The Brad Hole

Beth and I drove out to San Jose last Thursday/Friday and aside from a scare very early into the trip involving wobbly tires that were apparently not fastened tightly to my car, everything else went OK.

We had a lovely stay Thursday night in Solvang, CA and some fine Danish pancakes Friday morning. We drove up the PCH, passed by the Hearst Castle and saw lots of coast and fog. It was very nice. We drove up through Santa Cruz and into San Jose Friday evening and made it to the apartment that Apple provided as temporary housing. It was fully furnished and frankly a little nicer than I was expecting. There's a British pub within walking distance, but the big culture shock for me was the shopping center it was in. It was stuffed to the gills with Asian restaurants and shops, and the crowd was nearly 100% Asian. You just don't find that in Phoenix. ;-)

We puttered around the area on Saturday and made a stop at Santana Row and then the Winchester Mystery House. I'd wanted to do this for as long as I'd known about it. It's a bit of a tourist trap, but I'd say it's definitely worth doing at least once as it's certainly one-of-a-kind. If you like the number 13, you'll find it in abundance there.

On Sunday morning, we drove down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which was also interesting. I expected it to be a little larger or more extravagant, I guess, but it was worthwhile. As the Winchester was to me, the aquarium was to Beth; she'd wanted to do this for a long, long time.

And so Beth flew back to Phoenix on Sunday night and has rejoined the dogs and cats for life without me - at least until early August when I'll be going back to get the rest of the stuff I'll need for a real apartment here.