We rented a car to visit family in San Francisco CA for thanksgiving. We had to rent a car because there is no where desirable to park a truck, or a car for that matter. So we parked at a trucking terminal, in Salt Lake City, and had service performed on our truck while we were gone for the week.

We stopped in Reno on our way to San Francisco and had a blast at the Peppermill casino. They treated us like royalty and we won a little money, which is always a plus.

San Francisco is a city like no other. The atmosphere is electric, like New York City, but much more peaceful and laid back. The architecture and history is overwhelming at first, and stays that way. In the week we spent there, the activities were non-stop and we barely scratched the surface. Our daughter and son-in-law along with our oldest daughter were all there and it was a wonderful break.

Every single meal I ate was the best food I’ve ever eaten. Each dish, whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner, was amazing. A lot of those meals were surprisingly not that expensive either. We had a steak dinner at a restaurant that required reservations, and it was expensive, but very much worth it. At one point our waiter, I will call him “Rico Suave” ,asked if I would like some pepper. I said, “yes please.” This man disappeared and then floated back with some kind of pepper grinder and put the perfect amount on every bodies plates with out ever getting uncomfortably in any bodies “space” and then vanished. The entire dinner went like that and as it was our last night there, perfection is the description I would give it.

This trip included many hikes around town and resulted in my revelation that I am in worse physical shape than I thought. The hills in San Francisco are so steep, the cars parked on the curb are required by law to have the steer tires turned toward the curb, in the event they begin to roll. Fortunately for me, my sophisticated, and technological wizard daughters and son, had apps that would beckon a “lyft” car that would arrive usually within five minutes to rescue me when I could walk no more.

We enjoyed jazz clubs, some of best ice cream in the world, and a particular highlight to me- seals on platforms at the San Francisco bay harbor.

Something about these wild animals just hanging out like they were, brought out the little boy in me, not that the boy is ever buried too deep anyway.

We enjoyed Irish coffee at the cafe it was originally created many years ago, and that was delicious. That was also the night I walked a little too much, as the alcohol we enjoyed made me feel invincible. The next morning I could barely walk. I was not invincible,or anything close, and as a result, I missed out on the boat ride to Alcatraz island and the tour of the prison. Freckles and my daughter were kind enough to go crazy with pictures and pamphlets so that I could see all about it. They know how to make a temporarily disabled daddy feel loved, that’s for sure.

My son in law, although Freckles and I just consider him a son straight up, gave us a tour of his workplace. The view was staggering-

But the thing that I found most interesting was the office itself. There was a room to nap, on a fancy hammock, and a ping pong table. Many amenities along those lines as well as a fully stocked fridge with complimentary beverages of all kinds. The office walls were glass and there were wide open lap top stations that offered an environment that could only encourage team work. This is the new corporate world as only the technology capital of the country (the world?) could provide.

Our time to leave arrived and we got our rental car and exchanged goodbyes with our gracious hosts. It’s never easy leaving loved ones, but there’s always next time. We knew there might be weather issues crossing Donners pass but it never crossed our minds we would need tire chains for a rental car. Sure enough as we approached the summit, officers directed everyone off the interstate to put on tire chains to continue. Conveniently the exit had a store that was selling tire chains or “cables” of all kinds. They must look forward to this as we spent a 100$ on ours and there were many, many, customers. We slowly made our way over the summit safely and removed our 100$ cables we would never need again.

As we were making our way through Nevada, traffic was pretty bad and I fell in behind a Semi truck. A highway patrolmen on the shoulder immediately pulled out behind me and blue lights began their dance of woe. We pulled over and I was confused as I was going about 25mph or so, bumper to bumper traffic. He approached the window and stated that he pulled me over for following the truck in front of me too close.

He said, “they can’t see you when you’re that close.”

I replied, “yes sir, I know.”

He didn’t seem to care that I had a CDL and was not “following to close” as I said, bumper to bumper traffic.

So here we were, in Nevada, with a rental car wearing Idaho plates, traveling from San Francisco to Utah, with Florida driver licenses. Never has it been clearer, how little people know of the trucking lifestyle, than in the events that unfolded then. I explained that we left our truck in Salt Lake City, rented a car to drive to San Francisco for a week and are now enroute back to Salt Lake City a week later.

The next thing I know, I have my hands on his car, he is “frisking me” and back up has arrived and is separately questioning Freckles in the car to see if our stories match. He is also politely inquiring what kind of drugs we are trafficking. I am very tolerant of law enforcement as I know they are a vital part of a peaceful society. But right about then, I was not liking these two officers. They both were kind of giving me the third degree and were asking, “do you mind if we search your vehicle?”

As I said, I was getting pissed and replied, “it’s your time- waste it how you want.”

They kind of looked at me with a neutral expression and asked again,” do you mind if we search the vehicle?” I replied, “no I don’t. ”

They relaxed and said, “We’re just going to let you go. Some things in your story were weird, that’s all.”

We left and were just aggravated but, all in all it was a vacation to remember and one that we look forward to revisiting.