Unlikely Words

Wednesday we slept in, thank God. I think we both needed it. The plan was a day in the city which can be exhausting enough even without a time change and a rough day. On the drive in it occurred to me that the drive from Los Altos (where we were staying) to San Francisco is roughly equivalent to the drive from Providence to Boston, and we made the former trip without thinking twice. I think this means we should definitely get less lame about getting into Boston, since that drive doesn’t even have the super-creepy statue of Junipero Serra watching over the highway.

The first stop, I’m simultaneously proud and embarrassed to say, was the Apple store. This was equal parts shopping trip and pilgrimage. The store itself is gorgeous. The exterior echoes the aluminum look of the PowerBook I’m typing this on, and the interior is minimalist but very well laid out. They didn’t have, unfortunately, the item we went there for in the first place (I shall retell the Saga of the Bag at another time) but it was still a great deal of fun. I almost talked Rachel into buying a 12″ PowerBook for herself, and we almost impulse-bought a digital video camera. Damn that seductive retail environment!

Once we dragged ourselves away from the store, we went to meet Rachel’s cousin for lunch. (Rachel’s cousin’s name is also Rachel, so we tend to refer to her as “Cuzzie.” This is a nickname that I think she’s less fond of as she enters her late twenties.) Here, for the first time on the trip, the Hertz NeverLost GPS navigation system in our rental car let us down for the first time. We weaved haphazardly through the Presidio for longer than we’d have liked before Cuzzie talked us in. We did, however, get a neat picture of the fogged-in Golden Gate Bridge.

The three of us enjoyed a delicious organic lunch (free-roaming wheat!) at Cuzzie’s office. She works for an expedition travel company, which arranges tours to places I’m too chicken to go to. She’s spending three weeks in Bhutan in a month or so. I don’t even know that I could find Bhutan on a map. I’m impressed I can spell Bhutan.

After lunch, we checked out City Lights Bookstore which was, indeed, a great bookstore, although buying four books may have been a tactical error. Where did I think I was going to read them, in the car? And did I need more things to lug back home in our suitcase? And besides, I haven’t even bought much less started the next book for my book club. Stupid.

On our way out of San Francisco for the day, we got a call from my friend Rachel K., which means that not only did we get the Rachel trifecta for the day, but we also got to complete the “Matt’s Ex-girlfriend Tour” portion of the vacation. The two Rachels and I had a great time chatting at a little coffee place and then we headed back to Los Altos for dinner with the family.

After dinner, we played a couple of games of Pictionary with Rachel’s Aunt Terri, Uncle Donald, Cousin Ian, and his girlfriend Kelly. At Ian’s suggestion, we played a variation where we just made up our own clues to challenge each other. My shining moment was correctly guessing “For me to poop on!” while Ian was drawing. I rock.

Late that night, I finally heard from my college roommate Fred; we’d hoped to see them at some point on the trip (since they live in Santa Clara) but it turned out the only time was at around 11:30 at night. Rachel was pooped out, but I scooted down there to see them and their big ol’ house. Fred and Lisa seem not to have changed at all, which is rather comforting. It was great to see them and catch up on the last 3* years.

After that long day, and with the promise of a long one to come, bed was most welcome. Why are vacations so exhausting?

(*The original version of this piece claimed that it had been 5 years since I’d seen Fred and Lisa, not 3. We regret the error.)