Armadillo Willies
i am really lucky. Even though my son and his wife really really wanted to find some good Chinese food, they indulged me, and we ate once again at Armadillo Willies. Everyone ended up back at Armadillo Willies for lunch – it’s pretty good chow.
Once again, however, when we finally got the food we all just dug in and . . . I forgot to take any photos!
Breakfast at Google
The groom, my favorite nephew, Earthling, invited us to tour Google and have breakfast there this morning. What a thrill. We are all such geeks; being in Cupertino is just so much fun. Even Mom raved at the good breakfast available at Google, and . . . at the HEATED toilet seats in the ladies room!
Cypress Hotel, Cupertino
Woooo Hoooooooo! The gang’s all here! When I arrived at the hotel (once again, my license was “declined” at the rental car agency. I showed them my brand new sparkling license and they said that it wasn’t in the system yet. Oh, I love bureaucracy! It just took more time.)
Here are a couple shots from my short two hour flight on Alaska airlines:
But oh, I am in heaven. No more rain, temperatures in the 70’s with a stiff breeze. The freeways aren’t crowded – at least not when I was driving in – I had the windows down, the wind blowing through my hair and I remember how much I LOVE California. Thanks to GoogleEarth, I have the exact directions to the hotel, including fractions of miles travelled, and I get here without any mishap. There is ample parking. The reception is cordial and efficient, and . . . there is a big plate of chocolate chip cookies waiting to greet the guests.
My room is a hoot. The only thing missing is . . . AdventureMan. Oh, AdventureMan, you would love this place.
At 5, there is wine in the lobby. This week, ironically, it is wines from Washington State, which are good, but I just came from there! As it turned out, the red wine I had was excellent. The gang gathered, laughing and exchanging family lore, welcoming the bride into our very geeky and kookie family.
Now I have to apologize. We all went out and ate barbeque. I was SO hungry, I forgot to take photos. My bad.
This is the view from my room at sunset:
Today, we are doing a tour of Google! Wooooo HOOOOOOO!
Teriyaki Time
On my own for dinner, I noticed a little storefront dine-in and take-out place near the gas station and thought I would give it a try.
Good guess! It took me 30 minutes to get my dinner (salmon teriyaki) because the place was so full of locals (always a good sign.) Not exactly fast food, but worth the wait.
I love the photos to show people what they can order – although most of the people already knew. This place turned out to be very popular.
A Day When Kuwait Looks Really Good
This day started off really early, because Mom and Sparkle are leaving on a two day road trip to the BIG EVENT in Silicon Valley. Yep, I noticed my hotel is just down the street from the Apple Headquarters for the entire world. This is going to be fun!
I wanted to get the documentary shots and I also wanted to get some laundry done before I head for the same wedding, but I am flying, so I have an extra day here. Mom and Sparkle needed to drive, they have significant clothes, clothes for every event, important clothes, important shoes, important make up and accessories, and then more clothes for the road trip drifting along the Pacific Coast all the way back, so they needed to have a wagon to haul all their clothes.
Besides – a road trip . . . road trips are always fun! Sparkle loves to drive, and Mom always loves a trip, especially a trip with a wedding in it.
Bye, Mom! Bye, Sparkle!
I don’t have a lot of laundry, it takes me maybe a couple hours, and then I leave, deciding to fill the tank today as I will drive straight to the airport tomorrow. This Jeep uses more gas than my normal car, even though it seems to be about the same size. When I get to the tank, however, the pump keeps going and going and going and my eyes get bigger and bigger and bigger.
For those of you who do not live in Kuwait, an oil producing country with world class cars, we pay about 80 cents a gallon for our gas. My little SUV, which I fill every now and then, takes about ten gallons when I fill it. So I normally pay around $10.00 max to fill my car, and that is when I drift in on fumes.
This is what I paid today:
And you know how in movies when they open a bank vault, you can hear all kinds of whirrs and levers and things falling into place?
You would have heard that today, as my brain whirred and clicked and chunks of information fell into place:
° The big grin when the car rental guy said he was doing me a big favor and upgrading me to an SUV at no additional cost to me.
° The huge herd of SUV’s waiting in the auto rental pick-up place; not a normal rental car in sight.
° My mother and sister driving to San Jose, overnighting along the way, and God only knows how often they will have to fill the tank – although they ARE driving a hybrid, and that should help a little. Still, it makes my flight a real bargain, especially since I booked and paid back in January before the huge increases hit.
Buying gas in Kuwait is a THRILL! Buying gas in Seattle is heart-stopping!
The second thing I noticed that makes Kuwait look really really good is you know how we have been talking about the beautiful cool weather and the rain?
I took one outfit out of the dryer still very damp; I do it all the time in Kuwait, take them out, shake them, hang them up and they dry beautifully, and I don’t have to iron very much. In Kuwait, things dry really Really REALLY fast. Like a cotton dress, even fresh out of the washer, will be dry in one hour.
Hours later, this little cotton outfit taken from the dryer in Seattle, is still cold and damp around the seams. I’ve even ironed and the seams are still damp. Maybe if I hang the outfit overnight in the warm bathroom it will be dry enough to pack tomorrow. Maybe I should microwave it? Or maybe I can pack it damp and then pull it out of the suitcase as soon as I get to San Jose and hope it will dry before my flight back to Kuwait?
Rain Boughs
I could hear the rain falling heavily when I awoke this morning, and as I looked out, the drops were gleaming heavily on the pine boughs just outside my window. They were so beautiful! Another photo-op:
As I got in the car to head over to my Mom’s, this is what I saw through the windshield:
These photos are for 3baid @ Anything Goes, who wants rain desperately. 3baid, tell your brother we are still waiting for the photo of you sleeping on the floor drooling! 😉
Child’s Play at the Mall
I love these playthings! There was a whole crowd of children in the mall this morning, playing on Mt. Rainier, an octopus, and a couple whales. My very favorite is the big ferry boat:
Schiaparelli Pink and Yellow
I’m not a fashion follower, and even I can pick out what THE colors are this summer – fuchsia hot hot pink, a very bright blue green, and a bright sunshine yellow, with accents of bright chartreuse. Very 50’s, very Mirimekko. Cannot imagine this skirt length in Kuwait.
Storm Clouds Coming In
What a switch – it was COLD today, with cold winds. Overnight, everything changed:
Rain!
I woke up this morning to a cloudy, rainy day – YAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!
I am sure the good people in Seattle will consider me a total nut case, but when I check the Kuwait forecast and see it is 104° F / 42° C in Kuwait, and only 52° F / 11° C in Seattle, I dance for joy! Today I get to wear a light sweater! Or maybe a hoodie! Or . . . maybe both! I don’t think I will be sweating! The drips on my cheek will be raindrops!
Rain is what makes Seattle so green and luscious. Rain makes the flowers bloom so exuberantly. And today, if I make good headway on my list, today I might let myself go to Lowe’s and/or Home Depot! Oh, I can hardly wait!
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