Monday, July 20, 2009

Day Two: Feet Don't Fail Me Now

Leaving San Francisco is like saying goodbye to an old sweetheart. You want to linger as long as possible.

Those were Walter Cronkite's words, and it seemed kind of nice to use them while so many of us are thinking about his great achievements this weekend. While I may not be quite as romantic as Cronkite, this really is a great city, although I am still biased in favor of Sydney.

Yesterday started poorly for LK, whose little toe had a blood blister roughly the size of - oh - her little toe. Doctor Don to the rescue. I soaked a pin in vodka, as you would expect, and gave her a quick jab to let some of the pressure off. It probably didn't really help much, but it made me feel useful. Three band-aids and cotton socks, and LK was off to tough it out.

We took a cable car to Union Square. It was going on noon and Robert and I decided to have a beer while Linda and Jaki attacked Macy's and London Sole. I think Robert and I got the best of it because we were sitting out in the Square on a beautiful day watching the very interesting people who make up this city.

When the women returned, I did notice, however, that LK was able to try on and buy a new pair of shoes, so perhaps Doctor Don had helped her toe. Or perhaps the chance to buy a pair of shoes from her favorite shoe store was the true healing power. We will never know.

We got to show Robert and Jaki a deli-style restaurant we usually visit when we're here, and after sandwiches that would feed a family of four with leftovers, we all decided to grab a taxi back and have an hour or two to rest before the evening.

In other words, the twin themes of eating and sleeping and eating some more before sleeping again were still in play.

I cannot remember who said it, but last night proved the old line about spending a beautiful winter's day in San Francisco one July. The temperature was in the 50s (maybe 11 or 12C for my metric people), but with a strong wind and fog setting in, it was a very cold 6- or 7-block walk to the restaurant. And a really cold walk back.

Linda and I had debated whether we needed to bring sweaters and stuff since this trip is happening in the heart of summer. Thank God she prevailed.

Anyhow, lots more laughs, more food and complete exhaustion by the time we got back to our room at 11. For me complete exhaustion meant I went to bed and fell fast asleep for the night. For Linda, complete exhaustion meant she stayed awake until 4am. I didn't even know she had the lights on reading for a couple of hours.

Today we're leaving our hearts in San Francisco and taking the rest of our body up to the Napa wine country. We will be staying in Sonoma at Macarthur Place. Looks to be very special.

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