2.17.18 - Lunch in Vacaville

Today I went to Vacaville to meet Rachel halfway (and Erin in town) so we could take Rachel to lunch for her birthday.

Unfortunately there was an accident on the highway, so GPS told me to take a much longer (but in this case faster) roundabout way.

But it turns out the route was through pretty beautiful country side with big sprawling fields and barns and everything. There were not many cars at all. It was a beauitful day: blue skies, comfortable temps. I even had to stop to let a train pass.

I also talked to Julie nearly the whole drive there, which made the time go by faster and made me feel I was making good use of that time. (In my mind, my never-ending to do list includes keeping up with my siblings and other people I'm close to.) We talked a lot about our marriages and heterosexual relationships in general and the book she recentl finished reading: Boys Adrift.

I pulled into the parking lot near the Thai restaurant just as Rachel and Erin were each doing the same. The restaurant we picked is apparently very popular and had a 30 minute wait, so we decided to use that time to take Rachel's dogs for a quick walk (she had brought them with her from the bay area) and maybe get some Starbucks. The Starbucks was in walking distance but not in range of the little buzzer we had to let us know when it would be our turn to be seated, so Erin stayed in range with the dogs and Rachel and I walked a little further. It gave us a chance to talk more and catch up and I enjoyed that.

The Starbucks was in a Safeway and the poor barista was the only one there so she had to ring people up and then stop and make their drinks. So the whole thing actually took forever but Rachel and I were talking so much I hardly noticed. I got an iced mocha in time for us to go directly back to the restaurant to sit to eat, but that was fine with me.

The food was delicious and in huge quantities. I ate part of mine (a chicken pineapple thing) for lunch and later at the rest for a filling dinner. We also had great conversations about relationships and traveling and work. We were there a while, in a corner booth. It was very pleasant.

Afterward there was another accident on the highway (come on people) so I talked to Neil most of the way back, which was satisfying if not specifically "enjoyable" because mostly we were venting about politics. Still it was good to talk to him. Anyway most weekends I try to catch up on domestic stuff and get some more work done, so it was nice to have a day off to do something fun.