The Best Part of Being a Professor: Summer Trips

 So, I am finally back to somewhat normal life after a 3-week vacation in California. I seriously love having a townhome because I have no yard to care for and I love being a teacher because I have the summer off. Kristen and Doug were kind enough to host me and let me call Livermore home base. We had a blast. Here's basically what I did:

Monday, July 5: fly with Kristen and Doug to Oakland. We left late enough in the day that I was able to clean my house before leaving town. It's kinda a Hunter girl thing. We can't go on vacation with a dirty home. Plus, Kamiko and Bekki were going to house sit for me and I wanted the place to be clean. Mountain Mikes pepperoni pizza for dinner. 

Look at how that cooked pepperoni curls on the edges. So yummy!

Tuesday, July 6: kinda ran errands with Kris. She'd been in Utah so she needed to get groceries, etc. 

Wednesday, July 7: Went into San Francisco with hopes of seeing Mission Dolores and Fort Point, only to find that those places are only open Thursday - Sunday. So, it was a quick trip into the city. We did stop a Baker Beach, a side of the Golden Gate Bridge that neither of us had seen before. It was windy and a bit cold, but we got some good photos and had a good time. We made a quick stop in Oakland too. When I got back to Livermore, I found out that a chef I follow on Instagram had JUST released a pizza that she concocted at a pizza joint in SAN FRANCISCO and OAKLAND. Had I known, we could have tried her pizza collaboration. Oh well. 

In front of Mission Dolores

@ Baker Beach

The church at Mission Dolores

Clouded in Golden Gate Bridge

Mission Dolores

Me and the kids have a 4-way talk for a bit

Chapel at Mission Dolores

Kris and me in front of Mission Dolores

Thursday, July 8: borrowed Kristen's car and went to Manteca to visit Maria. Her daughter Sydney had an appointment in Merced so I went with them. We stopped on the way back at a parking lot full of food trucks and I got a delicious hot dog. Like, an amazing hot dog. It was called The Messy Dog. It was a bacon-wrapped hot dog topped with carne asada, jalapenos, sauce, and crusty cheese skirt. Cheese skirt is a thing. You know when cheese escapes your quesadilla or grilled cheese sandwich and ends up browning in the pan? That's cheese skirt. It was soooooo good. I'd go back again for sure. 

Abby showed me the water vending machine at Costco

Maria and me at the food truck lot. We've been friends for 17 years.

Friday, July 9: Happy Birthday Jenny! Went on a morning walk, as we did pretty much every day I was in California. If I remember correctly, we went to the beach. We went to Manrisa beach for a few hours, then went to visit with Doug's sister Karen and her husband Bill. They live right on the beach in Aptos. They are lovely people and I enjoy visiting with them. 

Beach Smiles

Saturday, July 10: washed the fleet. Kris and Doug have more than 2 cars. I helped Kris wash all of them while Doug did yard work. We joined their friends Jeff and Maggie for Mexican food for dinner at their favorite place, Casa Mexico. They used to go to Anitas, but it closed during the Covid shutdowns. So sad. 

Sunday, July 11: I love going to church in Livermore. Everyone is so nice. We had plans to go to Mike's on Monday, but got word that his air conditioning went out. We were still willing to go and use fans, but then we got word that his power went out. We were really bummed because Carolyn was going to join us too. Well, the whole situation quickly got resolved. It was a power company thing and it all got fixed, so Kristen and I got ready to go to Oakhurst. Made a chocolate cake to have for dessert and to take to Mike's. Kris also made her famous sourdough bread to take to Mike's.

Monday, July 12: Drove to Oakhurst to meet up with Carolyn at Mike's house. There were fires not far from Mike's and we drove through some pretty smokey parts on our way. Kris was a bit nervous. I won't lie...I was a bit nervous too, but I figured if it was unsafe, there would be emergency vehicles telling us to go another way. We made it to Mike's. I love going to Bass Lake. Such great memories. We shared the chocolate cake with Mike and he said it was the best cake he's ever had. He has a new puppy, Sierra, and she's quite hyper. She's a crazy little thing. She's a black boxer with dark black eyes. Mike treated us to dinner at the Forks, the restaurant on the lake. We all got club sandwiches, at Mike's recommendation. Kristen and I shared a sandwich and fries. It was yummy. 

Tuesday, July 13: Carolyn, Kris, and I took Sierra on a walk. She's a crazy little thing. We then relaxed around Mike's house. We drove around the lake, with Mike telling us stories of others who lived at the lake when they would visit. Kristen and I took a photo outside of the corner store in The Pines, where we would buy Archie comic books when we were kids. Mike Grilled chicken and vegetables and we had rice and fruit. It was a wonderful trip.

