Tuesday, August 12, 2008

07

We are in Encinitas, California right now staying with my Aunt Polly. We have been lounging at the beach a lot and searching for a place to buy custom airbrushed t-shirts to wear everywhere. So far we have been unsuccessful, but do not plan on giving up.

We spent the past week in San Francisco. We stayed mostly with Sam and her housemates, but spent the last night at Kelli’s. Sam’s back porch had a really nice view of the city.

One afternoon we waited in line for hours to go to the Exploratorium, which was very worth it!

The Exploratorium is a super awesome Children’s Science Museum where we learned all sorts of things, and merged our faces with a creepy contraption.

We also went to the MOMA and Cartoon Museum with Kelli one day, where we did not see the Frieda exhibit, but did see a lot of other sweet things, like a big Lee Miller exhibit, and the walls that Matthew Barney had recently scaled and drawn all over.

We discovered an ice cream parlor called Maggie Mudd that made vegan ice cream (lots were coconut-milk based!) and offered a ridiculous amount of vegan options for ice cream sundaes and shakes and cones. So we ate huge ice cream sundaes one day, a totally special occasion because I had never before been able to order a vegan ice cream sundae anywhere.

We also went back again and got cones. This is important to mention because everyone reading this is probably very interested in our ice cream intake.

Sam worked during the week at a science camp for children, teaching rocket science! She probably wins for “best summer job” so far out of what we’ve seen. One night after she got back from work we all went to Haight Street with her housemate Jackie, and hung out there for the night. We went to Amoeba music and Cheryl and I bought more records, something we know that we probably shouldn’t do. Met up with Sam’s friend Corrine, and Cheryl bought a pretty flashy dress that she wishes to be taken on a date in sometime soon. We all walked to see the Full House hill, obnoxiously singing the theme song most of the way there.

We hung out with Sam and her housemates a bunch during the week, and they were really amazing and great to meet. San Francisco is also really weird and foggy and cold in some parts and hot in others, and I guess that is just how cities and weather works. We went to the Golden Gate one afternoon, and despite the fog, you could still kind of make out the bridge.

We spent most of our time in San Francisco taking the BART around and walking and exploring. It was a nice week, and the last night we stayed at Kelli’s, and it was awesome to catch up with her. That night, Cheryl went to Berkeley to see Ohio friends Ghost Town Trio and Tin Armor play. I stayed and talked with Kelli, and Cheryl got back not too late and we all hung out.

In the morning we left, driving the coast along Big Sur.

It was a beautiful drive, despite the frustration of not being able to find a campsite anywhere between San Francisco and L.A. Apparently people book their campsites 6 months in advance, so it was even laughable that we had thought to try to obtain one. We ended up just sleeping in the car that night, rearranging everything so that it was pretty cozy and comfortable!

The next morning we headed into L.A. On the way, we stopped at Torrance High School, which was the filming location for Sunnydale High in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and was the high school in 90210 and a bunch of other things.

Clearly though, Buffy is the most important. I had made my dad take me there probably 7 years ago, but it was great to see it again and Cheryl was really way excited about it. On the rest of the way to L.A., traffic was pretty serious, as to be imagined. We also decided to go to the biggest tourist trap of them all, first thing. Hollywood Blvd! On the walk of fame we met some old friends, and walked around as much as we could handle to without going crazy from crowds.

Ghost Town Trio and Tin Armor were playing in L.A. that night, so we went and got food at “California Vegan” (a place I had remembered the location of from a visit years and years ago), and then went to meet up with the Ohio kids. The show was at a house with a kidney shaped pool and waterslide, in a nice little area. We hung out for a while before the show got going, and people swam and dangerously maneuvered the pool rafts, as well as talked. Once the show started, the whiskey fountain started, as well as the keg, because L.A. is pretty ridiculous with their parties I guess. The bands played and it was fun to see them, and there were a lot of people there. The bands went until late, and eventually we set up a tent in the backyard. It was really bizarre to be at a crazy Los Angeles party, with stacks of televisions playing the same thing, and, well, a whiskey fountain, but it all calmed down eventually and Cheryl, Matt O’Conke and I camped out in the tent for the night, subject to the whims of a practicing drummer at 3am. Eventually Ryan came in, being ridiculous in a good way, and eventually went to sleep in the tent as well.

In the morning we said goodbye and headed to San Diego, driving on the coast which wasn’t as scenic as it had been, and was more commercial. Driving through Laguna Beach was pretty frightening. When we got to Solana Beach, a place where I usually go to have family reunions, we went to the beach and got rad pizza. The Ohio kids were also playing a show in San Diego that night. After pizza we went to see them play, fully aware of our faulty goodbyes that very morning. The show was at a bar that was mostly empty, so it felt good to be there to see them and possibly give them someone to play for that wasn’t each other. It was fun anyways, and so good to see them again.

We said goodbye to them, for real this time.

Yesterday we hung out on the beach for a lot of the day, going swimming and reading and writing letters. We also just walked around a lot, and went to the post office to mail records home (a stack of records in a hot car=disaster!), and I mailed a gift to Alan, Noah, and Jordan. We hung out with my Aunt Polly, and I got to see and talk to my cousins Moey and Cooper for a little bit. We went to dinner in San Diego at a really fantastic place called Sipz (recommended to Cheryl by a former S.D.-local and current friend). We came back to Polly’s and made mandalas and talked to her more, which was really very nice. She has a new dog named Leo who is super tiny and going to help me love dogs more, by the time I leave.

Today we are contemplating performing makeshift tunes, interpretive dance, or doing tandem psychic poetry at an open mic night tonight. If we have any sense in us that the sun hasn’t sucked out yet, we’ll go through with it. On the subject of sun, we have been drenching ourselves in SPF 30 to no avail, and still have slight burns. I even have formed something like a tan over the course of the past 2 months, which is shocking. Cheryl has been worried about swimmer's ear constantly, which isn't a thing that most Californians probably ever consider. Also, a place right near my aunt’s has an 80’s night this Thursday! So, in the spirit of channeling New Paltz and a bar that we never really go to or care about, we will be there. I will actively try to contain myself whenever a Blondie or Squeeze song comes on. And there’s going to be serious trouble if “Video Killed the Radio Star” shows its face.

Love,
Kate

P.S. How are you? Have you seen the Olympics? Those synchronized high-divers are really something.

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