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The day of our departure to San Francisco could not have
begun more perfectly. After sleeping in until 7:00 a.m., John and I casually
began to do our last minute packing for the trip - we had done most of our
packing during the week, so there were only a few little things left to pack.
We then went out to Einstein's Bagels for breakfast. While we were out, we did
our last minute shopping for supplies that we had forgotten to buy during the
week: travel-sized toothpaste, batteries for our new walkie-talkies, and jar
food for Mary. Finally, we took Iris, our new Jeep Grand Cherokee, to the car
wash to get all of the dust off of her before leaving her in long-term parking
at Sky Harbor Airport.
Upon returning from the car wash, we finished up some more last minute details
before leaving for the airport. For one, we read all of our e-mails, so that
our inboxes wouldn't be so full when we returned. We also made sure that the
cats had plenty of food and water to last them until Erika came to look after
them. And, most importantly, we made sure that Mary took a nap before we left,
to ensure that she wouldn't be cranky when we boarded the plane.
Around 12:15 p.m., we left for the airport. As soon as we arrived curbside at
Terminal 2, a representative from United Airlines greeted us and immediately
checked all four of our bags: two suitcases and two backpacks, one of which
was packed in the box that our car seat came in! (That was "the Limo" - there
just wasn't another way to pack it so that we could check it as baggage!) John
then left Mary and me so that he could park the Jeep in the West Economy Lot,
which was right next to the terminal. That only took him a few minutes; he
soon joined me inside the terminal, and from there, we went to the gate to
await our flight.
The afternoon continued to progress just as smoothly as the morning. Our plane
arrived on time, which meant that we were able to board on time, which meant
that we were able to depart on time. The flight was not full, so the seat next
to us remained empty - that gave us the room to spread out if we had needed
it.
Now, since this was the first time that Mary had ever been on a plane, we
weren't certain how she was going to react during take-off and landing. I had
heard that it could be hard on babies' ears and that the key to helping them
pop their ears during take-off was to give them a pacifier or a bottle. In
Mary's case, that wouldn't have worked because she never liked pacifiers and I
had weaned her from the bottle two weeks prior to our trip! So, I gave Mary a
pretzel to chew on and a sippy-cup of apple juice to drink during take-off…and
she wasn't fussy at all! In fact, she was incredibly well-behaved during most
of the flight, and a half an hour before we landed, she fell asleep.
Our flight landed at San Francisco International Airport at 4:00 p.m. Upon
arriving at the baggage carousel, we found that all four of our bags were
already on the conveyor belt - usually, our bags are the LAST ones off the
plane and we have to wait forever for them! As soon as we had claimed all of
our bags, we went outside to catch the rental car shuttle - at SFO, the rental
cars are at a different terminal. We were just in time to catch the next bus
before it left. Around 4:30, we reached the rental car terminal, and what
luck! There was no line at the Budget counter! In no time at all, all of the
paperwork was done, and we were ready to claim our car.
At 5:00 p.m. exactly, we pulled out of the rental car garage in our red Ford
Taurus, and we merged onto the US 101, heading north towards the Bay Bridge.
Although it was rush hour, we were surprised to see how smoothly traffic was
flowing! At this rate, I thought, we'll have plenty of time to freshen up
before we go to Suzanne and Todd's anniversary party, which didn't start until
7:30 p.m. - a whole two and a half hours away!
And then, we hit the gridlock…
A few miles before we were to merge onto I-80, to drive over the Bay Bridge,
traffic came to a screeching halt…and there we sat for what seemed like an
eternity. (John remarked that he saw the same Wells Fargo Bank billboard with
the digital clock for a whole nine minutes before we finally passed it.)
Occasionally, we were able to proceed at a crawl. Occasionally, traffic would
move back up to speed - or at least back up to thirty or forty miles an hour -
but before we could count our blessings, we would be at a dead stop again.
Once we reached the Richmond San Rafael Bridge, traffic began to move up to
speed again. Except for the occasional brake lights, we started making better
time as we passed through San Anselmo and San Rafael.
Then, just before we reached Novato, traffic came to a screeching halt again,
and for the next five miles or so, we crawled up the highway, doing five to
ten miles and hour.
By this time, the three of us were becoming quite tense. Mary was very antsy
from sitting in the car seat too long, and she loudly let us know that she was
unhappy. (Eventually, she did fall asleep, much to our relief.) John had the
worst case of road rage I had ever seen him have. I even had road rage, and I
wasn't even driving! This was the worst traffic I had ever seen in my entire
life!
