Merriest Christmas!

17 December 2018

Merry Christmas

Christmas is coming a little early to our house this year! In two days our family will be piling into the car and heading to the SLC airport to pick up Julianne. It's been nearly 18 months since we've last seen her, with contact limited to once a week emails and two skype calls. But in something like 44 hours she's going to descend that escalator in terminal 2 and I'm going to run, and grab her, and hug the stuffing out of her! (All the while sobbing, I'm sure.) Her return is all the Christmas I need and it will feel so good to have that Julianne sized piece of my heart that has been residing in New Jersey and New York for the past year and a half, back home where it belongs.

Julianne spent the first couple months of 2018 in Kearny, NJ...a suburb of Newark. However in early March she was transferred to New City and then to Middletown, both in New York. When all is said and done, what with also including her time in the Mexico MTC, Julianne spent more of her mission in New York than New Jersey! She loved seeing the NYC skyline across the Hudson regularly, enjoyed doing service at Ellis Island and with the Salvation Army, survived more nor'easters than I can count, and even got offered a recording contract from a Christian music producer who heard her singing on the street one day. But of course the true highlight of her mission has definitely been the people she has come to know and love. It'll be hard saying goodbye, but we have already started planning a trip back this summer to visit.

Rebekah and I had an interesting conversation a few days ago about what it was like to return home from a mission. Obviously there are all sorts of emotions to do with joy in seeing your family again, mixed with grieving the people you are leaving behind and the end of this wonderful phase of your life that has made such an impact on the person you've become. But Rebekah also said that it was a little strange to come home and realize how much our family had changed. We didn't just freeze in time while she spent that 18 months in London. Logically she knew we were continuing on with life just as she was, and of course she got weekly updates as to what we were doing. But she commented that it took a little while for her to find her place in our family again. Not in an "I don't fit anymore" sort of way...but the family dynamic had changed a bit while she was gone, as we had spent our days together here at home without her. Which of course makes perfect sense, but I just hadn't ever really thought about that being one more thing to adjust to when you return home from a mission. Rebekah is curious to talk with Julianne about it and see how their experiences compare. But it's kind of put a slightly different spin on our year's events as I've prepared to write this yearly letter, in wondering how they have shaped us and changed us...just as Julianne's mission has shaped and change her.

Our biggest event of course, is THE WEDDING! Rebekah and Tanner were married and sealed in the Bountiful Temple on March 3rd. After an extremely lackluster winter, of course the biggest snowstorm of the year was forecast to be on the big day. Murphy's Law? Mother Nature's sense of humor? Plain old bad luck? Not sure which but I was decidedly peeved. How would we take pictures after the ceremony? Would people even be able to make it up the big hill to Eaglewood Reception Center that evening in North Salt Lake? But above all...SERIOUSLY? Snow? THIS day, of all days? Sigh. I was finally resigned to what will be, will be...but then watched in surprise and gratitude as that storm delayed hour by hour as the day went on! March 3rd turned out to be chilly and overcast, but miraculously beautiful and perfect. A friend remarked at the reception later that night that the next time she needed specific weather for an event, she was going to call me for prayers because clearly I had a direct line to the Man Upstairs. I responded that the swear words I had uttered in regards to the weather forecast likely had cancelled out any goodwill I might have had. Our weather reprieve was probably due more to Rebekah's prayers than mine. ha! The snow started lightly falling after the bride and groom and guests had left, we had cleaned up, loaded all the presents into the car and were just pulling out of the parking lot. Miraculous indeed. But in all seriousness, it was a day for the history books. Rebekah was a glowing bride and Tanner, a doting groom. The temple ceremony was beautiful and I could not stop the tears as I watched my baby marry her sweetheart for time and all eternity. The whole day was filled with such love and happy reunions. Family, friends, neighbors, mission companions and senior couples...many traveling long distances to share their love and support for the newlyweds and our family. I was incredibly touched. Rebekah and Tanner are happily living the blissful newlywed life, residing in Aggie Village up in Logan and attending Utah State University. We see them fairly regularly for which we are thankful. They just finished up finals and are traveling down later today to stay with us for the Christmas season. How wonderful to have ALL my family together again this week.

