Day 4 - I Probably Left Something in San Francisco

Sunday began with the pitter patter of little feet rushing from bedroom to playroom. And why not rush? That's where the firetrucks and airplanes are kept!

My size 7 1/2s followed shortly after as Cindy, Alan, and I all prepared to head into the city for an event at which Cindy would be (wo)manning a table representing her work. 

As we walked to the park where the event was held, we passed an Everest College and I couldn't help but take a picture. I graduated from Everest in Vancouver, WA (when it was called Western Business College) as a medical assistant and it was my first step in the journey that is leading me east to become a nurse practitioner.

This one's for you, Mom

The event is called Israel in the Gardens and is the largest Jewish community gathering in Northern California. As we approached the park, Cindy warned me that there would be protesters. Again, because of my last job, I am not unfamiliar with protesters. 

But while security at Planned Parenthood consists of a guy named Bill, security at Israel in the Gardens consisted of the kind of screening found at Ben Gurion Airport. All of our bags were checked and we were wanded front and back.

Here are Alan and Cindy striking the TSA pose (or being airplanes)

Once we were determined to be safe, we settled at the table representing where Cindy does much good, the Hebrew Free Loan Association. It is an amazing (and surprisingly sustainable) resource for Jews in Northern California who are in need of funds in the short term with the ability to repay the loan in the long term. There are several branches of this organization throughout the country (although sadly not in Oregon) and it is especially generous to students -- all the way through graduate school.

Event attendees, many of them students, came by to ask questions and take a piece of candy (only one please, and you have to give a piece of candy back next month). 

When lunchtime rolled around, Alan and I set off in search of falafel (a word that shockingly isn't in the SpellCheck dictionary). On our way, we passed a booth selling this:

"Matzo-Style"

And I didn't think matzo could get any more disgusting.

After falafels were found and we returned to the table, I noticed that a line had formed of people waiting to be screened for entry. Just beyond them was an unsettling sight. 

In the morning, when we arrived and were passing through security, I saw one man holding a sign reminding us that he didn't care if it rains or freezes as long as he had his plastic Jesus. By lunchtime, more protesters joined the action. 

A good-sized group of people stood just outside the barriers, under the blazing heat, walking in a circle and holding signs to express their displeasure with Israel and its relationship to the United States. Some of the signs stated that the protesters themselves were Jewish.

Protesters

Just on the other side of the barrier was a good-sized group of anti-protesters waiving Israeli flags in their faces.

Anti-Protesters

I don't know about you, but from this distance, I thought they all kind of looked like Sneetches.
Alan was able to occupy himself during the entire time we were there. Lining up his cars and trucks over here and then lining them up over there. His airplane he carried through the air and then plunked down into the grass. "This is the ocean," he told me. A little later he started pulling out handfuls of grass and piling them on top of his airplane. "Is this burial at sea?" I asked him. "Yes," he decided. And after that whenever someone came over to ask him what he was doing, he told him or her he was burying his plane at sea.

This is Alan wearing two hats

When Cindy had helped everyone who needed a'helpin', we headed home. Alan helped point out every airplane we saw on the way and requested that his mom get some more. She promised to see what she could do. 

After nap time for both Alan and me, we had dinner outside on the upper deck overlooking the spectacular view of the treetops in the canyon, the bay across the way, the Bay Bridge across the other way, and the sunset. After dinner, Joe took me on the tour of the projects he completed outside. 

"See this yard? It wasn't here when I bought the house." 

But it's not like he just put down sod. There wasn't a flat surface to put sod on before Joe, just a steep hill leading down into the canyon. For months after work, Joe would come home and relocate dirt -- digging down into the uphill and placing the dirt on the downhill until he had created a flat and even yard. 

"See that deck spanning the entire length of this 2200 square foot house? It wasn't there when I bought the house." 

"See this enormously complicated railing system?"

"See these steps winding down into the canyon?"

"See this spiral staircase?"

"See the gorgeously detailed fence around the property?"

And, again, it's not like he sees something he wants changed and calls up a guy. HE DOES IT ALL HIMSELF! 

(Well, everything but the wallpaper in the upstairs bathroom, because that stuff is just too complicated.)

And then he makes you laugh with a joke that is so subtle, it takes you a minute to figure out it was funny.

Then it was (slightly after) Alan's bedtime. Again, I was entrusted to read a (short) bedtime story with him. 

Once he was tucked in and wished sweet dreams, the rest of us gathered in one of the livingrooms to plan for tomorrow and hear the plan for the continuation of my adventure. I got some great tips for Las Vegas, but I'll have to wait a few days to use them. 

I will be sorry to leave the company of this wonderful family and I do hope to see them and the house again (especially after Alan convinces them that it really would look so much better with airplane wings). Until then, they are more than welcome to visit me in Boston. 

Tomorrow, I am LA bound!

Odometer Start: 34984

Odometer End: 34984

Miles Driven Today: 0

Miles Driven Total: 1164
Today In/Around: San Francisco, CA
Tomorrow:  Monterey, CA and Los Angeles, CA

States Visited: 3 (Washington, Oregon, California)

Bedtime Stories Read: 2

Falafels Eaten: 1