I could give a bunch of lame excuses for taking forever to finish Part 2. My favorite of which would be I had writer’s block (or amnesia since this is all non-fiction). But they aren’t very believable so I’ll leave excuses out….Now that being said I finally have it finished so here it is!!
The next day after the meeting we decided to head towards the city by way of ferry boat which didn’t go as smoothly as we thought it would. When we got there, bought our tickets, and then realized the next ferry was an hour away. That happened to work to our advantage though because right across a little pedestrian bridge there was a parking lot full of food trucks. All kinds of amazing food served up right out of a vehicle. That probably should be a teensy bit concerning, and yet it’s one of the greatest ideas ever, which I couldn’t help but think as I ate my lobster roll and drank lemonade that was surprisingly almost as good as the Souths.
That hour came and went and before we knew it we were on our way across the bay. The ferry rocked back and forth making Jade sea sick and causing me to doze off, which I usually don’t do. I normally don’t even fall asleep in my own car let alone on public transportation. But Chinatown was approaching and I definitely needed a nap. (Unfortunately, this ferry carried all kinds of liquor, but could they be bothered to have good coffee? No. Apparently they couldn’t.)
We pretty much wobbled and tripped out of the ferry, but we had made it without too many traumatic experiences. Even more important we managed to not traumatize the general public although I think several people watched in horror as I accidentally dropped my plastic cup into the trash can instead of recycling.
I had previously thought sudoku puzzles make your brain hurt. I was wrong. What really makes your brain hurt is looking at a huge map with all different tracks going all different ways and none of it being where you need it to go. Jade finally decided we’d just start walking and gps it along our way. That seemed like the solution right? Wrong. We very very narrowly missed the Tenderloin. You would think that the streets would be organized in the customary city blocks, but these curved around every corner until you didn’t know what a block was, which didn’t help with Jade’s navigational skills. Amazingly enough, though, we found Chinatown and there a whole new set of adventures started to happen.
First off, to say I’m obsessed with chopsticks would be putting it lightly. I love, love ,love collecting them and mugs ,so the first store we walked into I went straight down the stairs to the ceramics and kitchen things. The sheer number of awesome teapots almost brought me to tears. Among the kitchen ware was of all things a deformed sponge bob beanie. It took serious willpower not to get it just because it looked entirely ridiculous.
After finishing up there we shopped around for chopsticks and gifts until we got hungry and decided on the least questionable looking food we could find. It was a really cool experience to just be brought out food without really having to order it. Besides that it was delicious and we left feeling satisfied ,well almost because then we realized we really needed to get some boba tea.
My first experience with boba was a tad too sweet and I wasn’t thrilled but I decided to give it another chance. This time I had the option of choosing the amount of boba I wanted in it. Yeah. Soooo maybe I went overboard. Then again is there such a thing as too much boba? Upon reflection I think not.
Now while the tea was amazing I have to mention the fact their restroom (Which happened to be like the only public one we could find in Chinatown) was less than stellar based on the fact it was painted a funky shade of green and doubled as their trash room?? Yes, they had 3 industrial size trash cans (also a funky shade of green) just chilling in their bathroom. Nothing says “we love our customers” more than giving them the opportunity to trip and fall into toilet as they enter the restroom. Not to mention the amount of graffiti on everything and their apparent lack of soap. Sketchy? Definitely. Worth it….debatable *cough* yes *cough* what are health codes.
Then somehow we found ourselves in little Italy where we found an AMAZING bookstore. 3 levels of books in every nook a cranny… Non fiction downstairs…ground level fiction and upstairs poetry. One of the coolest things about this store was that it was in a old building that didn’t have cookie cutter rooms. They were all tiny and odd shaped with stairways in random spots ,but that’s what made it so charming. The smell of old and new books wafted around every turn and the cozy atmosphere made you wanted to curl up somewhere and read forever. That small space was brimming with dreams and adventures that you could almost taste and somehow even spending a short amount of time there felt entirely inspiring. There you could be in a thousand different places just by opening a book and turning a page. Unfortunately, we had a ferry to catch and when we walked out of the store all daydreams came to an end. It was back to reality where Jade would be seasick once again. Soon enough we were back at her house where we would awaken the next day and go on an adventure to Byron.
The Abandoned Hotel:
Nick (a.k.a instigator of trips to creepy places) picked us up around 11 and then we made our way to the boonies of California. Which is actually just towns full of produce farms. On our way up though I heard a couple things about their last experience in Byron which had something to do with a peg leg, or rather, lack there of, so I was both wary and excited to see what would happen on the trip. First order of business was stopping at a market/Mexican restaurant. In hindsight we probably missed out on some really good food just because the burrito sign made it a teensy bit questionable. Instead we went with a random assortment of junk food that included a melting Popsicle. Then Nick scolded Jade for not saving her trash so she could recycle it for later.