Brandon is a senior this year at ----- High School and I'm already steeling myself for another emotional graduation ceremony next May. This year has seen some changes for our boy. After a great deal of thought Brandon decided to "retire" from gymnastics competition. He realized that his goals had changed and doing gymnastics in college wasn't as important to him anymore. He was developing new interests and hobbies and wanted more time to devote to those. He determined that his meet at Stanford University in January would be his last, and going into it knowing it was the final one made it rather emotional for both of us. Waiting to begin his rings routine on his last evening of the competition his coach said something along the lines of, "I still remember lifting you up to the rings at your very first meet 8 years ago. I'm glad I get to be here to do it again today. You get up there and show them what you can do." I'm so glad that Brandon didn't tell me about that comment until later that evening, because I completely lost it. I wondered why Brandon finishing gymnastics emotionally affected me so much. And I think it's because once again, it was watching him come to the end of something that, like Rebekah's and Julianne's missions, had such a huge impact on his life and had a hand in shaping the person he is becoming. He has learned so much more than just how to do cool tricks. Growth is more than in his ripped muscles. The friendships he's made are more like family. And so though he was excited for the next phase of his life and this change was nothing but good, it was also bittersweet. Luckily, part of this new phase includes coaching. He still gets to see his gymnastics family every day as he runs the parkour program at the gym, and helps coach the level 5 competition team. But his hours aren't as long so he is able to spend more time on his new hobbies, like photography, piano, and outdoor adventures such as camping, snowboarding, and hiking. He's fielding college options right now and is debating between USU in Logan, UofU in SLC, and SUU in Cedar City.

Lilian turned 11-years old this year, got her first cell phone, decided to start wearing mascara, is getting asked to babysit, and really likes boys. Pre-teen, right on schedule. She continues to love playing with her soccer team, while I'm still learning more about the rules and politics of the competitive soccer world. Quite a switch from gymnastics! She's pretty proud that her team took first place in their division in the spring and has enjoyed the perks of tournament travel (hello, Mesquite) and discount tix to Salt Lake Real and Royals games. And because apparently all those soccer practices and games weren't enough, Lilian developed a hankering to play the cello with the 6th grade orchestra. Orchestra? Learning a stringed instrument? But why, when we already have a piano that she refuses to learn to play? She was determined, so we rented a 1/2 sized cello. She attends twice a week early morning practices and I'm rather impressed with how quickly she's learned to read music and associate notes on a staff to finger placement on the strings. I can read music but know nothing about stringed instruments so she's been more or less on her own when it comes to practicing. But so far so good!

Lilian also auditioned for the school play last winter and was cast as Teen Fiona in their performance of Shrek. Wearing her wig for the first time in dress rehearsal she said, "Remind me to never dye my hair red. Or cut it in a bob!" I'm pretty sure she secretly was thrilled to have a big enough part to necessitate a wig. I volunteered to help run the lights for the show so I got to see every performance. It was such fun that I signed up to help out with the musical again this year...only to find myself getting roped into being the music director, heaven help me! We just finished auditions and casting the show, Willy Wonka Jr. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm already falling in love with these kids! Lilian earned the part of Veruca Salt but I swear there was no bias or nepotism going on...the director was the one who cast her. (Even if I did agree heartily with her choice.)

Bryan and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this year. we had thought that maybe we should plan some big, exotic trip to mark the occasion and then remembered that we just spent a nice chunk of money on THE WEDDING. So instead we used frequent flier miles and flew our little family, including the newlyweds, to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. It's kind of humorous to watch people's faces when you tell them that you've booked a vacation to Ohio as they try to work out the appropriate reaction to your news and wonder why you would want to go there of all places? Cedar Point has some of the world's best roller coasters. We're talking record breaking heights, speeds, lengths and drops. Plus, it's on a peninsula in Lake Erie so the whole park is surrounded by water and white sand beaches. It was pretty fantastic! One ride, the Dragster, was only 17 seconds long, but it shot you off at 120 miles per hour and took you 420 feet in the air. I literally screamed the entire 17 seconds...but oh my, what fun!