Eventually, we made it past the obstacle that had caused the traffic back-up:
it was only a mild fender-bender! After we passed by the accident, traffic
began to move again, and shortly thereafter, we arrived in Petaluma, where the
Daggerts make their home.
At 7:00 p.m., we arrived at the Motel 6 in Petaluma. I got out of the car to
stand in line at the registration desk while John waited with Mary in the car.
As I got into the long line - which, of course, was out the door! - I noticed
that the first couple in line was Marcheta and Erik Strunk. (Debbie Hannum and
Brian Brown were with them, but they had already checked in.) The two of them
had just arrived, too, having been stuck in traffic, and they had waited a
half an hour in line to check into the Motel 6. A half an hour? Oh, crap!
After hearing that, I ran back out to the car and suggested that John get Mary
ready for the party while we were waiting to get a room.
Fortunately, it only took me twenty minutes to get checked in. We quickly
carried our two suitcases up to our room, with help from Debbie and Brian, and
then we took a couple of minutes to freshen up before all seven of us left for
the party.
Now, none of us had any idea where this party was located, but we at least had
directions, provided to us by Suzanne. Based on the directions, it looked as
though the restaurant, Il Centro, was only a few minutes away, but as we
started driving, we found that it was quite some distance from the motel - it
was in Sonoma, which was about fifteen or twenty minutes from Petaluma.
As we reached the town of Sonoma, along CA-12, I read the directions to John:
"[From CA-12/Broadway] Turn right onto Napa Street. Il Centro is located on
the corner of Napa Street and First Street." Soon thereafter, we came to Napa
Road, so John made a right turn. We then came to Fifth Street, so we both
thought, "It's just a little bit further…" By this time, though, Mary was
beginning to fuss because it was long past her dinnertime and she had not yet
been fed. "We're almost there," we assured her, but she didn't care how much
further it was, because she wanted food!
The next street that we came to was Eighth Street…so what happened to First
Street? With that, we turned around and went back down Napa Road, trying to
figure out where we had gotten lost. Did we miss First Street? Should we have
turned left instead of right? Did we miss the building entirely?
We drove up and down Napa Road several times before we met up with Debbie and
Brian and Marcheta and Erik - they were lost, too. At that point, I think all
of us must have figured out that there was a Napa ROAD and a Napa STREET in
Sonoma. John and I followed the others back to CA-12, and about a mile up the
road, we found Napa Street…and as we turned right, we found First Street, too.
 After parking the cars, the seven of us walked back to the corner of Napa
Street and First Street to look for Il Centro. However, we couldn't find it.
We walked up and down both Napa and First Streets looking for the restaurant,
but we were unable to find it. We even asked several people on the street, as
well as waiters in the restaurants, if they knew where this place was, but no
one seemed to know.
We spent a half an hour looking for the place, during which time Mary began
wailing for her dinner. While the rest of us searched for Il Centro, John
kneeled next to Mary's stroller and fed her…but by the time she was finished
eating, we still had not found the place.
Eventually, at about 8:30 p.m., Erik and Brian found Il Centro: it was almost
a block north of Napa Street on First Street, and there was no sign to
indicate where it was. When we arrived, we had already missed the toast, as
well as most of the food, but we were just in time for Suzanne and Todd to cut
their anniversary cake. We also met up with Charlene and Mike Magee, and with
Lori Ballard and her daughter Megan - the rest of our group. Mary and I, as
well as Marcheta and Debbie, received feather boas, which Suzanne had bought
in order to give us a more "festive look", since the dress code for her party
was "festive attire". The boas were indeed a nice touch.
Having survived the fiasco, John and Mary and I relaxed and enjoyed the party
with the others. About an hour or so later, the party drifted to a bar located
in an alleyway down the street. We all sat outside and knocked back a few
rounds of beer as we socialized. Many pictures were taken, including a "Guy's
Kick Picture" with John, Erik, Brian, Todd, and Mike. (This was done to match
the traditional "Girls Kick Picture", taken earlier in the evening.)
At 11:00 p.m., we decided that it was time to go. Mary was already asleep in
her stroller, and John and I were exhausted and hungry. We left the party and
drove back to the Motel 6 in Petaluma, stopping first to find a Jack in the
Box to grab a bite to eat before shutting ourselves in our room for the night.
Return to Ten Days, Ten
Counties, Ten Hundred Miles. |
