerque.  We stopped at the Jackrabbit General Store just to check it out - it had a funny sign and a huge fiberglass rabbit.  As it got dark, the drive got a little bit exciting, with a dramatic lightning show to the east (see 16 second video below).  We couldn't tell if we were going to drive directly into it or not, and it did NOT look like it was going to be fun.  Fortunately, we passed to the south of it and were able to push on past Albuquerque to Moriarty where we spent the night.

jackrabbit general store

saddle up your jackrabbit!

In the morning, we hit the road again.  Our planned stop for the day was Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo, TX.  Well, the FIRST planned stop was a Walmart or similar store where we could purchase spray paint so we would be prepared for Cadillac Ranch.  We had a good time spray-painting the cars and then continued on to Sand Springs, OK, where we stayed with Aunt Kathy and David and enjoyed dinner with them, Jeff, Rocky, and Charlie.

spray painting cadillacs is fun - nor cal and golden bears!

me with david and aunt kathy

Our fourth driving day took us across the Mississippi and eventually to Nashville, TN, but not without some unexpected adventure.  About an hour away from Nashville, I started to feel increased vibration in the car, and started hearing funny sounds.  It made me nervous enough that I stopped on a closed off-ramp because that was the closest place to stop.  I checked around the car, looking at all four tires.  They looked fine and nothing else was amiss, so I got back on the freeway.  As soon as I got up to speed, the vibration and noises got worse, so I took the next exit.  As I started to get off the freeway, we heard a "pop" and suddenly the extra noises stopped and the car started handling normally again.  Pearl and I agreed that we should check it out anyway.  When the light turned green to turn from the off-ramp, it was immediately clear that we had a flat tire.  Good thing we both know how to change a flat!  I drove into the gas station that was close and we started in - Pearl jacking up the car and me removing the spare from the back of the car.  Once I got the spare off, I took a turn at the jack.  As I was working, a car pulled up next to us and the driver offered help.  We gladly accepted when he explained that he hoped someone would stop and help his wife if she ever got a flat!  With the spare on, we eventually made it to Tiffany's.  She's the friend from Tahoe with whom Judy and I stayed back in December, but we got there pretty late that time.  This trip, we had enough daylight to check out the Parthenon and walk around a little lake at Centennial Park, drive down HonkyTonk Row as the sun set, and have a delicious dinner before another good night's sleep.

memphis' pyramid on the far side of the bridge over the mississippi

random stranger kindly helping pearl and me with the flat tire

tiffany and me on the steps of the parthenon

i love that my friends meet each other and become friends!

Friday morning, we drove our last leg from Nashville to Atlanta, ending my third cross-country road trip. We walked around the Emory campus and I tried to accomplish a couple of tasks.  For dinner, we discovered the pasta restaurant around the corner from my place, Saba, about which I'd heard good things, was indeed very good. Saturday morning we walked up Stone Mountain with a small collection of my Atlanta friends - Dan from church, Dan from my class, and Marius from the Emory climbing wall.  I actually tried to get another classmate and friend named Dan to join us, but he wasn't back in town yet.  In the afternoon, Pearl and I walked around Centennial Olympic Park in downtown, and later met my classmate Rob for a BBQ dinner.  Sunday morning I dropped Pearl off at the airport and went grocery shopping!

emory's school of medicine building

dan, marius, dan, pearl, and me on top of stone mountain

centennial olympic park

truly the end of my san francisco rotation

Continuing from the last post:
On Friday (August 9), I met up with another Cal classmate, Katrine, for lunch.  We went to Sushirrito which serves what are basically sushi burritos.  YUM!  I can't believe we hadn't seen each other since Cal graduation so many years ago.  We had fun reminiscing and sharing what had gone on in the interim years.

katrine and me after lunch

That night, I got to go to another Giants game, this time courtesy of Trudy and Steve.  The occasion was Steve's brother Bob's visit.  They played the Orioles, and sadly lost in the top of the 10th.  It was hard to watch them come from behind in the bottom of the 9th and get within one hit of a win...

bob, steve, trudy, and me

wow, prime seats!