Bryan went on an Alaskan fishing trip with his parents and brothers in August and brought back loads of salmon. I was envious of their adventures, but super thankful for the yummy fish. We also took a couple of camping trips, one of which was to the Salt Flats in January. As much as I love winter, waking up in a tent to 27 degrees temperatures made me realize that though I'm glad to say I've done it, I'll leave the winter camping to Brandon and Bryan from here on out. Interestingly enough, when we did have our big Croft summer campout over the 4th of July, I wasn't even able to go. Our little puppy Oscar was deathly ill this summer. It was when Bryan spent two nights sleeping on the floor next to the little guy because we weren't sure he would make it through the night, that I realized just how much we love our furry baby. He rallied a bit and we thought he was on the mend so I sent the rest of the family off on the aforementioned camping trip will I stayed home to nurse Oscar, only to have him take another turn for the worse which landed him in the Doggie ER for 48 hours. But while there, they diagnosed him with Addison's Disease. Ever heard of it? I hadn't, but apparently it is a disease humans can get as well...most notably, JFK had it. Basically it means that Oscar's adrenal glands had failed and weren't making the hormones he needed to keep his body functioning. We were able to catch it in time and with monthly hormone shots he'll continue to live a healthy and normal life. We are hugely relieved. Good heavens, how did this even happen that we've become such dog lovers?

Julianne is coming home to some changes...some small, some bigger. But overall, I'm hoping she'll find the changes in us to be good ones, as we look forward to seeing how her mission has shaped her. We are literally counting down the hours until that hole her absence left in our family is physically filled again. There's going to be a lot of joy and rejoicing at our house this Christmas!

We hope you have the most wonderful Christmas and the happiest of New Years!

Love, The Croft Family

Bryan, Sarah, Rebekah & Tanner, Hermana Croft, Brandon, Lilian (and Oscar)

Christmas Dance 2018

Brandon got asked to the Christmas Dance by Carin, a girl he didn't initially know very well but who was in his photography class. Besides the Homecoming dance his sophomore year, Brandon hadn't been to any other high school dances. He just hasn't been very invested in the social and extracurricular of high school. His life has revolved around gymnastics and gym friends. And the few girls that he did hang out with his junior year were all a year younger and not allowed to date yet because they were under 16. So this Christmas Dance invite was a bit of a surprise, but a happy one.

Brandon set out to get to know Carin better as the weeks led up to the dance. Texting commenced. And then some hang outs and dates, and even a joint photography adventure. By the time the dance rolled around, Brandon was super excited. We found a tie that matched her dress and ordered a corsage. Brandon kept asking me if he needed to get tickets or pay for dinner or pick her up. "No," I replied each time. "This is a girls choice dance, she invited you. Flower and matching tie...that's all you have to do." To which he responded, "This is awesome! I love girls choice dances!"

They went to an Escape Room for the day activity. Brandon hadn't ever done one before and said he'd had the best time. Dance day consisted of dinner, dancing, a movie afterwards and then even a few kisses before the night ended. Sounds like a good time was had by all.

Checking off bucket list items

I went to a Davis High football game on Friday. Yes, it's true. I’m currently watching my 3rd child make their way through the hallowed halls of the proud Darts and had never actually attended a football game. Not for lack of interest, because I do remember bringing it up now and again that I liked the idea of the whole town kind of shutting down on Friday nights to go support Davis Football. But now here Brandon is a senior and I was going for my first time. 

I’m thinking my previous lack of attendance may have something to do with the fact that I knew I’d likely end up sitting by myself considering each of those three kiddos would've preferred to sit in the student section cheering with their friends, rather than keep me company. And though I have no problem going to a movie, concert, restaurant or play, by myself…a football game seems somehow different? Maybe it’s the lack of assigned seating meaning I’d have to find a section of bleacher where I could squeeze in between two other families and that's just somewhat…awkward, yeah? 

So now you are wondering WHY I went to a Davis game? Truth be told, it didn’t have anything to do with actual football. That was just the frosting on the cake. No, I was there because Lilian was dancing at half time. Dancing, yes. "Lilian dance?" you are asking yourself. "When did that happen?”  We are not dancers. We are musicians, actors, gymnasts and soccer players. Unless you count choreography or the random tap number in musical theatre, dancing is not our thing. 

In this case it was a fundraiser for the D’Ettes, the school drill team to which a neighbor of ours belongs. And we like to support her. Plus, Lilian just thought it’d be a fun thing to do with her friends and soccer teammates, Julie and Sophie, who had also signed up. So the girls took a break from the soccer field and became for a night, Junior Drill on the football field. They wore matching D-Ette t-shirts with gold ribbons in their hair and danced to “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray. Because in a funny little twist that seemed super appropriate, the theme for the D-Ette’s half time show was Broadway and the 5 different age groups of kids all had dance routines to various Broadway tunes. So though Lilian was dancing on a football field as a member of a D’Ette’s junior drill team, she was doing so to a song from “Hairspray,” which in some small part kind of normalized it a bit?

