No fireworks because of the fire situation in California, so we headed to the river. Bryan showed up with some loud snapping crackers that he'd throw down to scare the shit out of all of us at various times, but that was the extent of our celebrating.
We left the next day. Packing took up a large chunk of time as did cleaning up, so Auntie Marilyn wasn't left with a big mess. I was pretty weepy the entire morning, but I just wore my sunglasses so people wouldn't notice. I could've stayed another week, but then I'm older now, and being with family means more now than it did when I was younger.
We did the picture taking thing, and then we said our good-byes. Back down the mountain, we went, stopping for the last time at the entrance to Bryan's so that we could pick him up and take him into Hayfork to pick up his car at the shop.
He had partied quite a bit last night, singing the same refrain of Indiana Wants Me, and he was the last to leave the house. When he opened the door to get into the Yukon XL, the first thing he said was, "I bet you guys want to hear me sing, don't you," which I found hilarious. But then I was feeling very sentimental, so there was that.
We dropped Bryan off without much fanfare, got gas, and used the bathroom, and then we were off. We drove to Redding and stopped for lunch at a Carl's Junior burger joint. It was empty which Maya and I worried was a bad sign, and then when we got inside and headed to the restroom we were greeted with this:
I wondered if we had to play a game for the tokens, but one of the employees overheard me say that out loud and told us the sign wasn't real. Okay, then. The burgers were about as good as that nonsense.
We left the restaurant, and as we pulled out, there was the big banging noise. It sounded to me like the luggage in the back had fallen when we turned out into the restaurant.
Yeah. It had. Only not as I pictured, falling off the top to hit the door. Instead, the door had opened, and our luggage fell out into the road. We only knew this because Anya and Madison in the back turned around and noticed it.
I thought it the funniest damn thing ever. Jay, however, did not. He stopped the Yukon XL in the middle of the road, and we hopped out to hike back to get the luggage. All of us except for Anya and Madison because they couldn't get out without assistance. They were left sitting in the middle of the road wondering if their lives would end while they stared at all of us through the open back door.
Once packed up, with a few minor dents on our cases, we managed to get safely back into Berkely, where we spent the night. We had dinner and then went to see the new Spiderman movie. Since Jay bought the tickets, I volunteered to purchase the food which we really didn't need since we had just eaten. But it was a movie...
The total came to $82 for popcorn, drinks, and candy. I popped in my credit card, and it was denied. I tried it again. Denied. I popped in another card. Denied. What the hell? Maya popped in her card, and it went through. The guy behind the counter gave me a pitiful look and suggested I call my bank. As I walked away, I got a ding on my first credit card asking me did I honestly try to spend $82 at the movie theater food counter you crazy, idiotic woman. Once I told them yes, don't judge me; they told me I could try again, but by then, Maya had taken care of it. We found out later that Tom got the second credit card message asking the same thing and that Jay's credit card company had then put a hold on his account after the purchase went through.
Moral of that is don't spend $82 at the movie theater because credit card companies think that is pure bullshit. My family agreed, frankly.
The next day we packed up our stuff and headed out to be tourists. We decided to walk the Golden Gate Bridge. Somehow we ended up driving across it, which Maya worried about because the rental car had distinctly asked if that would be a possibility upon renting the Yukon XL. Darcy got online, and I paid the toll before we crossed via credit card. Which went through. Obviously, spending $82 to cross the Golden Gate was okay but not at a movie theater.
I'm kidding. It was $8 to cross.
Then we parked and hiked it. It was very crowded. It was also very high and not as closed in as the New York bridge I walked. I had some moments with my fear of heights, but we got about halfway before we turned around and hiked back. First time I've ever reached 10,000 steps on my Apple Watch!!!
We drove into San Francisco and did some sightseeing from the car windows on our way back into the area by the airport. These guys were heading out on the red-eye. We had another night before we had to get up at the crack of dawn to make our 5:50 a.m. flight.
We stopped and had dinner and then walked a bit around the quaint area. We had a Starbucks, and then Jay drove us to our hotel, and we said our good-byes.
Off they went back to Boston. I did laundry at the hotel for want of something to do while the girls played on their phones. We hit the sack early with a wake-up for 3:30 a.m. to catch the 4:00 a.m. shuttle. Florida, here we come!
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