I got off the MUNI at the Embarcadero Station on the way home and walked back over to the water to see the Bay Bridge lights - I'd seen them from afar and had heard of them even living in Atlanta, so I decided to take the opportunity of being downtown after dark to go check them out.  Verdict: very cool.

bay bridge lights

Saturday afternoon I headed across the bay to meet Shannon and Paul, and Elena arrived not long after I did.  We wandered into Oakland Chinatown for lunch at our favorite Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwich) joint - I knew it from my CIBC (Chinese Independent Baptist Church) days, Shannon and Paul had discovered it shortly after moving to Oakland.  We strolled along the waterfront through Jack London Square and eventually headed south to Shannon and Paul's place.  It's in a former I-don't-know-what building on the site of former boatworks, with a yard full of what Paul termed shrapnel.  Out the back is a community garden and waterfront access including a quirky pier and a small beach.

me, elena, paul, and shannon

silly cousins on the beach

paul laughing about a huge pile of "shrapnel"

That Sunday was the first morning service for Reality SF since the first time I'd attended - Summer Nights had ended.  I met up with Liz and after lunch with a bunch of people, the two of us headed out to Ocean Beach.  It was cold and windy, as one might expect in San Francisco, but still beautiful.

me and liz, freezing at ocean beach

ocean beach panorama

I walked home a couple times during my last week of work, taking Howard Street for a change of scenery.  Along the way, I discovered a mural I hadn't seen before, and it has become my favorite.  I think I just like all the colors and I think the funny round birds are really cute.  No, I don't think they look like Angry Birds.

i have a favorite mural now - this one (no, not the billboard)

Wednesday after work I took BART to San Leandro where I met Yvonne and her daughter Annalise.  Yvonne is a good friend from CIBC days, we've kept in contact as we've both moved around.  We had Halal Chinese food at Annalise's favorite restaurant near their old house in Union City.

me, annalise, and yvonne

Thursday I had lunch with a friend I met through Stefan at Reality SF - Duygu visited Reality my second time there.  She is an incredibly friendly girl, originally from Turkey, who was in San Francisco to get her MBA through Hult International Business School's San Francisco campus.  She has lived in several other countries en route to this.  We had a great time hanging out and I look forward to keeping in touch with her as her adventures continue - she graduated the next day!

duygu and me

After work, I met up with Geoff, a friend from Tahoe.  He happened to be in the Bay Area because he had flown to the East Coast for an extended weekend and flew in and out of SFO.  We headed up to Twin Peaks and just sat on the wall at the observation area and enjoyed the view, watching the fog wrap around us reaching toward downtown from either side.

the red rectangle is the house where i lived, as seen from twin peaks

twin peaks panorama with fog reaching around on either side.

After dinner in the Mission, we made our way out to Ocean Beach in the cold and fog.  There, we found Stefan making himself a birthday bonfire.  Duygu showed up later and had her first ever S'More, and Geoff and I ended the evening helping her move from her apartment near the beach to a new place in the Mission.

ocean beach bonfire with liz, stefan, duygu, and geoff

My last day of work finished a little bit early, and my parents and Trudy met me at work when I got off.  We went back to Trudy and Steve's house to wait for Steve to get home.  While we waited, I finished packing up my stuff and packed it all into the trunk of my father's car.  When Steve got home from work, we piled into one car and went to the big Off the Grid Friday night setup at Fort Mason.  It was huge, with about 20 food trucks and tons of people.

my parents, steve, trudy, and me with chicken and rice

friday night off the grid is really crowded!

We were thoroughly stuffed with treats from the Peruvian truck, the Nepalese truck, and a couple others.  Before we went back, we stopped back at the Embarcadero and took in the Bay Bridge lights from the Exploratorium pier.

steve, my mother, trudy, and my father with the bay bridge lights in the background

We could see inside parts of the Exploratorium since there was a party of some sort going on in there.  One thing we saw was this toothpick art, a kinetic sculpture in progress since 1974 when the artist was only 14.  It not only has some moving features (propellers, for example) but also has multiple "tours" for pingpong balls.  Click here for a video of the tours (narrated by the artist).

"rolling through the bay"

nighttime view from the exploratorium pier

We went back to Steve and Trudy's, put the bike rack and my bike on the back of the car, and headed back to my parents' place in Cupertino.

last couple weeks in SF

I finished my last post on a Tuesday.  The next day, July 31, I got on a cable car when I got off work, just so I could say I did...  since my MUNI pass was going to run out that day and it would cost me $6 without the pass!  I took it up California Street to Powell and was intending to take the Powell Street cable car down to Market.  Unfortunately, there was a cable issue and the Powell Street car wasn't running, so I took the shuttle bus that was running instead.  I wanted to end up near the cable car turnaround because there was a planned mini-reunion of former employees of MCG Architecture.  Seven of us turned up to hang out at Cable Car City Pub & Cafe.  Four of them I hadn't seen in fifteen years!

california street cable car after i got off

former mcg coworkers: ed, naomi, me, cristina, dennis, jim, and melinda

Thursday evening I got together with Sarah and Esther again since Sarah was visiting from LA. I took BART from work to the Mission to meet them at La Taqueria.  Apparently it's been featured in Sunset Magazine for its amazing tacos.  The tacos were tasty, but I wouldn't have traveled too far to get them.  We followed our tacos with a walk up and down Mission before stopping at Mission Pie.  We got a slice of Apricot Frangipane and one of Mixed Berry Pie, and took them with us to Mitchell's Ice Cream so we had pie and ice cream for dessert.

