The California Trip Part 1
In San Francisco with Sara.
In Napa, California, walking along Browns Valley Road.
There were many different varieties of trees along Browns Valley Road in Napa. An Evergreen and a Palm Tree share the same dirt.
On April 20th, Sara and I made our biennial trip to California. But it's been more than four years since we last made this trip, which normally is made every other year.
This year, the trip was made for Sara's Grandma Carol's celebration of life. She passed away on February 25th.
Funerals are always a sad reason to go back to California. This is especially in light of the fact that Grandma Carol's absence was so noticeable.
I wolfed down a donut the morning we left while waiting for my dad. Dad generously drove us to the airport. But he dropped the bomb on us that he has a surgery scheduled for Thursday, May 4th, en route.
The flight from Moline to Dallas was uneventful. The person I sat next to, named Shane, is originally from Texas, but was heading to Arkansas to visit his girlfriend. He had plenty to drink, heh.
At Dallas, I narrowly grabbed a sausage biscuit and a cup of coffee at the McDonald's before they switched over to lunch menu.
The coffee came onto the flight with me. Miraculously, I managed to not spill it on the whole flight to San Francisco.
Sara's parents were waiting for us by the American Airlines terminal in San Francisco. Edward was able to ride along, which was spectacular. He just recently completed radiation and chemotherapy for his esophageal cancer. I am happy to report that his cancer is in remission, as of his most recent check-up.
Sara barely had time to greet her parents, given that we were whisked off into the San Francisco traffic. A San Francisco treat it is not to traverse from the airport to the Bay Bridge.
I spent most of Thursday, counting the flight, reading. I alternated between In Pieces by Sally Field and The Christ Clone Trilogy: In His Image by James Beauseignor.
The Cubs were playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Edward was resting in his bed, receiving food through the G Tube.
Edward is a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, having spent some time in Los Angeles working in ministry in the 1960's.
I am a Cubs fan. I reassured Edward that my presence there with him would do more service for the Dodgers than the Cubs.
I was right. On Edward's smartphone, I listened to the play by play. The Dodgers' James Outman hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the top of the 9th inning. This was his second go-ahead homer of the game.
Sara's Uncle Eric arrived home from work around 6 pm. He went out and got some pizzas from Domino's for dinner. We were able to visit with Sara's cousin, Téa, who had flown in from Indiana, and her cousin, Elyssa, who had flown down from Washington State.
Elyssa very generously gave me a bottle of Dust Bowl Brewing Company Beer, Taco Truck Lager, which I used to wash down two slices of pizza. At that point, it was the first meal I had had in twelve hours.
Then I went and collapsed into bed.
More on the trip later.