Soon after, we were pulling to a stop on a dusty side road ready for our trek to the abandoned hotel. This was not before all three of us made awkward eye contact with a couple in a parked truck that had been (prior to our slowly driving by) intensely looking in to the other’s eyes. Shockingly the walk to the hotel was mostly uneventful. We passed a shotgun shell every couple feet but other than that uneventful. Now as we approached the hotel the only thought in my mind was a scene from a old western. The part right before the smooth talking cowboy walks out. The camera pans around and there is nothing but some decrepit buildings. Maybe some scraggly plants here and there. Although at the hotel there were a ton of palm trees. On one side of you a tumbleweed blows on by (this actually happened and it made my year.) Then as you move closer to the building you hear something creak as it sways in the wind. (Yeah that didn’t make my year quite as much.) From the outside you can see how grand the building could’ve once been and a quick google search will confirm that. Over the years it has been everything from a high society golf resort to a monastery. However, nowadays it’s better known as a place people like to tag and party. Which is abundantly clear as we walk up a flight of stairs into the main rooms where all the walls are covered in graffiti.
*Although the place looks dangerous because of all the fire and people damage I assure everyone it was structurally sound*
We probably had spent 45 mins meticulously going in every single room and capturing pictures of some of the artwork when we heard noises that were possibly voices. After a creepy unsure few minutes of not knowing what it was we saw some people walking outside a few floors below. Eventually they turned a corner saw us and totally freaked out and then we all laughed about it. Then as we made our way down a staircase we realized it was the couple we had made eye contact with only a hour before. Pretty sure I’m still dying from the embarrassment of that. When we got to the basement Nick thought it would be a good idea to tell a scary story. Meanwhile, Jade was thinking it wasn’t such a good idea and I was laughing because her scared face and then the horror of the story. So on that lovely memorable note we ended the trip to hotel and started our walk back. Then on the way back we passed a creepy building that looked like where clowns would live and some thugs that were all like “Yo you’ve been tagging?” And we were all like “Noooope, k bye” and picked up the pace until we arrived safely back to what I’m gonna call the Nick-mobile.
Bezerkely:
From the desert we made our way into Berkeley. Along the way we stopped at a lookout to take some pics with a huge dead tree that doubled a bench. Then somewhere between there and the actual city Nick posed the question : “Are people more attractive here or in Tennessee?” Which is a good question that I still don’t have an answer to. I mean Cali guys all wear short shorts and Tennessee guys all wear camo or neon orange……………………..just let both of those awful realities sink in………..and while that may be an exaggeration those are the only examples that stick out in mind. As far as girls go they pretty much are the same everywhere…..all getting ideas off Pinterest.
After the question(s) were posed and half answered we made our way into a parking garage jamming to Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie which is the only acceptable way to park if we are all being honest with ourselves. From there we took Berkeley by storm hitting up everything from an amazing Indian restaurant ,to a Japanese dollar store, Ice Cream Sandwich called Cream, and a (yes,another) bookstore I could’ve spent a billion hours in. The only predicament here was me trying to cram the ice cream in my mouth ,before walking in the bookstore. Then after we left that cool little section we headed to get Boba Tea. In which I was coerced into getting the lavender infused….but I totally ended up loving it!! Then with tea in hand and a determination to keep the weird going we dropped by Urban Ore. The only way to describe it is a second hand hardware store meets the worst and yet best thrift store you’ve ever been to. It was here we reached full on mental breakdown and had a 10 min laughing fit while kicking back on some pretty shoddy furniture. Jade invented what she calls the boba lip. Which involves being a actual 5 year old and filling your top lip with boba then proceeding to scare the general public with it. That being said it’s also ingeniously funny and every reason why I love Jade. That’s when an employee told everyone over the speaker that it was our last chance to dance in our urban ore pants and we continued laughing as we skedaddled out of the store.
We got back into the Nick-mobile and listened to Rather Be another 50 times while we devised a plan to crash someone’s house on a mission to instead of buy this time make our own Boba Tea. Before we had confirmation on a location though we headed into an Asian market on a quest to find boba pearls. This was an endeavor that took 30 mins, walking up and down the same aisles over and over again, and several employees to complete. (At one point we passed raw fish and squid and I wanted to run so far away. Blech.) and I believe Jade briefly chased me with a fish head in her hands, or some other sea creature. Which is pretty much what Jade is always doing. Finally, though we retrieved boba pearls from the complete other side of the store and headed to Jason’s to disrupt his evening of online Ikea shopping.
Once there we only partially burned down his kitchen. Amidst that there were floor lamps and rugs bought. There were definitely a few hilarious digs at Tennesseean’s made. We stared in awe as a lizard was fed ,and in the background delightful orchestrated music played. There was a debate over which milk to use, almond or coconut…this is only debate that would take place out there mind you. ERS made its way to the West coast and it didn’t take long for everyone get slap happy. Like literally slap happy. Nick contracted the black lung and demonstrated its cruel cruel affects on a person. In short it provided a perfect ending to the most ironic and hilarious day that I’ve ever had. Sadly, this probably only half of what happened.