sarah, esther, and me at mission pie

Friday after work I took BART out to Pleasant Hill and took a bus close to Libby's house.  I walked to my car (Libby and family were not home) and headed up to Tahoe.  I arrived at Lisa's condo while she was at work, so I just sat outside and enjoyed the lake and sky view for a while before heading to bed.

big dipper and north star over the lake from lisa's balcony

The next morning, I met Kelly at Alpina Cafe to hang out and catch up.  Kelly is a PT who finished her DPT shortly before I started.  She grew up in Tahoe and I met her through Sierra Community Church.

kelly and me outside alpina

I headed straight from Alpina to Danielle and Matt's house out in Meyers.  Danielle was hugely pregnant when I saw her in June, so this time I got to meet little K.  Matt's brother Mike was visiting and helping Matt work on their house.

me, danielle, mike, baby k, and matt

After Danielle and I took a walk with the baby boy, I rushed back to Lisa's, changed into my swimsuit, and ran out the back door with Lisa's paddleboard to meet Michelle.  Michelle is a PT with whom I worked at Emerald Bay Physical Therapy.  She now works in Minden for Bodywise Physical Therapy.  We had a six hour paddling adventure including lots of wind and choppy water.  We paddled about nine miles, from Lisa's to the very far end of Baldwin Beach where we met another Tahoe friend, Tiffany, and her boyfriend Matt.

clockwise from top - sunset from the paddleboard; michelle on her board;
me, tiffany, and michelle; view from baldwin beach

I was exhausted by the time we got back.  After a good night's sleep, I got to hang out with Lisa briefly in the morning before going to Sierra Community Church.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear the music was all songs I knew.  I enjoyed Dan's message on NOT minding my own business, and was happy to say hello to a bunch of friends before heading back to the Bay Area.  I left my car at Walnut Creek Auto Pros to get serviced that week to prepare for the long drive back to Atlanta.  Libby (back in town) picked me up there and we got an hour or so to just relax before she brought me to BART so I could get back to San Francisco in time to go to Reality Church SF - I'd been attending every Sunday since June 30 and I only had a couple Sundays left in San Francisco.  The first Sunday I went was a morning service, but the next weeks had been their Summer Nights evening services, with fun gatherings afterwards including snacks and games.

Tuesday I got off just before lunchtime and took Caltrain down to Mountain View where I met my parents.  We headed over to the Googleplex to have lunch with my cousin Kien Man.  This was now my second "Google lunch" but my first time at the headquarters.

google features clockwise from upper left: electric car charging stations; google bikes
everywhere; mock cable car inside; crazy smoker truck at the bbq where we ate

kien, my parents, and me

we stopped to check out the funny droid/ dessert sculptures

Wednesday I went to Berkeley after work and wandered around the Cal campus before meeting my friend Liz (from Reality Church SF) for dinner.  While there, I headed up to the 9th floor of Wurster Hall, the architecture building.  I remembered my friend Sarah (with whom I share a birthday) from Chinese Independent Baptist Church in Oakland had been posting photos on Instagram from Wurster this summer, so I posted a comment on one of those photos saying I was in Wurster.  Sure enough, within an hour Sarah had gotten the message and replied.  We eventually were able to meet up and I found out Sarah had graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Design and was taking a summer Architecture course at Cal as a precursor to applying for Masters programs in Architecture.  Sarah headed back to studio in Wurster while Liz and I enjoyed our La Burrita dinner.

old familiar view from 9th floor wurster

my birthday buddy sarah and me

Thursday lunch I met another former MCG coworker, Howard.  He works for an architecture firm just south of Market, so it was an easy bike ride for him to come meet me.  I wanted to check out a place called Sushirrito but the line was out the door, so we settled (quite happily) for Vietnamese food around the corner.

me and howard after yummy vietnamese food

After work the same day, I met up with Sandra, another high school friend I hadn't seen in a long time.  She was in Alan's (my brother's) class.  We grabbed cups of tea in the Ferry Building and just hung out on the ferry pier behind.  I had never been back there during commute hour, it's kind of cool to see the large numbers of people using the ferries.

sandra and me with the larkspur ferry loading behind us

After dinner, I walked down to Mission Bar to meet a friend from church and play pool.  I ended up also meeting three new friends and had a great time.

view over dolores park after dark

kate, alan, liz, stefan, and me

My final week in San Francisco will fill the next post...