Anyhow, the fab soccer trio had a great time and felt pretty good about their performance. And the Davis Darts shut out the Bountiful Braves 17-0 so we were happy about that as well. Plus I got my whole Friday Night Lights football experience checked off my bucket list. Score. Literally.

Feeling all adventurous, the very next night I did something else I'd never done...
Interestingly despite the fact that I was born a Texan and then lived the past 40 years in Utah, and those sorts of roots and connections would almost guarantee a life surrounded by western type sensibilities and culture….I have never, ever attended a rodeo. Not even the very famous and traditional Days of ’47 rodeo put on every year in Salt Lake City in July. Until last night that is. What can I say, I got curious. 

The Davis County Fair was back in session this past weekend at the county fairgrounds in Farmington, and one of the events was the big rodeo on closing night. I talked to Lilian about it and the two of us decided that we were going to experience all the rodeo hoopla and have a new adventure. Except then she got invited to a big birthday party at Sophie’s house. Imagine Lilian holding a scale where one side is hanging out with her mother, and the other is partying with a bunch of her besties...well, can you guess which holds more weight? Hmph. 

I had a decision to make...should I go by myself? I mean, I suppose I could’ve. This, unlike Davis football games, did have assigned seating. But having never been, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about going by myself. Another option was to bail on the whole evening, but I'd actually really been looking forward to it...so believe it or not, I convinced Bryan to go. If it’s an unlikely event for me to attend, can you imagine Bryan at a rodeo with men in cowboy hats who are riding on horses, trying to stay on bucking bulls and broncos, and roping calves as fast as they can? 
(Yeah…we didn’t really love the roping calves as much. Poor little baby cows.) 
But I told him he could bring his kindle and read the entire time if he wanted, and he indeed did take me up on that. 
(Although he was rather interested in the cowboys trying to stay on their bucking broncos.) 

I found the whole thing quite fascinating, entertaining and rather fun, actually. The horses were incredibly beautiful and graceful, even when they were bucking as hard as they could. The event lasted a good 2.5 hours and Bryan suggested Cafe Rio on our way home. We were both dealing with allergies from the animals and the hay or whatever stuff they were prancing around on, Bryan's discomfort a little more intense than my own. I doubt he will ever agree to go to a rodeo again. But the Cafe Rio dinner gave us the opportunity to have some food, chat about everything we’d seen, and let our sinuses calm down from the hay fever/allergy issues. I count the evening as a resounding success. Another bucket list item checked! Although I have to admit, I still may be interested in attending the big Days of ’47 rodeo and see what kind of differences there are between a big state rodeo and a smaller county one. Maybe next year?

Ellis Island discoveries

Recently, my sister Melissa suggested a book for me to read. She thought with Julianne working somewhat regularly at Ellis Island as part of her service in the New Jersey Morristown Mission, that I'd really enjoy Liberty Falling by Nevada Barr. A murder mystery that takes place on Liberty Island and Ellis Island, much of the action involves the old buildings on Ellis Island that have not been restored as neatly and nicely as the main Immigration building that you see in pictures or have visited personally while in NYC. These other buildings in their hey day housed a state of the art hospital, infectious disease wards, nurses quarters, a morgue, etc. They have been abandoned and left to decay. There have been attempts made to raise money to restore or at least stabilize these old historical buildings, but it's slow going.

This book, Liberty Falling, was written in 1999, after the Immigration Building was restored and made into a museum, but before anything was done with the south side of the island. So, much of the creepy parts of the book are centered there. Three people in all meet their doom in this book, two of them falling (or being pushed) from the Statue of Liberty, believe it or not. The whodunits hide out in the abandoned section of Ellis Island and of course the main character of the story likes to traipse around there after dark where things seem a lot spookier. And all of this of course lead to attacks on her life, and stumbling across another nearly dead body that has been bludgeoned by said bad guys.

Anyway, this was all rather fascinating to me. Because though murder mysteries aren't necessarily my favorites, I do enjoy them from time to time...usually reading them in the light of the day rather than right before bed so as to ward off nightmares. I am indeed a first class chicken. Judge me if you must. But mostly I loved the historical aspect of it all and spent a lot of time looking up pictures and maps and websites devoted to these old buildings, what took place there, what they look like now, and what is being done to save them. And yeah, those buildings even today are equal parts fascinating and creepy.