Wednesday, July 14: Drove back to Livermore. It was such a great time with Carolyn and Mike. We are fortunate that Carolyn drove all the way to spend time with us and that Mike hosted us all. 

Thursday, July 15: Lunch with Kim Rose Cassetti! Since I planned this trip, I've been looking forward to having lunch with Kim. Kim came to Kristen's house and got the tour of all the renovations Kris and Doug have done on their house. Kim treated me and Kris to lunch at The Ale House in Livermore. Kris and I shared a grilled cheese sandwich that was really unique, with apricot preserves and gourmet cheese on sourdough. The sandwich was great and their French fries are awesome. I wasn't upset when we decided to go there for dinner on Saturday. Kristen's Relief Society had an activity Thursday night. LaMyrle Sandholtz and her daughter, Jerie Jacobs, spoke about life lessons. It was a wonderful evening. LaMyrle is in her 90's. Mom and dad always get together with her when they go to California. Jerie is Kristen's age. They went to stake girls camp together. Her kids are friends with Kristen's kids, as they all grew up in Livermore. LaMyrle said that one lesson she learned from her mom during the depression was that it doesn't matter what you wear as long as you wear a smile. Jerie talked about messengers, things that share important messages with us. She talked about how even nature can be a messenger. 

Me, Kristen, and Kim BFF's

Friday, July 16: Ice cream at Meadowlark Dairy in Pleasanton with Aunt Leigh Hicks. Leigh isn't technically our aunt, but we grew up with her. She also lived on School Street, across from Amador High School when grandma and grandpa Sears lived there with Mike, Kathy, and Carolyn. Leigh's mom had passed away and grandma Sears became a second mom as Leigh was friends with Kathy and Carolyn. Leigh has always been a cheerleader to all of us kids. She is wonderful. We disagree on politics, but that doesn't matter. We spent a lovely hour together. I'm so glad she made the effort to spend time with us. 

Saturday, July 17: As I write this 3 weeks later, I can't remember what we did on Saturday. If I remember right, I watched some recorded professional conference sessions. Cobb Salad at The Ale House then Lords Ice Cream.

Sunday, July 18: Went to church at 9:00 am. Kristen's ward is so nice. One of the girls in the ward saw me walk in with Doug and told her mom "I don't know Sister East's face." LOL. She thought I was Kristen, but couldn't place why I looked different. After church and got in the car and drove to Derek's house. I was really excited to see them all since it's been almost 2 years since I was at their house. Dumb pandemic. Derek had some yummy leftovers that we enjoyed for dinner. Charlie always greets me with "hi grandma." I love those kids. Milo is 4. He's really grown. He was 2 last time I saw him. Of course, Kris, Derek and Rachel and I stayed up way too late talking. I told Derek and Rachel I would watch the kids so they could go out for a night and they planned that. 

Milo Ryan Hunter, age 4

Rose Annalee Hunter, age 10

the word problem Rose wrote about grandpa's spaghetti

Charlie Hunter, age 7

Charlie likes to watch leaves fly in the air when the air conditioner runs

Just me and Derek relaxing in the morning. Their patio is so lovely.

Monday, July 19: There was a bit of a miscommunication and Derek and Rachel had made plans to be gone Monday night instead of Tuesday. It was a good thing because it meant I had Kristen's help. She had plans to go to Sarah's house on Tuesday. So, Derek and Rachel left after breakfast and Kris and I were on kid duty. Charlie is a handful since I last saw him. He's stronger and bigger and more stubborn. Still, we had a great time. We played Candy Land, which was great. Charlie usually doesn't play games with the family, but he played with us. We grabbed pizza for dinner, which was a lifesaver because we had it not only for dinner, but also for lunch on Tuesday when I was on my own. Bedtime was rough. The boys really didn't want to go to bed. In my experience, bedtime is always hard when mom and dad aren't home. Kristen actually went and sat in the boys' dark room until Charlie fell asleep. She had to keep redirecting him to his bed when he wanted to get up. Oh, I forgot to mention that we were also dog sitting. I slept in Derek and Rachel's room. I went to bed very tired and not feeling well. I was hoping I would be ok enough to watch the kids alone on Tuesday. I prayed that I'd get good sleep. I left the door open so any wandering kid or dog could find a familiar face in the middle of the night. Charlie came in. The dog came in. I had to put the dog on the bed with me so she wouldn't bark. It was quite the night, but my prayer was answered. I did feel better in the morning. 

