Train to San Francisco

I took the train to visit my friend Brooke in San Francisco. I love trains… Did I mention that I love trains?

I get to just sit and stare out the window. I get to write down all my thoughts and get my head clear, I get to write down all the things I need to do and… I don’t have to talk to anyone! I love the time to myself as we zoom by the terrain, beautiful houses, and the beat up houses. I get to reflect and talk to God, I get to read and listen to people speaking different languages. Most of all it is relaxing!

On the way to San Fran a couple got on the train, they sat in front of me and to the right, it was obvious that they were smokers and hadn’t had a shower In a while, but they were polite and well mannered. When they came walking up the guy asked the unsocial young man across the table if he and his girlfriend could sit there, of course he said yes, what else is he going to say? They were in their early 20’s and seemed to be a little lost in life, you could tell she felt loved by her sweet boyfriend, and wasn’t incredibly embarrassed about her state, but wouldn’t mind if life was better. The conductors came by to check there tickets and it turns out they were on the wrong train and were going in the wrong direction… Bummer I felt bad for them!! I sat there and wondered what their background was like and where were they now, were they running from someone or something? What was their story? In that moment of them getting off the train at the next stop the only thing I could do was pray for them and their spiritual condition.

So… Brookie picked me up and went to lunch together, we sat and talked for a few hours, it felt rich to talk and share some big life stories with each other. She even asked me about my birth stories. You see Brooke and I have known each other since we were 3 and she said “when we were playing with barbies together I never pictured you sharing your birth story with me”. I thought that was funny and also could appreciate where we have come in our relationship and the way it has grown and deepened over the years. I appreciate Brooke for her ambitious personality, and content spirit to just appreciate life and people. She’s open to new things and laughs easily, she’s a giver of her time, and didn’t hesitate to spoil me during my visit. If I am within a few hours of Brooke I won’t hesitate to make time for her!! Good friends are like precious gems and shouldn’t be held lightly.

I got to see where she lives and we spent the afternoon making a gluten free dairy free banana bread which was a first for me, it was delicious! And we walked down to the nearest little coffee shop where they had incredible coffee! Unfortunately though San Francisco doesn’t keep a bottle of whipped cream in their ice chest… they are purists!

Brookie took me on a date, and after we finished our delicious dinner at a Peruvian restaurant we decide to head to the store.

Dinner was unique and amazing!

We’re walking through this yuppy grocery store, grabbing things that sound fun, quinoa macaroni & cheese, kale for our smoothies, bottles to make Kumbucha and a couple bananas, well… For our smoothies. We’re standing in line and there is a blackout, the whole block is out of power, apparently it happens every once and a while. So we turn our flash light phones on and put all our items back, but then we hear that they take cash, so we start regathering our items, and we happen to be laughing like little girls, running from isle to isle grabbing the same things that we once grabbed 5 minutes before, we go back to the line and check out… With cash. We grab all our stuff carrying it in our arms because we don’t feel like buying a bag!! Yes plastic bags are illegal in San Fran which is the second time I have experienced this, first time was in Santa Cruz in Target, the cashier asked me if I wanted a bag I said “yeeeeess?” Next thing I know I’m buying a precious paper bag. So anyway, Brooke and I walked all the way home with our arms full, the streets were dark because the power was out, but I had my large glass bottle full of juice ready in case someone decided we were good candidates to mess with.

During TJ’s night with the girls they stayed up till 11:30 eating cookies and watching movies and then slept outside in a tent 🙂 Father daughters time:

The next morning we took a walk up to the top of a hill where we could circle around and see all of San Francisco… It was breath talking!! We did come across a couple bottles of whisky and a notebook with a list of reasons the person was disappointed with his life… That was interesting.