Julianne of course works in a section of the restored main Immigration building on the north side of the island. She helps people find their ancestors in the Family Search Center. On days she is scheduled to work there, she drives from Jersey across to the island. Did you know that there is a road? Or a bridge or causeway of some sort? I didn't until Julianne told me. I've always taken the ferry from Battery Park at the tip Manhattan. Tourists from the New Jersey side also take a ferry. Only employees are allowed to drive across and there is all sorts of security. (Side note: before Julianne left for her mission she sent in requested paperwork, along with a copy of her Social Security card for a background check so she would be allowed to work on Ellis Island. Security is pretty tight.)

(These pictures are from my trip to Ellis Island last summer, a few weeks before Julianne left for her mission.)

I had just finished this book a few days earlier when I got an email from Julianne on Monday. She sent a picture with an explanation that she and her companion had been scheduled to work at Ellis Island the Friday previous, but when they arrived they couldn't find a spot in the parking lot, so they ended up parking on the south side in a grassy area by one of the old abandoned buildings. And sitting right there was an old torch from the Statue of Liberty that had been replaced at some point, and was being stored...possibly because they didn't know what else to do with it or how to dispose of it or maybe had plans for it down the road? Who even knows. Anyhow, Julianne thought it was cool. And I thought the timing was kind of uncanny seeing as I had just read that book. So of course I stayed up late Monday night looking at even more pictures and maps, trying to guess where exactly she had parked. And then I had the heebie jeebies all night long as my mind replayed the creepy scenes from the book over and over. First class chicken, remember?

Heebie jeebies or no, they now have tours of some of the abandoned buildings on Ellis Island, and when Julianne and I go back next summer to visit her mission, I'm going to make sure we get in on that action.

Hello Summer

According to my calendar today is the first day of summer. And I've got a pretty sweet sunburn from my day spent at Cherry Hill yesterday to show for it. (I was planning on staying three hours...Lilian had different ideas and I dragged her out after about six. Sunblock...why do I never remember to reapply?)

But if you go by the school schedule, we're fully into our third week of summer. A summer that promises to be fairly even keel and simple. We haven't had one of those for awhile, and I'm kind giddy with ideas, and not quite sure what to do with myself all at the same time.

Past summers have been full of emotions where my tear ducts get lots of workout. (At least the tear ducts are getting some exercise seeing as my body has not...being a hot mess leads to not only no working out but also emotional eating. Hmm.) Past summers, or at least the last four, have either been spent proudly crying through a high school graduation ceremony and then trying to put on a brave face as I move my daughter out of the house and into her own apartment on a college campus in an entirely different city over an hour away. (And yes, I realize that I'm lucky she's only an hour rather than multiple states away. Baby steps for what comes next). Or dealing with preparations with said daughter as she moves home from college the next summer only to turn around a few weeks later and move an entire country away to serve a mission for the LDS church. Which brings on even more of a workout for the tear ducts than the college move did. #miserablejoy. And this has been what my summers have revolved around.
Worth mentioning (maybe) is that two of those summers were also a combo deal with "the summer of the hysterectomy/surgery recovery," and "the summer of the puppy." Oi vey.

But this summer? We have a little respite. At one point I thought this summer would be all about THE WEDDING, which would be a whole new round of emotional summer experiences. Except Rebekah and Tanner moved their big day up to spring break in March. So a workout for my tear ducts and lots more emotional eating, it was indeed. But not in summer. (Next summer will be another graduation and moving on for Brandon. Sigh. Lets not talk about that right now, shall we?)

Julianne has 6 more months before she returns home from her mission. (Yes, I am meticulously counting down the days.) Rebekah no longer calls our house her home and while always welcome, is officially a visitor when she and Tanner come around. There are only 4 of us who live here full time. So it's a different sort of a summer just in and of itself. But I've been kind of enjoying it. I told Bryan this morning that tomorrow we should go to the SLC Arts Festival. And Saturday morning I'd love to hit the air show at Hill Air Force Base. Sunday has a forecast of cooler temperatures...maybe we should go for a hike after church? Cause besides having the time, I'm actually more or less emotionally stable. Will miracles never cease?

