Cally in March

Here is a report on our trip to California to visit Daniel and Kelsey back in March. I know you are dieing for an update on the house but that has to wait. I need perspective, and calmness, before I write an update on that.

We go to California in March, to visit Daniel and Kelsey, and to escape the snow and cold for a few days. We have a very early morning flight, but its only 4 hrs to San Francisco from Minneapolis, a lot better than the 7 it can take from the East Coast.  Dan picks us up at the airport. It is only 10:30, we have the whole day ahead of us. We go to their new apartment for awhile. It is on Beale Street, only a few blocks from the Embarcadero and the Ferry building. They are on the 24th floor, with a bit of a view. Its a small apartment, but nice. 

Kelsey broke her leg skiing 2 weeks ago. It was a pretty bad break; she had to have surgery. She has a brace, but can’t put any weight on it for 5 more weeks. She is doing much better; they have a wheel chair and crutches and a small bed set up in their bedroom that she can get in and out of easily. Dan is taking good care of her.

(fyi, now in June she is completely recovered and back to normal, whew!)

On Saturday I go for an easy 3 mile run along the Embarcadero. I run easy 2 minutes, then run 1 min @ 10k pace, repeat. It’s chilly and a little rainy. Then we put Kelsey in her wheelchair and go to the farmers market at the ferry building. We get bagels and a Mexican breakfast at the market, then walk around a bit. 

In the afternoon we go to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. We see some nice art, photography and sculptures, and it is a beautiful interesting building as well. I liked that they had some female modern artists that are finally getting the recognition they deserve. 

Daniel Investigates some Art

Weird Bridge Floor

Some Creepy Giant Spiders

Later we go to the  mall at Japan Town and wander around. We get a Japanese snack that is new to me, rice balls with various fillings. Its very good!  Its called Onigiri. Everyone else is surprised that I have never had it before. I don't know how I missed it, but I did. Then we have ramen at a very popular place,  Ari’s. We put our name on the waiting list right at 5:30 but still had an hour wait. The ramen was very good. Kelsey was happy to get out, but she was also pretty tired. It was a big day for her.

On Sunday I run 10 miles along the Embarcadero, 5 miles to Chrissy field easy, then 5 miles back at 10 mile race pace, around 11:18 mpm. It was a beautiful morning for running and my run went great, I was pleased. A month later I ran my 10 mile race, Get in Gear, along the river in Minneapolis. I placed in my age group and won $15!

Then the went to Hong Kong Lounge for dim sum. We usually make a point of getting there early but this time because of my run it was 11:30 AM before we got there, so we had to wait. And wait. We were pretty hungry by the time we sat down to eat! But their dim sum is sooooo good. We always get the same things, dumplings, sticky rice, rice noodles, pea shoots, egg tarts, soup dumplings. It’s still the best dim sum this side of Hong Kong.

At 4 pm meet Max, Emily and Ellie at City Beer. Max and Ellie are my cousin Mark's kid's. Max and Emily have just moved to San Francisco, and Ellie was visiting her brother and his girlfriend for spring break. Max works for Uber, Emily is working for a company that does corporate housing, and Ellie is in her second year of Teach for America in Fort Worth. Then in the fall its off to medical school for her. It was fun to catch up and find out what everyone is doing. 

For dinner we got burgers from Umami. Dan and Lee get Incredible burgers that are vegan but don’t taste like it at all. I get a regular burger plus some maple bacon fries that are like dessert. At the time when we placed our order I didn’t know what an Incredible burger was. Lee gave me a bite of his and I thought it was meat. Now, back in Minneapolis we often buy Beyond burgers in the grocery store. They are also vegan burgers that taste like meat. We like them.

Monday we get deli sandwiches at the Deli Board and then head to Pacifica for a short hike. It’s a beautiful sunny day, we all gradually shed layers as we walk along the water. Daniel goes surfing here sometimes, but today the waves are big and there are no surfers out. We watch the fishermen catching crabs, and then its time to head to the airport and go home.