In this chapter of our vacation, we met up with my mom's good friend Catherine's family and my dad's good friend Brent. We roamed many stereotypical shops around Pier 39, getting clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls from Boudin and seasalt-caramel-filled dark chocolate from Ghirardelli.  The boys begged to visit Alcatrez {though we didn't have time}; we watched a street artist create a breath-taking piece with spray paint to the hard beat of a techno song; we saw WWII ships and played games at an almost-creepily vintage archade; our beastly Excursion struggled to crawl down windy Lombard Street.    
  Then of course you have the Golden Gate Bridge.  The rest of the gals chickened out, claiming to have frozen to the bone, but I joined the men and walked half the length of the famed bridge.  Yeah, the air was pretty chilly, the rest of my senses were dazzled: the sharp wind was tainted with a refreshing salty smell, the cars whooshed by,  the Pacific ocean rested dozens of feet beneath me, and the I couldn't even see the top of the beautiful red structure I was walking on because of the thick white fog enshrouding it.
  A few more hours from the lovely city was a family place, Sacramento.  My mom went to HS there and it wasn't hard to tell that the visit left her mind swarming with memories.  We stayed with Catherine & Russ's family and spent the days doing stuff like: sleeping on the trampoline, riding in a 1950's convertable, eating Catherine's special French family crepes, looking up fanart of Percabeth, playing charades, and tiring ourselves out in a duathalon {they signed Rachel and Adam up with my mom's permission, not theirs, and then Mom accidentily told me I was doing it instead of Rachel so Rachel was like "Sucks for you," and I ended up taking her place.}, and visiting my mom's old house.  We even surprised my mom's old Laurel adviser who she was really close to by showing up at her son's wedding reception.  {Sorry for the low-quality phone pictures taken in the dark.}  
  Cali is pretty much a big fast blast.