San Francisco Trip

Mom, Bonnie and I have made the pilgrimage to San Francisco to visit Cousin Joan a couple of times. This time I decided rather than flying and having to have Joan pick us up and since we had already had the adventure of airports and "Bart", Mom and I drove. This is a picture of the excitement Mom could barley contain.

I think I did amazingly well getting us there...just a couple side trips, asking "dumb" people where the freeway was, sitting on a side road pursuing a map (which i really didn't get anything from, i just wanted Mom to think I was competent) and taking a more scenic tour than we planned. But we made it to Bakersfield the first day by 11 that night.

One extra delay I hadn't counted on was the oil light coming on, dinging loudly, and just a little panic over...what should we do now! We drove on of course...stopping at the lovely town of Quartside, sitting at a garage with "I only know how to change tires" weird guy, leaving there because the guy who actually knew what an engine was at the bank and never showed, driving on the Blythe only to have the garage guy there say "if it was anything major your car would never have made it this far". That made me feel so secure, we just kept going.

The dinging did finally quit we just got to keep looking at the cute oil light.

This is our "ARE WE HAVING FUN YET' look.

We made it to San Francisco the next day around 1:00 and I was soooooo brave and drove across the Bay Bridge. Any one who knows me knows heights and bridges are not my thing.

I just starred straight ahead and screamed silently in my mind!

This was the highlight of the trip though. After "allowing" Joan to beat us the first night in Shanghai, which she gloated about the entire next day,

I managed to turn the tables the next night and catch her with a couple of AMAZING hands. She did win the last hand which she tried to pass of as as good as a win...but it wasn't, the score told the story of the spanking she and mom got!

She took it with a happy face (I have a picture of her "mad" face but decided I would be the bigger person and only show her happy one!)

This picture looks like Joan was calling her life line for help...but alas it was for naught!

She still LOST! ( did I mention yet I won)

We can never leave without taking a stroll down the beach. It was a beautiful day. I packed lots of warm clothes, because it usually chilly, but the sun shone every day.

Mom, Joan, and her friend Mariella, (usually when we go she is gone and Bonnie and I sleep in her apt. on the next floor down, so it was nice we got to visit with her this time)

Just to finish the trip off. We passed through the Bermuda Triangle again on the way home. This time though it was the gas that decided to stop working. We would be driving down the road, and WA LA the gas peddle would be down to the floor and the car would not go anywhere. We would pull off to the side of the road, sit a few, turn the car back on, drive 2 or 3 more miles and do it all again. We finally nursed it into Tonapah, topped off the gas tank left the gas cap off (Dads suggestion) and drove home with no more problems...Yeah! All in all it was a good trip. Joan fed us really well, we never did actually break down, and I got to quiz mom some on her life and loves.