August 2, San Francisco

This blog entry marks the beginning of the third and last trip of the summer of 2014.  I got up this morning at about 2:30 a.m., an ungodly hour, and got ready for a 4:00 a.m. pickup by the Super Shuttle service.  A nice man from Eritrea was the driver, and we got into a very interesting conversation about that country and its dictatorship; his family of 7 brothers and sisters as well as his mother, and his 24-year old sojourn so far in the United States.  Picked up another gentleman and a couple, and then sped to the airport.  All of us were to be let off a Terminal E.  I had a US airways flight slated to depart at 6:20, and the lines at Security were pretty long.  However, I had enough time to play with and did not worry about the crowd, which ended up moving along quite briskly.  I had a seat on row 5, which was right in back of first class and was quite roomy, with extended legroom.  The sun was beginning to come up as we taxied, and as we lifted into the air, the sunrise was quite intensely beautiful, with wispy cloud banks beneath us, which built to a more solid layer as we proceeded west.  We landed about 2 hours later at Phoenix, from which I hiked to another terminal for my next flight to San Jose.  Got on that flight immediately, as they were boarding already.  I was going to buy some breakfast, but there was no time, so I bought hummus and pita chips and sipped hot tea during the next leg of the trip and continued reading a fascinating book on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King.  Having landed at San Jose, I had just retrieved my baggage and gone out to the curb when Maureen came by in her new leased Honda Civic, a beautiful car in sable color.  It is very good to see her again, looking fit and still as feisty as ever.  We ran some errands at Macy's and the Apple Store, then had brunch at a restaurant near Stanford University.  I had not had much of a breakfast, so I enjoyed scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and sourdough toast with marmalade.  Then we drove back to Maureen's place, which she has decorated well.  Also, the amount of light which now enters the apartment is so much more than in her last place--a great improvement.  I was able to unpack and stow a few things, then had some cherries with Maureen, took about a 45-minute nap, and then discussed our sightseeing plans for the next few days, which will be revealed as the trip unfolds.  Later on we had dinner, including pulled pork sliders with slaw (superb), chips, and a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado.  After washing and drying the dishes, we took a drive through the Mission district of SF, then ended up getting ice cream at a gelateria before returning to Maureen's apartment.  As I had been running on little sleep that day, I retired soon after we returned--at about 8:30 (actually 10:30 p.m. according to my inner clock).  More tomorrow!