California Dreamin'

And sadly, another trip to California to visit TUO & R:tAG ends.

But what a trip...probably the best one to date. James & I didn't have a lot planned. We did a couple touristy things, but mostly we just geeked out with our hosts....or as I've been corrected, R:tAG & James geeked out.

We arrived Wednesday evening. TUO was gracious enough to pick us up from the airport. Sadly, R:tAG was laid up at home due to an aggravated back injury. We met TUO's pet in the car, and bombarded it with questions..to which it had many interesting answers.

R:tAG managed to maneuver around the house, so we decided to go out for dinner and spent our first evening at Consuelo on Santana Row. Great food and many laughs were had before we left....almost carrying R:tAG out of the restaurant. We managed to transport him safely home. He spent the rest of the evening with Lady Vicodin. So peaceful and soothing she is. The rest of us stayed up and watched Day Watch. Which felt oddly deju vu-ish for me when we started watching it. At times, I knew what scene was coming up next, what actions characters were going to take or words they were going to speak...until enough of the movie had gone by I realized I had seen it before. However, I still can't place it. I don't know when, where or with who I saw it. Strange. Unfortunately, I was too tired to make it through the entire movie.

Thursday we decided to head into San Francisco....after learning that R:tAG would be staying home from work for another day and and not being able to get a hold of Carl. The 'tours' would have to wait until Friday.

We travelled with TUO to her work, which is nearby the Sunnyvale train station. We made plans to meet at the end of the day, and headed off to check the train schedule and get some foody bits into our stomach.

James wanted to go to the SF Zoo, so post-Caltrain ride, we jumped into a cab and headed over to visit the animals. Rowr! (hee-hee) There was lots to see and a few of the animals were quite active. Here are some pictures.

Thursday evening we met up with Carl & Mickey and the six of us went to this amazing Greek restaurant - Cafe Artemis. Engaging conversation was had...and when someone didn't readily have the answer to something, the 'pets' helped out. It was quite a sight to see our 4 friends each with a ' pet' in their hands, searching for the same thing all at once. It was like conversing with 8 instead of 4. :)

Friday was pretty jam-packed. We started off the morning by travelling with R:tAG to work (mobile enough to rejoin the work-world) to get a tour. James was giddy with excitement; he was very much like a kid in a candy store. I had toured Cryptic Studios on my first visit down to San Jose a couple of years ago, and although Cryptic had since moved, the tour was definitely for James. We both left with smiles on our faces and schwag in our hands.

TUO had to run off to work, so James & I walked up to the nearest VTA station and caught the train into San Jose. It was only a few steps away to our destination - The Tech. This place was amazing. I've been to enough science museums/centres to compare, and this one definitely topped my list. Other than the numerous kids inhabiting the place, it was very cool and interactive. Just when I thought there wasn't more to see, I'd go around a corner and there was an entire separate exhibit. We spent most of the early part of the day lunching, touring, and taking in Sea Monsters at the IMAX.

After stopping briefly for some milkshakes at Johnny Rockets we were off to visit Carl at Apple and take in the monthly 'Beer Bash' event for staff and visitors, sponsored by Nike, I believe. Quite amazing I must say. An enormous amount of people (mostly staff as far as I could tell), tables and tables of food for the taking, water, pop, wine, beer...you name it....and free. And of course, Stan, who is worth mentioning, simply because he was so entertaining. Kudos to Carl for including us in the event.

Supper plans included Cheruby's 'must-eat-at' place, In-n-Out Burger...and I must say to Cheruby, 'amazing...delicious', and to our hosts, 'thank you so much for taking us there.' We were advised to order 'Animal style', and did so. James, of course, went over the top with his 'Animal' ordering.

James: I'd like that ANIMAL STYLE (in a slow, booming, deep voice, accompanied by a snake-like hand gesture)
Clerk: Was it really necessary to do it like that?
James: Absolutely!!!!!
Clerk: Well, she didn't feel the need to do it like that
James: ANIMAL STYLE (repeated again for emphasis)

For someone who doesn't really eat from any fast food chain, I was amazed at how calm my tummy was. No rumblies, nor tumblies, nor mad-dashes to the loo.

To cap off the night we watched The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (at least everyone else managed to watch the entire show...I, once again, fell asleep). SUPER-MEGA-AWESOME-COOL. This is a must see for all geeks out there. Corny for the sake of being corny....classic. I am so glad we bought it. Now I can watch the rest of it. (Hiss...Rowr!)

.....so tired....more to come!! Farewell for now.

Ok....after a few days to think about the remainder of our trip I realized there wasn't a whole lot more to say. Not to say we didn't have a great time, but it was fairly lax-a-daisy and relaxing.

We spent Saturday and Sunday touring and shopping around Campbell and Los Gatos with TUO & R:tAG. We:

• took in the Farmers Market in Los Gatos
• hit up both local game/comic book stores - D&J Hobby & Heroes
• gorged ourselves at Fry's - the ultimate electronics store

I also had the pleasure of being introduced to Doctor Who. James, R:tAG & TUO were certain I would like the episode Blink-Cool & Creeeeepy!!!!!! Give me more! Besides more Doctor Who, Dr. Srange and indulging in comics, we had an absolutely wonderful visit.