July 4th Holiday: Family in Chicago, Friends in San Francisco

Wednesday, July 3-Sunday, July 7

After my four days of work travel June 24-27 to visit eight of the Finish Line Scholars Program colleges in the Central Valley (San Joaquin Delta, Reedley, Clovis, Fresno City, Madera, Sequoias, Lemoore, Coaling) and the San Francisco museum weekend, Mr. E and I embarked on more out of town adventures for the July 4th holiday weekend. We had a late afternoon flight on United First Class, so we took advantage of the food and beverage offerings, especially since we knew we'd be arriving a bit later in the evening. All was on time, although we had to wait a bit for our Lyft due to traffic at the airport. But we eventually made it to Mr. E's mom's place, unpacked, and enjoyed some chatting with her accompanied by snacks and adult beverages.

I had a nice long swim on Thursday morning in the awesome pool under the dome in her building, followed by breakfast and some grocery shopping with Mr. E. He wanted to fit in a workout before our afternoon outing to his sister's home in Oak Park, so after a bit of reading time, he went down to the fitness center and I made a trek to It's Sugar on Michigan Ave for some sweets. L had scheduled for a 1:30pm pick-up so to take us to Oak Park, where L and M hosted L's birthday gathering, which included L, G, B, J, and E. Lots of yummy food, including several items specially prepared allium-free for me, and some lively conversation. We lingered a bit after other folks left and eventually departed in a Lyft around 6:30pm. Then we just relaxed back in the condo with L for the rest of the evening.

Another swim for me on Friday morning (not as long). After breakfast, Mr. E and I caught a Lyft to Evanston to meet with a realtor and tour three condo buildings in anticipation of a potential future purchase. Then we saw two apartment options and grabbed some sushi lunch at Whole Foods before touring the nearby Evanston Athletic Club. Our final apartment viewing was farther south, but we had enough time to walk and found a shady street to help make the journey more comfortable. Then we caught the train across the street back to downtown Chicago to meet up with L. We had planned to take her out to RL Restaurant for her birthday dinner, but she requested staying in to relax instead. And we discovered that she had made shrimp spring rolls so we had plenty of food given that there were leftovers from the day before as well. We spent the evening reading, watching TV, and filling out the application for the apartment at The Park Evanston, which we had decided was the right spot for us to try out having two home bases for the next year.

On Saturday, I skipped the swim so that I wouldn't have a wet suit to bring home and instead did my Zumba and yoga workout before Mr. E and I met up with R and S for brunch at Dollop Diner. Mr. E and I shared a veggie omelet supplemented by overnight oats for him and a side of fruit for me. Afterwards, we walked to see R and S's new condo, which they've been in for just over a year now. We had enough time to chat for nearly an hour before we needed to catch a Lyft back downtown. 

I had changed my return flight on Southwest to 2:45pm rather than waiting until nearly 9pm, and we had enough time to take the train to Midway since I had already packed up in the morning. Mr. E came with me to send me off, since he was staying in Chicago for the rest of the week to spend more time with his mom, see friends, and run the Big 10 5K raced on the 13th. My flight from MDW through PHX to SMF was on time, and I was home with the kitties before 8:30pm.

One of the reasons for me to get home a bit earlier on Saturday was that I had plans on Sunday to take Amtrak to San Francisco to meet up with A, J, and Kiddo during their whirlwind tour of the US as they transition from life in BKK to Shanghai. The timing somehow worked out perfectly, as this was the only day that all of us were available! They took BART from where they were staying in San Bruno, and we all arrived in SF within about five minutes of each other. Perfect! The weather was beautiful -- sunny, clear, breezy, in the 70s. Definitely a welcome respite from the heat of Sac (I actually drove to Amtrak and parked for the day because it was too hot to walk and paying for parking was less than two Lyft trips).

I had suggested The Grove for lunch, as it was nearby and I remembered it from when Mr. E and I stayed at the Hyatt across the street during a previous SF weekend. The broad menu provided options for all of us, although Kiddo wasn't a big fan of the "too eggy" French toast. They gifted us with some lunar New Year goodies, which was very thoughtful, and I added them to our collection once I got home.

After lunch, we grabbed coffee at the Target Starbucks and J and Kiddo procured a new yellow jacket for her to wear in these cooler temperatures. Then we explored Yerba Buena Gardens and found the awesome kid's area with a fabulous playground, including climbing hill, multiple slides, sand box, and various ropes and jungle gym activities. Kiddo had a great time running around and trying out everything, which gave A and J and I plenty of time to perch in the shade and get even more caught up on life. 

It's amazing that we can just slip right back into comfortable conversation each time we see each other, even thought it's only every couple of years or so. The last time was when we went to BKK in January 2023. Yikes! I'm not sure we'll make it over to Shanghai, especially since J's contract is currently only for two years, but we'll see what happens. A really wonderful visit, and I'm so glad that we were able to make the logistics work out.

They walked with me back to the Amtrak bus stop as I had a 3:40pm pick-up to catch the connecting train in Emeryville back to Sac. The afternoon train was much more crowded than the morning train, primarily because lots of folks were traveling back from the afternoon As game. But I was still able to find a forward-facing seat on the shadier side without anyone next to me, and I decided to enjoy my typical train "Happy Hour" of rose wine and a cheese plate.

A very hot car greeted me at the Amtrak station, and I was very glad to get home to the cool house and spend the rest of the evening relaxing in comfort with the kitties. I think they were pretty happy to have me home for snuggles, too!