A: The Parents Visit San Francisco

The Happy Family

Happy Parents

So the parents just left. I dropped them off at SFO this a.m. after grabbing a donut at Bob’s Donuts. Mom made sure to ask me once again if San Francisco gives sanitation grades for restaurants. “It’s clean Mom. It’s just old.” “Oh I know. I was just wondering.” Suuuure you were.

Anyway, I’d say for the most part it was a successful trip. I tried to avoid all of the homeless and sketchy areas as best I could for her sake since she hates cities. We visited mainly things outside SF, traveling to Sausalito, the wine country, and Palo Alto. I found myself trying to make the visit as perfect as possible. I cleaned the apartment for 3 days, cleaning then re-cleaning before they got here. I busted out the yellow rubber gloves and that steel spongy thing that works magic on soap scum. The place was spotless and everything was in its place (AKA all our junk was placed into neat little piles of junk). The scary thing was that I found myself trying to do the same when I was outside the apartment. I was on my way to pick them up at the airport and saw this graffiti on the side of a building and had the urge to scrub it off with my metal sponge. I realized that’s psycho and gave up on trying to make her love it here. SF will just have to speak for itself.

Dad liked the trip too. But he’s not hard to please. Everything we fed him he loved and said it was the best thing he’d had. We let him drive the convertible while Mom backseat drove.  We arranged for them to stay at a B&B on Friday night in Napa. I had only seen it online and read reviews but was still worried it may be no good given that it was closer into town than I wanted. But when we got there they loved it. Or as Randy described, “Your mom’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.” So whew. They liked it AND they even loved the Hilton we put them in for 2 nights in SF. I was worried b/c it was a gamble i took through Priceline where you dont get to see where you’re staying until you’ve purchased it. They loved it though. To me, it was okay, a bit touristy and GIANT, but I think Mom’s used to Dad putting her in sh*tholes so she was thrilled with the place.

I think i’d venture to say that they’ll be back. Well I know Dad will b/c he keeps saying how he’s going to make it an effort to come out here twice a year. He gets excited and says those things which I know won’t be true as soon as he looks at the bills, but it’s a nice thought. Mom I think will come back too. There are a few things she didn’t get to see b/c we didn’t have enough time and I think she still wants to see them. Hopefully it won’t take her another 6 more years to come out here!

So, are you ready for everyone to come visit you in NYC for Thanksgiving? We already argued over who gets to sleep on your floor. I told Dad he can’t be serious about us all staying there and that I’m more poor and get to stay with you guys. I think he understood. I hope.