San Fran (continued and conquered!)

Cue: alarm clock going off during vacation (confusing, I know).  Who in their right mind would plan to wake up at the crack of dawn on the day after Turkey coma? The DeGrush ladies, of course.  Welcome to BLACK FRIDAY, California style!

 Ok, so it wasn't so crazy busy as back home, but it was still a very profitable early morning venture.  We were a bit punchy after a few hours of the consumer grind, as you can see....

 Then Bill drove us  across the Golden Gate North to see the beautiful redwood forests... This drive was foggy, mysterious and even perilous at times, making life all the more interesting :)  People live in unbelievably valuable properties so high up in the hills they are stuck in the clouds, buried deep in mossy ancient trees and audis.

 This whole experience felt a bit like Rivendell for those of you nerdy enough to appreciate.  Except it was full of Californians and not Elves.

 Phew.  We made it in the ancient volvo up all the crazy twists and turns and parking catastrophes to the Muir Woods National Park.

 Funny, they let Laura in despite her Lone Star state residence.  Probably because she is so adorable.

 Really really tall, old redwoods!

 They let Trevor in for free because they thought he might just be the lumberjack they have been looking for. 

 California banana slug! How horribly gross! These lined the trail threatening to make you slip at your next faulty step.

 Then we stopped to check out the Pacific.  Its kind of like the Atlantic, except more laid back.

 The next day we set out to find Jerry Garcia, who is most assuredly still alive and living on Haight Street. No Luck.  We did see a Janis Joplin memorial, right next to a Amy Winehous memorial. Does it seem strange that Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and probably countless other terribly famous people died at 27?!  Never been so excited for my next birthday...in case you were wondering, Mamma Cass was 32.  All "facts" thanks to wikipedia.

 Haight and Ashbury was buzzing with coffee shops, head shops, vintage shops, oh yeah... and hippies!  We also had significant hippie sightings at Golden Gate Park's self proclaimed "hippie hill" where Bill promptly tore off his shirt and shoes and began a game of loosely organized frisbee with the family to the beat of tribal drums and tambourines in the background. 
      Later that afternoon, we explored a place Trev and I had seen years ago when we visited San Fran per the recommendation of an old friend- The Sutro Bath Ruins are along the coast, and are really just a bunch of old stone structures left to crumble in interesting patterns on the beach.  At one point in the 1920's I believe it was the site of a very elite bath-house.  Air temperature was probably above 50 degrees, which meant it was perfect swimming weather for Dad. 

love from San Fran

We played on the beach until it was time to eat burgers at BURGERMEISTER!  The evening ended with drinks and games at a local bar where I realized that beer does not make you better at basketball, or any other game for that matter.  All in all, a great mini vacation in a great city with my great family.

Turkey day!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  The DeGrushes head out froj the Warwick hotel in downtown San Fran to prepare for the day at WillBill's apartment.

By the way, when you stay at a classy hotel, you are immediately class-ified. and smarter. handsomer.

 Along the way to the supermarket T-day madness, we see some poignant grafiti in the Mission.
 Here we all are pre Turkey.....

 Anna, Bills lovely roomie, is a great hostess, decorator extraordinaire, and she and her awesome family are all great cooks too. 

 We saw this on one (of many....) emergency trips to the supermarket to get forgotten necessities.

 Since its California, things are just better. warmer.  and still in bloom. PS, we had at least 6 inches of snow in Worcester MA on Halloween. Just Saying.

 We took a pre-turkey-trot up the hill in the park near WillBills place, which had the most impressive view of the whole city. This was one of those requisite moments where someone feels they must teach another the sacred "Monkeys" walk.

Just kidding! We never went anywere! I just glued Trevor in front of a fake looking San Fran backdrop!
or so it appears.

 Ok, Jump to the greatest appetizer spread, to be followed up with the greatest Turkey Day spread. This spread included artichoke spread, homemade salsa and guac, devilled eggs, cheese, veggies, homemade tamales....so good.

 Mom and Dad enjoy the moment!

This will be my next home, in my next lifetime.

 Mission street (?) from above

 The Golden gate!

 This hill is very deceiving. Trevor is actually MUCH much shorter than all of us (just kidding)

 They even let people who life in Texas, who wear ostritch leather boots, into California.  Sometimes.

Lets all be thankful for families, friends, endless food  and drink, digital cameras, and the internet :)
Black Friday madness T minus 10 hours. 

West Coast, meet East Coast!

The DeGrushes (and Trevor-honorarily a DeGrush of course) have picked up their annual tradition of picking one child and thoroughly invading their lovely city. Needless to say, Worcester/Bettie was NOT the chosen child this year. Bill has been in San Fran working with the AmeriCorp doing awesome things at a local elementary school while also living THE LIFE! We decided he was the obvious invasion candidate this year.
"It's a trumpet tree! Quick, take a picture"We all flew out of our respective ports and met up with Billiam, who gave us a fabulous (with surprisingly/impressively polite driving etiquette for a big city) driving tour of San Fran. We ended up in the mission and had tacos el pastor, enchiladas, burritos and quesadillas as big as your head with endless chips at a clearly very popular hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint. Delicious.
Then we wandered onto a very quirky little bar-
Our tables were made of maps of the world circa USSR era, and a map of Paris (my personal favorite). We had sangria, flan, and dominoes. The walls, ceiling, floor, and inhabitants were literally covered in tchotchkes, art and artifacts.


Bill then drove us to his really fabulous apartment where he and all his other do-gooder Americorp people live. It has quite the impressive view.



Then off to bed- Loli to arrive soon!