Day 16 (June 28th) - The Drive from Hell but then fun times with the family!

Dan and I decided to check out downtown San Francisco before leaving for Stockton, so we woke up early and took the BART in with Anna. She headed to her office and we headed for Chinatown. Apparently we woke up too early because nothing was open yet but we still got a feeling of what the area was like.

Squirrelly taking it all in

We then walked up the hill to Coit Tower. The hill was super steep but once you got to the top, the views were worth it. You could pay $8 to climb to the top of the tower, but we were pretty happy with what we saw from the base, so took a few photos and then walked back down the hill to Little Italy.

Panoramic view from Coit Tower

NOW we could see the Golden Gate Bridge!

I went to Italy about 8 years ago and being in this neighborhood really brought me back. Dan and I stopped at a small café and split a salami and provolone Panini and an Italian soda. We had a few more hours before we needed to head to Stockton so we walked over to 21st Amendment Brewery. Apparently, we were a little too early but at the same time they were a little late in opening. We were amazed to see a line already forming and after opening, the small pub was almost filled. We snagged a spot at the bar and had a sampler and a snack.

Yes, it was on De Boom street!

We caught the BART back to Anna’s house, packed up the car and hit the highway for Stockton. Little did we know, the next three hours were going to test our mental and physical strength. Had we listened to my sister-in-law and left San Francisco at 2pm, we would have been looking at roughly a one hour and 45 minute drive. As it was, we left San Francisco at 3pm on a Friday afternoon on one of the hottest days the area has ever seen. At first, it wasn’t so bad, it was smooth sailing along Highway 80. So much so that about an hour into the drive, I made the mistake of saying, “Wow, this doesn't seem like too bad of traffic”… Little did I know that about 30 seconds later we would merge with Highway 580 and our patience would be put to the test.

As the two roads merged, the traffic came to a halt. At the same time, the cool breeze that we were getting from the San Francisco Bay was turning into a crippling heat. We rolled up the windows and turned on the A/C. A few minutes later we realized that we were getting hotter not colder. It was at this point that we realized the air conditioner had stopped working and was blowing hot air on this 100+ degree day. This, combined with the smog filled parking lot that Highway 580 had become, did not bode well for our immediate future. But there was not much we could do about it so we rolled down the windows, cranked up the music and… that is about all I remember until we rolled into my brother’s house in Stockton – apparently it was so traumatic that I’ve blocked the memory. We agreed that while it was not our longest day of driving, it was definitely our worst.

My brother, Emmett and my sister-in-law, Amy, were great hosts and had cold water and beers waiting for us when we arrived. After about an hour of rehydrating and kissing and hugging my twin nephews, the adults headed out to Lodi for dinner at Lodi Brewing Company. Despite the heat, we had a great dinner and weren’t too sad about putting this day to bed.

The next day (Day 17 – June 29th) was another record breaking temperature day with the high expected to be 109. First things first, we had to get the A/C fixed so we took it to Jiffy Lube and were told it would be about 2 hours. There was a Costco next door so we decided to try to kill some time there and maybe grab some free samples. As we were walking in the door, we ran into Emmett and Amy, who were looking for a tent for their upcoming camping trip, and walked around the store for awhile. When we couldn’t handle Costco anymore, we headed over to Starbucks to get some iced coffee and finally headed back to Jiffy Lube. Two and a half hours later, the Subaru had it’s oil changed, got vacuumed and yes, the air conditioning was fixed! It was like a brand new car. After all of that, we were hungry, so we picked up In-N-Out Burger and went back to Emmett and Amy’s for lunch and a relaxing afternoon in the comfort of A/C in their house. We even cooled down in the kiddie pool in the backyard.

We took some family photos.

Emmett and his babies

Dan and my nephews, Jacob and Lucas, had some bonding time playing basketball and guitars.

Rockin out - not sure which one is enjoying it more

Jacob and Lucas made my hair look pretty.

After all this fun, it was finally cooling down slightly (maybe 90 degrees) so we started up the games of bags (or cornhole, if you’re from the mid-west). You would have thought Dan would have let my brother win, trying to make a good first impression and all, but no, Dan and I continued our streak of winning leisure sports and beat Emmett and Brandon 4-2 games. Luckily, Emmett is a good sport and didn’t hold it against Dan.

Emmett and Dan going head to head

 Amy’s cousin, Megan and her husband, Greg and daughter Kinzlee joined the party and Amy fed us with her delicious salsa. The power went out twice during the night (thank you rolling California black-outs) but was back on by bedtime, allowing us a peaceful and cool night sleep.

Despite being crazy hot, we had a great stay with Emmett, Amy and the twins. It was the perfect launching point for our upcoming week long camping adventure!

-Lauren