We come here twice a year, and each time my body breaks down, somewhere between the third and forth day, from all the driving. Everything is just so far apart. Getting a bottle of organic milk back in Brooklyn is a matter of a few blocks. Here, we get in a car and drive for half an hour to the nearest Whole Foods. My shoulder and upper back are sore and stiff.
We drive around and sometimes fantasize about moving back here, into a spacious house with a backyard. I don’t think I can ever get into driving.
We were coming back from lunch with cousins yesterday in San Carlos. I decided to skip the major roads and just drive around the smaller ones. We ended up on Route 84 and then Route 35 – a winding, distractingly scenic route through the mountains. My life here in the Bay Area has been spent in the valley, and never in the surrounding mountains. I thought I was in a different country.
We try to visit our family in San Jose, CA twice a year. We used to stay with my grandma or aunt, but a year ago we decided to get a hotel room for the three of us. My son isn’t a great sleeper, and whoever we stay with is going to get waken up at night. There’s also the practical matter of where he should sleep. He can’t sleep in the same bed – he’d kick and scratch us. He can’t sleep in a separate room in a foreign house.
We also wanted some freedom from the family. So hotel it is.
Living in a hotel made the trips very different. It used to be a family thing, and we’d spend time with them from morning to night. Living away from them has made the trip feel more like a vacation. That’s kind of nice, considering that I take very little vacation during the year.
I’m looking forward to seeing my family. I also look forward to spending a lot of time with my wife and kid, seeing the sky, having donuts, and enjoying the good California produce.
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