Ten Days - Part Six - Rain & Sunshine

Jason would get sick as I drove at least 30 miles of endless hairpin curves. That kind of driving demands all of your attention and is very draining together with the rain. After we got to the coast I continued for a few hours of more intense driving. I had Jason take over beside someone's Taj Mahal house after our morning prayer. I was in a very dour disposition I'm sorry to say. I kept giving Jason driving tips, which I tried to do in a civil manner instead of just giving him looks when we skidded out or went off the pavement. He had lots of time to practice and improved leaps and bounds. The turns never ended though and by the end we were imagining how glorious the interstate route going home would be. We stopped for an Indian lunch of Seekh (lamb) kebabs with nann, rice, a lentil curry and a vegetable curry soup. Yay! I got to eat one of the sheep I enjoyed dotting the hill sides. The countryside became so unusual. African looking trees with Scottish looking hills. I drove into San Fran for rush hour with the doubtful plan of finding a visitor info centre still open, finding an internet cafe to check for billet request responses, and getting a calling card to check in at home and inquire about James. None of it, but we did help two ladies at a gas station. A big what if ending with the second but what can you do after the fact?
Annoying downtown lostness and a sample of the freeway traffic jam had us parking and walking around to kill time and clear heads. It didn't really work. Traffic was still ugly and we were still unorganized and cranky. We got to Vacaville by 9, found a 7-11, got a calling card, and an uncooperative pay phone incurred my anger. Drove around in mostly fruitless attempts to find the Walmart. Wasted time in the store because we were grumpy, but I did talk to RJ. Located a campground, went around in circles finding a restaurant. It was a classy retro-diner Jamie would've been more proud of. The chicken burger-Mexican style- and the chocolate milkshake were good. We got to the campground by 12ish and it wouldn't allow entry after 5:30 PM. So we parked at a gas station and slept in the car, showerless again.

I awoke early enough to watch the sun rise and life feel better.

We set off for AAA and praised God for the sunshine. Now I have to go finish this day before telling you about it.
Or not. Well I've registered, and bought pretty much every Graham Cooke resource available. Now I've got some time again.
So the AAA loaded us up with maps galore and let me call to confirm where the conference was and upon receiving no word about James we were able to keep our intention of not setting foot in San Fran again. Instead we went to Safeway to get yogurt and calcium antacids for Jason, and bread and wine for communion later. Then we walked over to Bath & Bodyworks for Christmas celebrations in shorts and sandals. Yes fun was had by all.
We went and got bulk bags of outcast jelly bellies resisting the urge to buy 5 lbs of candy for $10. No wait, 10 lbs for $5. We returned to Safeway to grab eggs for lunch and went to Best Buy. I found 3 CDs for smashing prices not even available in Canada and I was very happy. Then we headed for the local park where we boiled the eggs for our lovely picnic lunch. We had our daily scripture reading and shared a delightful communion with an olive loaf and Sutter Home cabarnet sauvigon. Then I read poetry while we breathed in the flowers. Hey wait a minute, there's no flowers here...
Now we have 40 minutes before the conference starts.
Oh Holy Spirit, the trips feels so long already. May this piece not be diminished. May our hearts jump at your voice. May we dance and sing without thought of dignity or distraction. We will trust you. We will love you. We will fight fears. Open our minds and spirits to receive and possess truth.