Summer thoughts:
* bike more...oh who am I kidding. I should say biking, period. I think I went out last year a total of once. Remember when I used to bike 3 times a week? Ah, those were the days. I miss that.
* dinner on the patio
* outdoor movies/concerts
* festivals
* continue binge watching Downton Abbey...because I only got through the first 3 seasons originally.
* read A LOT
* hike weekly
* road trip to Mount Rushmore
* and Lava Hot Springs...although I'm considering saving this for fall cause I really kind of love the idea of sitting in those hot springs when it's chilly outside.
* Shakespeare Festival...for some bizarre reason I have never, ever been there before. What???
* Swim! After 3 or so years off, we renewed out summer tradition of season splash passes at Cherry Hill. Felt so good to be back yesterday. I kind of really love that place.
* work out more. The body, rather than the tear ducts. Especially if I'm going to continue to be in a swimsuit regularly.
* Lagoon...although after our trip to Cedar Point a couple weeks ago I'm sure Lagoon will feel a little lackluster. Still, Lagoon has its charms. And after her experiences with the record breaking rides in Ohio, Lilian won't blink at riding anything at Lagoon. Perfect ride partner.
* Blog more. Oh hey, here I am doing just that. Wish me luck that I can keep this up because I have so much to catch up on!

I left my heart in San Francisco

San Francisco has always been one of my favorite cities. I think there is some truth in that famous Tony Bennett song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." So when Bryan said he had a two day business trip to the city by the bay, even though it was literally the day after returning from our family vacation to Cedar Point in Ohio, I decided I wanted to tag along.

We flew in Sunday evening late, and I had Monday and Tuesday to explore the city. Monday morning I routed my way past Union Square and further into town, a 45 minute walk. My destination, City Lights Booksellers and Publishers. I read a bunch of Beat poetry in college...Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg, Kerouac, etc. City Lights in San Francisco was where much of that Beat movement was centered. It was such a charming and fascinating old bookshop! Creaky wooden floors, skinny and winding staircases, a maze of bookshelves in odd formations that didn't seem to have any rhyme or rhythm to their placement, almost like a maze. It was delightful and I lost track of time completely, browsing for hours.

I took a different route back and wandered through Chinatown...the largest outside of Asia and the oldest in North America. It's a pretty fascinating place.

I hadn't intended to visit Fishermans Wharf this trip since I'd been so many times before, but I woke up Tuesday morning and decided to go anyway...such is the sentimental pull of the place. I took a cable car from Union Square down to the Wharf. Union Square is at the end of the line where the cable cars get physically pushed around by cable car workers on a turntable to be able to then head back the way they had come. Interesting that after all these years it hasn't become automated. My seat was right next to the car operator and it was fascinating watching him pull on the levers that allowed us to start and stop on those steep hills.

Once in Fishermans Wharf I meandered in no hurry and with no real purpose other than to see the busy wharf in different ways than I had before. I explored and spent my time in areas I hadn't ever visited and took my time people watching. It was a throughly enjoyable afternoon. 

 Fish and chips is a must at Fisherman's Wharf...and a view of the fishing boat pier was also nice.

The sea lions are always such a draw for tourists visiting Pier 39, but instead I walked down the much less crowded Pier 40 and was rewarded when two sea lions came over and playfully swam around right at the edge of where I was standing. I also got a pretty stellar view of Alcatraz.

Walking further west than I'd ever explored before, I found myself at Hyde Street Pier...the resting place of a bunch of old historic maritime vessels. I was giddy! I spent a good while poking around all the ins and outs of the old ships.

There was a little beach adjacent to Hyde Street Pier and across the street from Ghiradelli Square (which somehow with all my visits to San Francisco, I had never visited before. And yes, I did eventually meander up there to get some chocolate before heading back into town.) I spent an hour here, reading a book while digging my toes into the sand and listening to the waves break on the shore. Could there be anything better than reading on the beach?

The line for the cable car was long. And for some reason, the cars were slow in coming. Rush hour, maybe? It took over an hour to get through the line, and by that point in time the clouds and fog had rolled in, the wind had picked up, and the temperatures had dropped. Not unusual for San Francisco, but I sure was chilly by the time I made it back to Union Square. When Bryan texted to tell me he would be later than expected, I made a beeline for the closest Starbucks for some hot chocolate and an almond croissant while I waited.

The next morning we were headed to the airport by 4:30am. I wouldn't have minded staying longer but really, it was just about right for a San Francisco quick fix.