Back From Paradise

Just wanted to let y'all know I'm back from Cali. The trip was amazing. Although, right when I got off the plane my throat started really hurting, but a spray w/ cloraseptic took that right away (that stuff is amazing). That night we just stayed in San Jose. We went to eat w/ a coworker of my mom's the next day, who is Indian (dot not the feather :P), and her husband, who is Greek. Needless to say it was an interesting couple. He sounds like a full blooded Italian right off the Godfather, it's hilarious (too bad his name aint Luigi). He took us to Fry's Electronics out in San Jose, which I've never been to. He took me on the tour of Heaven as I know it...I love that place now haha. The whole time he's saying things like, "This place is great, no? But it is a cult of Lucifer for sure." I was cracking up the whole time. Of course Jeremiah stopped in the speaker rooms...cracker. But after that we went to our new hotel in Monterey which was really pretty nice. That afternoon Jeremiah decided he wanted to be a royal jerk, so he drove my mom to tears and the vacation looked to be in shambles. I took her out for a drive and we went to eat at this really nice lil outdoor restaurant in Monterey w/ absolutely perfect weather and good food, and I paid just to give her a break that night. Next day things went smoothly, just went to a beach for awhile and then to a whale watching tour which was pretty cool. But I had thought, being cloudy, I wouldn't get burned...wrong...I got FRIED. I looked like a lobster till the last day of the vacation..blisters and all...dead sexy I know. After that we went to the 17 mile drive which is this neighborhood you pay to get to drive through since it's all these massive mansions and coastal rocks (which I climbed up on for some good ol fun). After that we headed out to San Francisco and I took over driving shortly before we entered the city and drove into the parking garage. This "parking garage" was so small, every turn in it had to be a 3 point turn since it was so incredibly tight, but I managed to pull it off in an Impala. Next day went to the Crooked Street (8 turns in 1 block downhill) which is up 2 blocks from the hotel on a street that goes up at a good 60 degrees easily. Then down to the Wharf, ate, shopped, and whatnot, but the wind there is really fast and prob 60 degrees at the hottest, so at night we were freezing to death in the middle of summer. Next day I wore a hoodie and we took a streetcar tour of the city before talking forever to this really shady salesman that got my mom to go to a presentation the next day to which I thought was for sure a fraud since this guy was probably the best salesman I've ever seen in my life, and we bought a streetcar from him. The streetcar tour was funny and really interesting. Going through Chinatown, Little Italy, Pacific Heights (filthy rich), and the guide pointed out all the different architecture which was really cool. But on a suggestion from the streetcar driver, we go to this hole-in-the-wall pizza place, The Front Room, which was the best pizza I've ever had in my life, no lie. Next day we wake up for this sales presentation that's basically a timeshare, but lets you use your points you buy to use at any of their resorts (full kitchens, 4 rooms average) or at a hotel they partner with. It sounded pretty good actually once I heard it all, and it's a whole lot cheaper than most hotels, and not only that but he gave me and Jeremiah free brand new iPods (still shipping) and hooked us up w/ the "sold-out" Alcatraz tour for the next day for free ($165), a boat tour of the bay for free (under the bridge, around Alcatraz and whatnot), and a couple other goodies along w/ the free breakfast for showing up. The last day of the vacation we went to Coit Tower with this funny lil Asian dude taking us up to the top in an elevator and then we went on an Alcatraz cruise which was really pretty cool, but it was windy as crap, so it messed up my hair...friggin wind...haha jk. After that we went to Haight-Ashbury where all the hippies still hang out which was...interesting...basically a Grateful Dead neighborhood, but cool nevertheless. We walked down to the Golden Gate Park which was ultra shady w/ homeless everywhere, so we got a cab out of there and went to Union Square w/ all the shopping and got some Cheesecake Factory for lunch (my first time, but great stuff). We went back to the Front Room for more pizza, then just back to the hotel for a movie and sleep to wake up at 4am the next morning. Only bad part was that our neighbors were laughing, coughing, and everything possibly noisy to the point we banged on the door while watching Hostage since it was so distracting. After the movie was over it never did stop so we called down to the desk and they sent up a guy my age that let this British woman come over at 11:30 to knock on our door and yell at my mom for calling the desk instead of coming over in her pajamas to tell them to be quiet. She kept telling my mom to ask to be moved, it was ridiculous. But finally they calmed down and we drove to the airport the next morning and got to ride home in the middle seats apart from each other...but I got home. Now I just wish I was still in Monterey...