Back to San Francisco

hard to believe that is almost exactly the miles I drive on a 3 week tour

I'm sitting at my friend Joe's house in San Francisco. I've got a cute black cat on my lap watching me type. I hadn't realized until today that I'm way behind on the blogging. I guess you could tell that my trip went smoother and I was not struggling as much. I really enjoyed myself this time. I was able to explore more and do new hikes and it helped that I was really enjoying my group alot too. Such a different bunch this time. I'm not sure what it would have been like having the first group again and being able to solidly answer their questions. I think the problem child would have disliked me less. Maybe not.

That is me in the helicopter over Grand Canyon. Yikes! Turns out I don't like having a 5000 foot drop below me and just two little blades above me. Who knew. The best part is they give you a flotation device. Um yeah, that will help...the Colorado River is down there somewhere! I told the pilot to be sure and land in it when we went down. Ugh. 

So I've been back in town for a few days now. I've gotten all repacked and sorted out and now to mail some things home and then get this last trip done. I'm pretty much on the fence about the whole thing. Its hard to want to job hunt when I'm not jumping for joy to keep doing it. The thought of getting a job doing a new tour to a new place and having to fake it is not appealing to me at all! How stressful! 

thats me and Shrek in LA
So instead of thinking about it I went for a walk around the sunny city yesterday and had a great time window shopping. I went on the bus all the way to the top of Haight St and then walked back via every thrift shop on the street. Or so it seemed. There are some fantastic shops there! I didn't buy anything but still. Most cute vintage stuff doesn't fit me and the rest is too expensive so I kept moving. 

I did find a BBQ place I need to try and I found Chow again. I had intended to go there and have a pancake but Brunch ends at 2pm and I got there at 2:35pm. Bummer! So I ordered a lasagna instead and that was really really good! 

I was on a mission to find BiRite Ice Cream and when i asked the waitress she told me which direction walk and then she said, "at the line" I didn't know what that meant until I got to the corner she talked about and the line for ice cream was around the block. No joke, the longest line for ice cream. It will be like that one day when people discover Mr and Mrs Miscellaneous. Of course I won't be living here anyways. Either way it would be worth the wait!

I'm sitting here at the house of Joe and thinking that the sounds outside remind me of Valencia. Its really amazing. Even the street I'm on reminds me of that place. The shops and the people, its really strange. The only thing that is missing is the Spanish pastries and Noemi and her friends. (so that means, me in Europe~yippee) 

I've been ticket hunting in between doing nothing and there aren't many sales on tickets to anywhere right now. Very discouraging. Though I'll need full time work and money in the bank before I do anything drastic. 

So to review my last trip, since I was less than a blogger.... Arches National Park was so hot the day we were there. We came back early and went and had an Apple Dumpling dessert at Moab Brewery. The Monument Valley day we stopped into the Dinosaur Museum in Blanding and that was really cool. We enjoyed Monument Valley alot. The drive to it turned out to be a rainy one but then it cleared up in time for the dinner. Pretty cool. We had John again as our guide. He seemed different this time but I'm not sure what that was all about. 

Grand Canyon found us heading to the clinic with one of my people. That was interesting. Nothing too serious at least. We got up the next day and had our Helicopter flights. I went with the single guy and the family had their own heli. Turns out that fear of heights and car sickness translates just fine to Helicopters and they were happy to see the airport at the end. 

We drove the entire length of Route 66 this time. We drove through Seligman and then on through Peach Springs and Kingman before I made the decision to see Oatman. Skip that place, what a scary scary place. i would not have been surprised to see two banjo players pickin on the porch here. 

In Seligman the single guy got had by the owner so many times. One after the other. He just kept laughing so the guy just kept at it, it was really funny. 

The drive to Joshua Tree yielded the usual end of trip come down so we did a bit of the park and then made our way to LA. Without the trailer we really had it made, I took them to Hollywood and Highland and we walked and shopped and then had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. The family's choice not mine. But good food! 

The family went to Universal and I took the single guy to the zoo. As he is an animal lover. He really enjoyed himself I think. I followed him around and it was good fun. 

We had our final dinner at "The Grill" which is at Hollywood and Highland. It was just easier to stay put and we ate like kings and queens. Wow, the prices. But oh the portions! It was a good night, we laughed alot. What a great group they were. 

The next day we had to say goodbye to the single guy early so we all went with him to the airport and said our goodbyes and then I took the rest of them to Santa Monica. Brrr! The fog was thick and it was really windy too. But they shopped on the 3rd Street Promenade and so it was okay. 

I had a fantastic drive up the coast. Santa Barbara is the most amazing place. What a beautiful city! And the sun was setting so it was all lit up. So cool. I'm glad I got off the freeway and headed into downtown for a bit of a look! 

So that gets me home. Now to find the food joints on my list and job hunt. Ugh, what to do?! I have to make my way to work and get the van washed and get some stuffed moved there as well. I will be flying home after I get back.