Nonna and Grandpa Visit SF

My parents have a history with the city of San Francisco.  For starters, they frequented the city by the bay a few times during their dating/newlywed status.  They absolutely love it!  My Dad tells me there is no better time to visit than in the month of September.  Since I have a way of believing everything my Dad says- it probably is the best month.  Once my Mom and Dad's life took off and they started having children, funds for SF were thrown to the wayside and they didn't think much about San Francisco anymore. 

Years later- think twenty-five years later, they decided they would take a trip down to San Francisco for old time's sake.  I remember the trip vividly as I was a junior at Santa Clara University and couldn't wait to see them!  They flew into San Jose, spent a few days with me, watched a few of my basketball games, and then on Valentine's Day, headed up to San Francisco to celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary!  I was sad to see them go- but so happy they were getting a chance to do something fun for themselves. 

My parents were still pretty financially stretched at that time.  They were supporting four of their five kids (who were still living at home) and had a lot of financial responsibility!  This trip was a lavish escape.  A chance to focus merely on themselves and not worry about anything else.  Hmmm.  The fairytale stopped here. They left Santa Clara's campus and headed north to SF.  It was pouring rain.  And this was the opinion of two Seattlites who 'knew' rain.  They checked into their hotel which they thought was $79 a night and turned out to be $179 a night.  They walked in the rain to dinner and ate overpriced, snobby food that wasn't quite their style.  I guess that is what happens when you don't have reservations on Valentine's Day and eat wherever they have a table.  My parents took a cab ride home and after traveling only one block in twenty minutes because it was also the Chinese New Year parade- they got out and walked home in the rain.  Happy Anniversary!

Fast forward to today.  They were excited to come visit and Gina and I were excited to surprise them a bit!  Matthew, Emily, and I were going to drive up to SFO and pick them up and bring them to Gina's house.  It would be a surprise because they thought Gina was going to be their chauffeur!  Well, that plan changed too.  Their flight was cancelled early this morning.  Why?  President Obama was flying into SF- therefore all other flights re-routed!  Lucky for us, they were re-routed to San Jose.  I felt bad for them.  I prayed this wouldn't be another disastrous anniversary trip!  We were able to surprise them and they loved it!  We all drove up north to Gina's house where they got their first tour of her new place!  We stayed for a while and chatted and then drove them to their hotel. 

We decided to order room service for my family because Gina, my Mom and Dad were going out for romantic dinner later in the evening.  It was a lot of fun to just hang out and be silly.  It is what we do best!  Eventually I dropped the three of them off at dinner and drove my kiddos home!  The following morning, Gina, Mom, and Dad were headed to Reno for a family friend's daughters wedding.  There was a terrible snowstorm brewing in the passes so I was worried about them.  But sure enough- they got up bright and early and headed to Nevada!

They had an eventful weekend.  Think white out snow storm, minor fender bender, near death experience, and a very special vase and that is their experience in a nutshell.  They showed up at my house on Saturday and I was so happy to see them and thankful that after all the drama- they were here safe.  We basically bundled up and stayed at home.  I don't think they wanted to do any more driving after that fiasco!  It was so nice to see my parents and I am happy that their San Francisco trip was much better this time around!