So what's Oakland-- "The Collection of Houses"?

Here's the rundown on my trip to The City:

We had to get Rew's models there somehow. After spending an hour on the phone with the TSA, who assured me that yes, a sealed box full of foam-cor models held together by perhaps a round dozen one-inch pins was an imminent threat to national security, truth, justice, and American morals, I ran to his house to grab the models and try to pack them somehow. Failing, I dragged them off to the UPS store where a kindly woman packed them for me, making the UPS guy wait so she could ship them next day delivery. Unfortunately, I just didn't have that hundred and fifty dollars. So she unpacked them, repacked them better, and suggested that we risk them as checked baggage. So we did. And she's getting a medal, because they made it there intact.

We walked a good thirty blocks to find an Office Despot, when there turned out to be one right around the corner from our hotel. Rew made a fantabulous display of all his work in almost no time at all-- or maybe it just seemed that way to me because I was asleep-- and then trekked off to the Embarcadero, another sixteen blocks or so, each way. I stayed at home. I was tired.

The next day we were up at sparrow's fart to take the display down to the meeting room and set it up. We had an hour, we took maybe twenty minutes, thanks to Rew's prep work, and then we left. We took a walk down to Civic Center and UN Plaza (five blocks) and then back up Market and over to Yerba Buena (nine blocks) and hung out in the gardens and the Metreon, which was far too hip for me. We walked back (four blocks) and Rew went in for his interviews. I wrote some and then took another nap.

Rew came up at three with one interview left, so we went down together and I sat outside while he had that one, and then we decided to go get food somewhere in celebration-- burgers at a diner were not entirely what I had in mind, but it was his choice and they were good. The place was suggested by the U/RTA lady, who looked at us like we had three heads between us when we said we wanted just reg'lar ol' 'merican food in San Francisco (two blocks to the diner).

All of Rew's interviews went great. People were very impressed with him. I fully expect him to get an awesome offer from at least one grad school, along with several decent offers. We'll see after Saturday.

That night we walked to the ferry building, up the Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square, and back by way of Columbus and other side streets, through North Beach and the edge of Chinatown. We had an awesome crepe at Sophie's in North Beach, prompting me to want to make crepes again. That walk was probably just over fifty blocks with detours to figure out where we were at various points, or to see stuff-- we'll say a round fifty.

Next day we met up with my uncles and they took us on a drive around the coast, then we went to Amoeba Music and 826 Valencia (the Bay Area's only independent pirate supply store) and Paxton's Gate and Borderlands. (Only about six blocks the whole day.) We had dinner at the great Pakwan Pakistani restaurant, and tea and coffee at XO, then made it to the airport in good time to catch our flight.

Which was canceled.

There wasn't another one for about twelve hours, either.

I called my uncle and he let us stay at his place and we took the first flight out in the morning. I did manage to finagle one shuttle voucher out of America West, not that it was their fault-- weather delays at our connecting city. We left early, got in late, and there was no sleeping on the plane for us.

Except for the travel, it was an awesome trip. And by the tally I've just made, rounded down, Rew walked about 160 blocks and I walked about 130. Good exercise.