The Rest of my Trip:
The last few days of my trip seemed to fly by filled with service days and random activities filled in every available spot. This really means we ended up going to Japantown to get stuff to make sushi and then later failing at making sushi. The sushi that wasn’t half bad looking was starting to disappear as there was a sushi-napper named Stirling and Jade’s father about.
One day we ventured to Muir Beach again and then to Muir Woods. This was an absolute dream come true for me as I eat, sleep, and breathe anything John Muir related. A cute family photo-bombed my sign pictures and all was right in the world. Except for the parking there. Dear goodness the parking situation really needs to be figured out because walking a mile on not a path but the actual full of blind curves road to just get to the gate is a real problem. I got my tree pictures I wanted and smelled all amazing tree smells after I made a obligatory trip to the gift shop where I bought probably half the store. Self control was out the door. There were mugs and shirts and magnets and cards oh my. Other than all that though the woods themselves were amazing. Out of all the amazing things I saw while on my trip there were plenty of things that pictures don’t do justice ,but here can’t be done justice by any picture or words no matter how beautiful. It’s not just the immensity or aesthetics of the woods either. Although, that’s the main highlight there is also this amazing peace and calm that lingers in the air. All worries seem to slip away and your newfound clear mind let’s you focus on the grandeur of Jehovah’s epic creation.
The day before my trip came to a sad end we went surfing in Bolinas. This was another dream come true even though turns out I surf like a nightmare. The surf shop was a little hole in the wall place that exceeded my expectations and was so close to perfection I might’ve felt tears coming on had it not been for the rude awakening of having to put on a wetsuit. Forget all the hype about crossfit. Wetsuits are the real deal. It gets to a point where you aren’t quite sure if you are pulling on the wetsuit or just pulling every muscle in your body. Jade and I were struggling soooo hardcore that we just started laughing at each other and the entire debacle. Then was the half mile walk to the beach with the surfboard propped under my arm. And while this might seem like complaints I assure you it isn’t. This is what I had wanted for years. The pain of (kinda but not even a little bit) being a surfer. Go to the extremes. Do the thing. Surf the wave. I accomplished next to nil of those things ,but I was so high on that hang loose feeling there was no knocking me down unless you were that wave I didn’t see coming. And that was pretty much all of them. The whole day was dedicated to the cold salt water that numbed my toes and warmed my soul. I didn’t even care I couldn’t see anything in the water. Not even when seals were swimming around and normal me would’ve been freaking out. The surfboard was a brand I had been drooling over for years that are made right in California and I just kept falling off it like there was nothing better. I forgot about food, sunscreen, and my glasses. It turns out surfer guys are the exact way they seem and nothing but chill and nice. That being said one so graciously pointed out to me that I might want to take my glasses off especially if I was gonna surf a lot ,but I waved him off ,said I wasn’t a local and I was being careful. I continued in my blissful state for another couple hours. Then passed him on the beach and he was like “heyyy you still have them” and I was like “duuuudde yeahhh I totally do” (jk I didn’t say dude) then after the exchange got back in water and less than a minute later I lost them. The wave attacked my face and was like “ha!” I spent a few ridiculous minutes looking for them and then gave up. After I sat in the sand pouting in self pity over my own stupidity, Jade and spent the last hour or so body surfing. Which really just meant acting like our crazy selves, admiring how the difficult to put on wetsuits definitely kept you warm, and accidentally eating sand. Once we headed back to the surf shop and took off our wetsuits Jade had realized what time it was and what day it was. Thursday and we raced to work trying to get there and do the job as fast as we legally could. (Which considering I was supposed to be driving ,but I had lost my glasses… it meant as legal as we could suffice) Once we got back home later that day we realize that we were as red as lobsters. Hence, we spent the whole next day slathering our faces in aloe vera and laying in bed laughing (and crying because it hurt to laugh) at the one and only Leslie Knope.
Our last night together (馃槶) was spent eating Sol Food (which I’m so glad I didn’t try up until that point because I would’ve spent all my money on it) and binge watching Parenthood. Which I loved because now I know exactly where they are talking about when they say the studio is in the Haight and Joel is building houses in Sausalito. *fist pumps* Only feeling slightly less like a tourist. Unfortunately, eventually the time came for me to leave and we lugged my ginormous suitcase to the car and made our way to the airport. Narrowly. We narrowly made it to the airport but we did make it. Only to have one of those long drawn out teary goodbyes you only see in the movies. Then, I checked my bags, hopped on the plane, and was off headed towards home sweet home.
Overall the trip was both everything thing I did and didn’t expect it to be. I met so many amazing people, saw so many spectacular sights, and had awesome adventures that I will remember forever. So thank you to all those who made my trip special馃槉…. However while I had an amazing time I have to be honest and say I totally got homesick which in the end only made me appreciate coming home to beautiful East Tennessee even more. Now I’ve been back for a few months and am planning my next adventure: Need Greater Territory in Nicaragua. *spastic jazz hands* I’m hoping with that trip to do more blog posts that are shorter in length so everything is more timely. So until then…..
-Jay
journeyofablueeyedjay 