As things start to settle down after my coast to coast adventure I find myself comparing to two locations – San Francisco, California and the Northern Virginia – DC area.

Years ago I found myself wanting to living in the Northern Virginia area after each visit to my dad’s or when spending time with my sister. My dad has lived in a couple of different houses in the area after retiring from the Air Force. Between the summer house sitting visits and spending time living with my sister – I still kept wanting to find a way to be able to afford to live in the area. But I really started noticing a change in the area when we spent Christmas 2004 with my dad. This last visit really showed how overcrowded the area had become – way too many people and most of them were rude (expect the nice lady in the cake decorating store). I think I may have found a way to measure the “livability” of an area – go to WalMart. I went to two different WalMarts in the area at different times and both of them had long lines at ALL the open registers. We walked in the first one, took one look, walked back out and went to Target. I just don’t think I could ever afford the cost of living there either – housing prices are outrageous. I would love to take my sister’s house and put it where ours is – it would probably be a third of the cost.

What a contrast San Francisco is – it’s got a lot of people there too plus the tourists. I had a great time there but probably could never afford to live there either. I don’t think I could stomach their politics for very long either. The public transportation is EXCELLENT there. Then dinner in the Castro District (yes, the gay area) where the service was so good that I tipped more than my bill.

I would love to live nearer to my sister but I just don’t see us in the DC area perhaps many years ago but not now. Maybe we could build our own multi/extended family type dwelling somewhere where the people are friendly, the jobs (and pay are good) and there is room to roam.

I mentioned dinner at The Melting Pot, the day at King’s Dominion and the party. I didn’t mention that we gave Megan a computer and Kelley gave her a printer to go with it. I think the neatest present that my dad got was the DVD of his wedding of the cruise ship in Minnesota. She had taken the original VHS tape (the mini one from the camcorder) and with the help of her uncle encoded it to DVD. That was a gift from the heart.

Dad got a lot booze from his friends and some really great t-shirts. Kelley and I are looking into getting him an airline ticket out to California so he can see his brother.

I love Google Analytics – it’s cool to see where the few readers I have are located around the world. Unfortunately, it doesn’t track the mega-provider like AOL (which uses proxy servers) very well – tends to throw them in the generic category. I can tell Megan is back online as I can see Nashville again and of course, my sister there in Woodbridge. Tucson and LA seem to show up regularly. All in all it’s only a very few hits a day. It’s also sort of an early warning system for when stuff will hit the fan. It’s sort of funny though how certain parts of the country can go without viewing my blog and then a key event happens and they come back. I wonder if they are waiting to read what I have to say about certain people who didn’t bother to show up for my dad’s 70th birthday.

Still trying to play catch up but my memories are still very clear on my walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. What a great experience! Four of us grabbed a city bus that took us to the foot of the bridge. How cool is that – public transportation that is tourist friendly? The fog was starting to roll back in – it was around 3:30PM but it was clearer (and slightly warmer) than it was earlier that morning. The first small section of the bridge was under repair so there was some chainlink fencing up – it made it “easier” for me to look over the edge. I have a serious fear of falling. The chainlink fence ended once we got past the “seismic repairs”. I tried looking over the edge but the gusts of wind started freaking me out – I walked almost on the “wrong” side of the walkway just to stay away from the railing and the edge. Even watching other people look over the edge was giving me the creeps. But even with my fear of falling it was beautiful – I enjoyed the entire trek across and back.

I think we figured up that I walked over 8 miles in the 2 days I was out and about in San Francisco.

Sort of have fallen behind on my blogging. I still need to provide my comments on my walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. I ran out of time trying to play catch up and get ready for the trip to Northern Virginia. Of course, if I would have commented about the pending trip to VA it may have given away what my sister and I were up to – a surprise 70th birthday party for my dad. It became the week of birthday.

It started off with a birthday dinner for my sister and dad July 9th at the Melting Pot – a really neat fondue restaurant. Fonduing was also one of my mom’s favorite things to do – of course she had everything we needed to “do” fondue at home. Jeff had never fondued – so it was quite an experience for him (and a workout for his American Express card).

Monday – July 10th was Megan’s birthday – we spent it at King’s Dominion – Megan was able to add two more roller coasters to her list. She’s afraid of them so it’s a start. Her favorite (non rollercoaster) ride was the Scrambler. Then we did one of the things my sister and I have done in the past – an “old time” photo. I’ll get scans of it posted as soon as I can.

Wednesday – July 12th (my dad’s birthday) morning was Pink Flamingos – 50 of them (we couldn’t get 70). Dad spent the evening with his R.O.M.E.O. (Really Old Men Eating Out) club – it was the night the cruised on the yacht. It was a perfect “distraction” from our upcoming Friday surprise.

Thursday we took my dad to breakfast at his favorite place – Bob Evans. The rest of the day was spent running the party supply errands – drinks, snacks, balloons, more decorations – we rented a helium tank to blow up 82 latex balloons. The neatest thing we did was to go to a little shop called Paint Your Heart Out that specialized in allowing he customer to paint ceramic bisqueware. This needs it’s own entry.

Friday – July 14th – the big day. I started off trying to my Monkey balls – it turned into Monkey Goo. I think I should quit trying to bake when I’m in Virginia – this was the second baking “disaster” – at least this one was edible. After making the brownies (which survived rather nicely), it was off to pick up the helium tank and then start the decorating process. We started decorating at noon – the party was at 6PM. Megan took charge of the helium tank and the balloons – all 82 of them. Last minute mania but we managed to pull it off with a lot of help from Kelley’s friends. A little after 6PM – my very surprised dad came in – we pulled it off.

Some side thought will follow regarding those who were too selfish to show up.