Tuesday, July 20: Happy Birthday Sarah! Kris left before lunchtime to go to Sarah's. I stayed put with the Hunter kids. We didn't go anywhere. Rose suggested some things to do, but I told her we were staying home. I did organize an outdoor scavenger hunt for Rose where she had to find certain things and draw pictures of them. Then I did one for Milo that was simpler where he had to identify certain things for me. It's part of BYU's health challenge to enjoy the outdoors this month. It was fun. We had leftovers for dinner and Derek and Rachel got back. They had a great time. They went to Japan Town and bought some of Derek's favorite treats. I got good sleep on Tuesday night and headed to Sarah's on Wednesday. 

Wednesday, July 21: Rachel gave me a haircut. I had told her that I was having trouble styling my hair. She had a great idea and cut it for me. She always does such a great job. I was all set to take the train to LA Central Station then switch to another train toward Sarah's house, but Derek offered to take me to LA to meet up with Sarah and Kristen. Everyone was so nice to drop me off and pick me up. Derek, Rachel, and the kids drove me to Milk Bar, a cookie and cake place in Los Angeles. I've heard of them, but haven't had their food. I got a piece of their seasonal strawberry shortcake cake and a corn cookie. Both were good. Kris and Sarah came to get me. Boy, we dealt with crazy traffic getting back to Sarah's. It took us soooo long to get to her house in Ladera Ranch. We stopped at her friend's house before heading back. Her friend recently bought a condo in LA. It is so cute. Her friend was very nice, too. We got back to Sarah's and rested for a bit. We were going to go out to dinner, but we just didn't want to leave, so we grabbed groceries and cooked a yummy recipe that Sarah often makes. Sarah and Cameron always introduce me to funny TV shows. This time it was "Kim's Convenience", a show about an immigrant Korean couple who owns a convenience store in Toronto, Canada. They have 2 young adult kids who have grown up in Canada. The cultural clash is so funny. The also showed us "The Good Place", a show about a woman who dies and ends up in the good place, but she shouldn't be in the good place. We always have a blast with Sarah and Cameron.

My delicious Strawberry Cake

My haircut

Thursday, July 22: BEACH. We went on a nice walk then packed up stuff and headed to Laguna Beach. We went to Adolfo's and I got the yum Black Bean Burrito that I've been thinking about since last October. We took our food to the beach and relaxed and enjoyed the day. Sarah and Cameron really love living in Orange County and I can't blame them. Sarah made a really delicious curry for dinner. She is a great cook. We watched more TV. 

Morning walks happened daily

Beach Smiles

Sarah wore these socks for her barre workout

My yummy bean burrito, even better on the beach

Sarah made us this yum avocado toast. It has pesto, egg, red pepper flakes, honey, ricotta, avocado, and sourdough bread. WOW.

Friday, July 23: Drove back to the Bay Area. Sarah came with us and Cam came later. It's always good to get bonus time with family. Mountain Mike's Pizza. 

Saturday, July 24: Happy Pioneer Day! Went on an early walk with Kim. She came to Livermore for one last walk together. Donut Wheel. Worked on some things I had to do for work. Read some, watched recorded professional conference sessions, etc. We went to Casa Mexico for dinner again. YUM. Kris and I shared the 2 chicken enchilada meal. We are pretty good and sharing meals. perfect amount of food. We also made another chocolate cake because I thought the first one we made was dry and average. I wanted a redo. The 2nd cake turned out great. Watched Olympics a lot! Skateboarding is new this year and it was soooo fun to watch. 

Kristen and Doug's beautiful backyard

DONUT WHEEL

Sunday, July 25: Last day. Church. I told the sisters in RS that I was surprised I didn't get a calling in sacrament meeting. Watched more Olympics with Kris and Doug and Sarah and Cam. We really did sit on their comfy leather couches and watch Olympics. It was a blast. 

Monday, July 26: My flight left in the afternoon, so that gave us the morning to go on a walk and to take our time getting to the airport. Stopped at Donut Wheel to get donuts for Kamiko and Bekki. Good flight home. Kamiko and Bekki were nice enough to pick me up. It was a great trip, but it's nice to be home. I love my house and I have great neighbors. I got home and there was a note on the front door from Lynn and Michael next door. Mom left a note and food in the fridge (milk, fruit, soup, and bread). It was so nice of her. Very thoughtful. Time to get back into real life. Ready, set, go...

Note from Lynn and Michael

Note from mom