An accident.
Not too damaged.
This looks like another one.
Well, not really an accident; the semi's load fell off going around a corner.
A girl scout and her parent out selling cookies in the rain and cold.
Have to buy some of those. Much more respectable than having your parents send around an order sheet at their offices.
Blue birds at Ogii's work.
Fog in the morning.
Full moon.
A neat area of downtown San Jose.
Sculpture of a huge table.
We ate at Grill on the Alley. They had just updated their menu a few days ago to be more upscale. They also had this huge painting on the wall.
It had some deer.
Bread.
Us.
Ogii ordered the tomahawk steak.
I got the wagyu.
Hers.
Mine.
Sides.
Dessert.
After that we went to Beautifica, an video at the Tech's IMAX Dome theater. They started it wrong and it was small and only in the front, but after they restarted it, it covered the entire dome. I thought it was pretty neat; it felt like the early 90s computer videos with music.
Someone selling food out of the back of their Prius.
Leg Day in Sacramento, where a bunch of optometrists talk to a bunch of legislators about the bills we're trying to get passed this year.
The bathroom of the restaurant is always weird; it's a see-through mirror to the women's side at the sink, so you'll see a woman there, think she's behind you, and think you're in the wrong bathroom.
The mints I love are almost out; better grab the last one.
The students who will accompany the doctors with the different societies.
Going over our talking points.
A mock interview with a legislator, with Bob, as always.
Lots of students and doctors.
A cool chandalier made out of bike chains.
Short interviews with doctors and students on the issues for social media.
Lauren and I were both wearing purple and blue.
Lunch.
Fun cookies.
Onto the capital.
Well, the annex building. They're still doing construction on the Capital itself.
Beautiful picture of a field.
Sometimes we didn't even have a room and had the meeting in the open area.
Us with Senator Laird, who is always a pleasure to talk to.
Most of the meetings were with staff, not the actual legislator.
Even though they're doing construction on the Capital, it's still open.
Portraits of former governors.
Are these winged seahorses on the lights?
Old office recreation.
A room with some history of the state.
There was supposed to be a meeting in here, but the legislator meetings are always running late or getting moved around, so it didn't happen when it was scheduled.
A meeting with Assemblymember Pellerin.
A quick bite to eat afterwards.
Enterprise had this Plus Your Points promotion running for a few months.
You spin this little wheel and get a different number of points depending on where it lands. It's probably doesn't get you many points, but it's a fun thing to do each week.
Tommy Chong on Cheers. They had so many guest actors.
Another birthday present from Ogii.
An island beach shirt.
And another. You can tell this wrapping paper was reused from where the previous tape was.
A travel wallet.
Spring water and drinking water.
Purified water and distilled water. This is so confusing; which are we supposed to drink?
Massages.
Lunch in Carmel.
It's cold out and even in the restaurant, so we kept our coats on.
Pasta.
Bar area.
Getting flights to New York City. These grids are faster than checking one-by-one to see which airport is cheapest.
Also panning for the total solar eclipse in a few months. We were originally planning on being in Dallas, but that would be much farther for Melanie to drive. If we stay in Austin or San Antonio, that's closer to Mel, but those cities are only barely in totality. If we drive east for an hour to Fredericksburg, though, we're right in the middle.
We had already reserved a place in Dallas, but there are still some places available in Fredericksburg, so we can cancel the Dallas hotel.
Using Google Maps to see if the AirBnB will give us a good view of the eclipse, which will be to the south.
While there are still places to stay, car rentals are completely sold out during the eclipse.
With every single company. Maybe Turo or some other private rental company would be available, and I've even heard of people reserving U-Hauls, but we can have family drive us.
We had to change our flights from Dallas to San Antonio, too, but thankfully there were still some flights available from San Antonio; none from Austin, though.