"Is Auntie Dawn a Democrat?"

We met up with my sister and her family in Lake Tahoe last weekend, where they are spent their summer vacation. My brother-in-law recently won the Republican primary to become the Township Supervisor in Lake Orion, MI, and unless there is a massive upset will be elected this November. He and I have always good naturedly given each other a hard time about our beliefs, and it looks like my 9-year-old niece is starting to pick up on it.

We were at the beach, and my sister took Emma to use the restroom. On the way, the following conversation took place:

Emma: Is Auntie Dawn a Democrat?
Debbie: Yes, she is.
Emma: Why?
Debbie: Well, she just thinks about things a little differently than your dad and I.
Emma: Does that mean I can be a Democrat?
Debbie: Of course, if that's what you believe in.

She can be a Democrat, but she might break her father's heart...

Trapped in Sunnyvale

Last night we went down to the South Bay to have dinner with my friend Julie and her boyfriend Adam, who live in that area. Bob was already in Palo Alto at Stanford, so after work I picked up our friends Nasha and Jason and we headed down to get him, then caravan to an Afghani restaurant in Sunnyvale. On the ride Nasha and Jason were talking about how they rarely come down to that area, but how nice and warm it is, even just a little bit out of the city. And while it was far, it really wasn't too bad of a drive.

It did take a little while to find parking because there was a street fair, but, we finally did find parking in a garage, and went on to have a lovely dinner catching up with old friends. As we walked back to the garage to get our cars, we ran into a little trouble as there were cops surrounding the structure and police tape across every entrance. Nobody seemed to know what was going on, so we got some gelato and speculated as to what it could be (bomb? assault?). Then, about 45 minutes later the police announced that a "device" had been found and that it would be at least 2 hours before the bomb squad had arrived and deemed it safe to enter.

So, we started crafting an alternative route home or whether we'd stay at Julie's or get a hotel room. Complicating matters was the fact that the parking garage was next to the Caltrain, the commuter rail system in the Bay Area, and they stopped the trains running through there because of the "device," so that wasn't an option. Luckily, we saw a cab and asked him how much to take us to SF. He sad about $80 to the airport, so we had him take us there, where we grabbed the BART home. Phew... now I know why Jason and Nasha stay in the city.

Birthday at the Ferry Terminal

There's a lot to explore in the Bay Area, but for the most part, we will do so during the weekends. On the weekdays, Dawn takes the BART downtown to her office and I work from home, though this will change in September when I begin heading down to Stanford a few days a week. Since last Tuesday was my birthday, Dawn treated me to lunch downtown at the Ferry Terminal along the Embarcadero.

The Ferry Terminal is a foodie's mecca. Earlier in the decade, the city refurbished the historic building, converting it into a marketplace filled with organic stores. As long as you have deep pockets, you can buy whatever gourmet food your heart desires: humanely-raised beef, fancy olive oil, or artisanal bread. (We're glad that we can satisfy all our lard needs while we live here at the Pranther Ranch Meat Co.) There was a farmers' market the day we were there, so we picked up some organic plums and grapes as well as some homemade tofu--it really is better than regular tofu.

The Japanese restaurant inside had some incredible bento boxes with crab cakes, seaweed salad, and cooked eggplant. My tastes have improved since I was kid; we used to always get pizza on my birthday. In the future, I'll probably have to go back to that tradition since I doubt I can find bento boxes in Syracuse half-as-good as the one I had at the Ferry Terminal.

On a clear day you can see Oakland

As many of you know, we really lucked out in finding a furnished one bedroom apartment in a great neighborhood that we can actually afford. But, having arrived and lived here for almost two weeks it is even better than we could have expected. On a clear day you really can see all the way across the bay, and even on foggy days we can look around at the colorful houses that dot the surrounding hills. It has a beautiful garden in the back with a tangerine tree and hummingbirds that stop by to feed on the flowers. It feels so cozy, Bob and I were commenting last night about how homey it is and that it hardly seems like we're living in someone else's house. And, it's so easy to move to a furnished place that we already had friends over for Bob's birthday dinner last night. All in all, about as smooth a move as one can hope for!

SF

Home again, home again, jiggity jig! Both Bob and I have made it to our new home in San Francisco. We've set up this little blog to keep friends and family updated and to chronicle the adventures we'll have this year. The title comes from the greetings J.F. Sebastian's robots give him when he returns home in the movie Blade Runner. Maybe a bit obscure, but something I say all the time whenever we get home from something.

Anyway, I've been here for a week and Bob for about 12 hours after an all night drive from Salt Lake City to SF. He brought some of the warm weather with him and after a short nap and a long shower he was ready to head to Baker Beach for a little of the sunshine with our friends, Nasha and Jason. It was a gorgeous day and the beach was in a nice little cove with views of the Golden Gate bridge and flocks of brown pelicans flying overhead. (In fact, I think that photo used on this blog is taken from the same beach, but I'm not positive since I snagged it from the Library of Congress' photo archive.) And, in true San Francisco style, a portion of the beach is a nude beach, so we saw lots of naked men tanning, walking around and frolicking in the ocean. Quite the way to spend our first day in the city together.