[CA] trip highlights
Jan. 12th, 2009 07:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidA long weekend in Lafayette, CA.
+ travel west went smoothly, even though I'd caught the later commuter rail that cut it close to making the flight on time
+ no checked luggage
+ JetBlue has decent amounts of legroom
– still can't sleep well or long enough on a plane
– undersleptness through the weekend
– the list of establishments under rabbinical supervision I found online was apparently something like 10 years out of date (I'm tempted to send them an email)
– ... so there wasn't a kosher butcher/deli nearby after all
+ Trader Joe's to the rescue!
+ new brand of soy sausage that wasn't as salty as other brands (no memory of the name, unfortunately)
– ... though it's still frustrating after a while to be eating fruit, salad, hummus, cold soy products, and cheese when everyone else is eating proper cooked food. *sigh*
+ seeing Muriel (currently maternal family matriarch)
– she just got pneumonia on top of her stage 4 cancer
+ she's in good spirits otherwise, and always a lovely person to spend time with, gracious and thoughtful
– it's probably the last time I'll see her
+ wild turkey sighting in the side yard
+ time with second cousins Carol and Lisa
+ time with closer family too
+ seeing the CA Peep (*wave*) and having tons of time to talk
+ local walnuts and oranges
+ pretty hotel (architecturally-themed art, marquetry floors (even in the elevators), pretty courtyards and other places to hang out) with amenities (an accessible computer, many books around, a mini-gym, a heated outdoor pool and hot tub, a sauna; not that I used more than the first three, unfortunately)
+ beautiful views of such improbably-shaped hills
+ blooming rosemary and lavender, plus other greenery
+ T-shirt weather (in January!)
– wishing I had a bike to join the many riders on the road (I was amazed at how many of them were wearing long sleeves and pants in weather I'd be happy to have just the regular gear on.)
+ walking to the temple with the family
– watching Mom trip and fall
+/– the adult bat mitzvah at a Reform temple (more on this in some other post)
– lack of reciprocal communication with another CA-based friend leading to Bad Brain Space
+ deer sighting right outside the living room window
+/– seeing an intense installation on the way to the BART station: a hillside covered in crosses (stars and crescents, when appropriate), one for each soldier killed in Iraq; they're keeping it up to date, and it's depressing to see how little space is left in that originally open area
+ amazing full harvest moon
+ BARTing to the airport (another public transit system used :-)
~ being stopped for extra security... because I was wearing a skirt (The guard seemed to think almost anything could be happening in a region he couldn't see. Er, yeah. The female guards who came to pat me down seemed to think he was a bit over the top... it got me wondering what he thought I could be hiding under my fairly straight skirt!)
– red eye flight, even though there was leg room and I slept some (I'm so exhausted today)
+ travel west went smoothly, even though I'd caught the later commuter rail that cut it close to making the flight on time
+ no checked luggage
+ JetBlue has decent amounts of legroom
– still can't sleep well or long enough on a plane
– undersleptness through the weekend
– the list of establishments under rabbinical supervision I found online was apparently something like 10 years out of date (I'm tempted to send them an email)
– ... so there wasn't a kosher butcher/deli nearby after all
+ Trader Joe's to the rescue!
+ new brand of soy sausage that wasn't as salty as other brands (no memory of the name, unfortunately)
– ... though it's still frustrating after a while to be eating fruit, salad, hummus, cold soy products, and cheese when everyone else is eating proper cooked food. *sigh*
+ seeing Muriel (currently maternal family matriarch)
– she just got pneumonia on top of her stage 4 cancer
+ she's in good spirits otherwise, and always a lovely person to spend time with, gracious and thoughtful
– it's probably the last time I'll see her
+ wild turkey sighting in the side yard
+ time with second cousins Carol and Lisa
+ time with closer family too
+ seeing the CA Peep (*wave*) and having tons of time to talk
+ local walnuts and oranges
+ pretty hotel (architecturally-themed art, marquetry floors (even in the elevators), pretty courtyards and other places to hang out) with amenities (an accessible computer, many books around, a mini-gym, a heated outdoor pool and hot tub, a sauna; not that I used more than the first three, unfortunately)
+ beautiful views of such improbably-shaped hills
+ blooming rosemary and lavender, plus other greenery
+ T-shirt weather (in January!)
– wishing I had a bike to join the many riders on the road (I was amazed at how many of them were wearing long sleeves and pants in weather I'd be happy to have just the regular gear on.)
+ walking to the temple with the family
– watching Mom trip and fall
+/– the adult bat mitzvah at a Reform temple (more on this in some other post)
– lack of reciprocal communication with another CA-based friend leading to Bad Brain Space
+ deer sighting right outside the living room window
+/– seeing an intense installation on the way to the BART station: a hillside covered in crosses (stars and crescents, when appropriate), one for each soldier killed in Iraq; they're keeping it up to date, and it's depressing to see how little space is left in that originally open area
+ amazing full harvest moon
+ BARTing to the airport (another public transit system used :-)
~ being stopped for extra security... because I was wearing a skirt (The guard seemed to think almost anything could be happening in a region he couldn't see. Er, yeah. The female guards who came to pat me down seemed to think he was a bit over the top... it got me wondering what he thought I could be hiding under my fairly straight skirt!)
– red eye flight, even though there was leg room and I slept some (I'm so exhausted today)