COMEDY OF ERRORS

My son gets credit for this title. I drove into the Bay Area to deliver a larger suitcase (Darrin only has a roller carry on size) so he could take my Valentine's gift bag & all the Monster High Ghouls to New Mexico next week when he goes to spend a week with Charley. I know it sounds crazy, but, hey, that's what I do. Moving Heaven & Earth isn't an issue where my son & granddaughter are concerned so driving 200 miles to deliver a few things is a piece of cake.

We coordinated the visit so my sister, Karen (AKA Zizi), could stop by before her massage in Castro Valley & see Darrin's new-ish duplex that he rented a few months ago. She lives about 100 miles away, also. Both Karen & I lived the huge majority of our lives in the Bay Area & still have many ties to the area, such as Karen's long time massage therapist. The three of us had planned to have lunch before going our separate ways. I'm not sure if we have EVER had lunch with just the three of us.           

Sounded like a simple enough plan, right? At 12:15 PM we left Darrin's for the 10 minute drive to Don Jose's Mexican Restaurant where we had all eaten several times years ago. Oddly enough, we had to take three cars since we were all heading in different directions. The City of Castro Valley decided to pick this day to do road construction work. Given the horrendous traffic in the Bay Area anyway, closing a lane made it totally nuts.

We all arrived a half an hour later at Don Jose's. As we walked to the door talking away, Darrin pulled on one of the double doors. Wouldn't open so he pulled the other, same result. Then we noticed the sign on the door. "We are closed today to give our wonderful employees a day off for all their hard work." Well, hell, now what?

Karen said there was another Mexican taqueria a couple blocks away so we all piled into Darrin's car. There were cracker crumbs all over the back seat by Charley's car seat. Darrin said, "Every time I see them, I don't want to clean them up because it reminds me of Charley there eating her crackers." I totally get it. Things in my house that she has changed remain for weeks or months after her visit.

We spot the taqueria with the sign saying "Parking in Back". Castro Valley Boulevard has tons of shops & restaurants but almost no street parking. Turning down the side street we are met with several tractors & dump trucks blocking the parking in back as they were repaving the lot. Damn, no where to park! And Gaga is pretty limited in how far she can walk with this hip shit.

Continuing down the street, Darrin suggested the Ice Creamery where we have eaten several times. They have sandwiches & burgers, too. By now we had abandoned our desire for Mexican food in favor of somewhere to eat before we all had to head out.  As we drove the few blocks to the Ice Creamery we were met with orange netting blocking the driveway to their parking in back. "What the fuck?" I exclaimed, "Are they repaving the entire city?"

We continued down the main street in Castro Valley when Karen saw a coffee shop that she remembered eating at several times. We managed to find a parking space in the parking lot that was still accessible & had a nice lunch together. It turned out that we did still have an hour or so to visit & enjoy each other's company. Finally!

As an added bonus, Darrin said he was planning to Facetime with Charley when she got out of school. Our lunch had dragged on enough that we should be able to all say "hi" for a bit before we went on our way. Of course, the phone connection didn't work as we sat there staring at the phone & lining up so she could see us all. After several tries Darrin gave up & said he would head home to call her on his Wi-Fi.

My sister went into Ross for a few minutes while I started my car to drive home in time for the King's game we had tickets to this evening. Suddenly Darrin rapped on my window saying he got through. The connection was crappy but I managed to talk to Charley for a few minutes. She was totally excited about finding out there are Monster High Beach Ghouls & shared that with me! Gaga has already bought one for her. You didn't doubt that, did you?

After saying good-bye, blowing kisses, sharing virtual hugs & saying "I love you" ten times, I backed out of the parking space. Then I saw Darrin heading into the Ross Store with his phone. After momentary confusion, I smiled knowing that he had told Charley that Zizi was there for lunch, too. I knew she wanted to say "hi" to Zizi. Darrin said I was right & he found Zizi in the store to chat with Charley. Our lunch date was indeed a "Comedy of Errors" but it was still wonderful.