But then February 15th, just after 6:30am I got a text message. I was still in my pajamas, barely awake. Angela had gone to school early to meet with her new teachers as she does most Wednesdays. The text said, I'm okay but the car is totaled.
I called and called and didn't get through. I texted. I got dressed. I finally got through. She was fine. Her car was not. The other person was fine. His truck was fine. I got her location and I left the house in my car.
The day changed. It was supposed to be my first time volunteering at Planned Parenthood. I had to cancel. We called State Farm and got a tow truck ordered. The police declined to come help. We had to find a place to park my car during street cleaning while we waited. We found one, blocks away and got coffee on the walk back. I called our acupuncturist who answered before the phone even rang, I swear. "Sarah Knapp, what's going on?" We don't call Trace, we text. We call only when it's important. She knew.
The tow truck driver eventually came. The car would head to the Valley, an hour away. We headed to Trace's. Angela was treated. We ate lunch, rested for less than 20 minutes, and then drove to the Valley to sign papers. We drove home and dealt with insurance.
And we've been dealing with insurance and the accident ever since. Barely a day has gone by without multiple phone calls or crises. It's been exhausting. And made us reconsider our spring break plans. But then we decided, no, the show must go on!
And so we set to planning. Maybe the best part of vacations. It's all that ANTICIPATION! I love it!
We're going to San Francisco.
In the summer of 2015 we visited San Diego because while I'd driven through the town on many occasions, I hadn't really gotten to sight see there like the rest of my family all has at some point. And well, we live in California just a few hours away so why not. And now, well, the same thinking applies. Yes, Angela and I have been to San Francisco, once almost 10 years ago but that trip turned out to be a little less than idea.
Our first night there we ate at a Ruby's Diner and I got food poisoning. Or the flu. Who knows. But I was sick. Oh so sick. The kind of sick you do not want to be when you are in a new city in a new state staying in a hostel in a room with your sister and friend, sharing a bed with your sister, and have a communal bathroom down the hall. Alas...
We made the best of it. I tasted some sourdough bread Susie and Angela brought back to me after their daily excursions. I walked down Lombard Street after driving down part of it made me almost throw up in the car. And I rallied by the end of the trip enough to go to Alcatraz and enjoy the heck out of that day. But the rest...a sickly blur. And so? We're going back.
This time we'll take the train up the coast, something Angela's been wanting to do. We'll catch the Amtrak at Union Station and go all the way to Oakland. We'll stay in a Holiday Inn right in the city. We've already reserved our seats on the Big Bus so we can make the most of looking like tourists and use it strategically as relatively cheap transportation all over the Bay Area. We'll take a half day motor coach tour to Muir Woods and hike among the giant redwoods.
We're taking walking tours of neighborhoods. We'll eat breakfast at a place my mom's friend swears we must try. We'll trek to a bakery I found in an article of Bon Appetite that I ripped out of the magazine. We'll get cheap tickets to a Giants game because baseball season will have just begun! And on our last night in the city?
We'll see Hamilton.
Yes. Oh yes. It's a sold out show almost every night it's in the city. People are flying up there from LA to get a chance to see it. And yes, we paid dearly for the experience on StubHub. But we will see Hamilton. And we're beyond excited.
Since listening to the cast recording last summer it's almost all we listen to. In the house. In the car. We know the words, the key changes, the story by heart. We've read the book. I have the Chernow biography next to my bed. And on our last night of vacation, we'll be on the floor in row AA at 8pm.
So yes, there's some anticipation.
Yesterday we spent the afternoon pouring over the tour guide and the map I bought. Angela finally gave in to the reality that yes, I am drawing on the map with permanent markers. I've found our hotel, the theater, all the restaurants and tourists attractions and then outlined the bus routes. And the cable car route! Because it's going to happen this time, I'm going to ride a cable car!
So here's to spending less time worrying about car accidents and insurance claims and buying a new car and more time looking forward to new adventures! Hurry up, April!
