Having fun with Robbie and Friends

I had a lot of fun this weekend. My friend Robbie came to visit from Utah for his father's memorial service (he died in May, so there's been some time to make this a fun visit besides the somberness of a funeral). He brought some friends of his, and some other friends came to visit that I knew when they lived here. We went to see Wicked (yep, second time in a month and a half - but it was definitely worth seeing again) and then eat at the Cheesecake Factory. We got home Saturday morning at 4 am. It was awesome to see Robbie and Caitie again and fun to meet the new people. The musical was great again. The two main parts were played by the same people, which is interesting because the woman playing Elphaba is the standby. And I think she's great! The t-shirt vendor said she's actually better than the actual regular performer.



Saturday, after the funeral, I invited myself to lunch with everyone. I wasn't the only non-family there, so I wasn't too worried, but felt bad when Robbie's uncle bought lunch for everyone. I didn't mean to mooch off of anyone, but am very greatful for lunch. It was pretty dang good. It was at Compadres, a place I got to experience before with a group of my friends. It's got a great view of the Napa River, so it makes for a nice backdrop. After getting home after lunch, I was so dead I had to take a nap, as did Robbie.

But we got up in time to have dinner at a family Robbie basically grew up with. We had an awesome dinner (that I was so full I didn't even get to finish eating) and awesome dessert. And I found out they live in my ward, so I now know another couple in my ward. It was great.

Then we went out and about to Napa. They wanted to see the grave of Lilburn Boggs, the former governor of Missouri who signed the Extermination Order that authourized Missourians to remove the Mormons any way possible, including killing us. They wanted to .... uh, pay their respects, we'll just say. We then drove to Watson Lane in American Canyon and drove somewhat fast over the railroad tracks, enough to get some air. That was out of respect for Robbie's dad, who used to do a bunch of crazy stuff there and wrecked a few cars (not by doing what we were doing, but by being a lot crazier, evidently). It was crazy. We tried to do it going back, but it didn't work as well.


And finally that night we drove around until we found the train bridge. We had a little excurision and got to see the bridge up close and personal. I can't quite say what we did, but we did get plenty of good views of the bridge. I have to give a big thanks to Robbie and his friends for helping me to be able to get the good views I got.




Here's a picture from back in the day when the bridge was actually used as a train bridge.

After getting home and going to sleep, we all went to the singles ward the next day to welcome home another friend from his mission, then they went off to continue their adventures at Dillon Beach and the Redwoods National Park, before heading back to Utah. Actually, Robbie stayed another couple of days, and after Institute Tuesday, we reenacted an old tradition and went to Dennys.

It was a lot of fun, and with some of the adventures mentioned above, I got some bruises and scratches, but it was all worth it. I kept telling anyone who noticed my big bruise that I have an abusive boyfriend.

Thanks Robbie for helping cheer me up. It's great to hang out with friends and have good times. And to reawaken me to realizing how great it is to live here, and how much there is to do within a few hours of my house.

A 'Wicked'ly Awesome 4th of July

My mom and dad came up this weekend for my mom to check out my place and to help me clean the condo, and my dad to help me fix up both the house and condo. Mom and I have been wanting to see Wicked for awhile, so I looked up and got some good tickets (Orchestra, Row R, seat 115), so off we went. Rather than facing potentially bad 4th of July traffic, we took BART in and got off at the station right below the Orpheum Theater.


Taking the BART to see Wicked!

Wow, what a great show! I really enjoyed it, and my Mom did too. So let's see, I've now seen Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Lion King, Jersey Boys, A Chorus Line, and Wicked. I've liked all the ones I've seen (well, A Chorus Line only because someone paid for me), and would definitely love to see it again. I'd put Wicked up there with The Lion King and Les Miserables. Ones I will definitely see again in the future (or have already seen a ton - such as with The Lion King). It's such a great experience seeing these great shows with friends and loved ones. I've now see most of those shows with my mom, and it's great. Now, you're not supposed to take pictures inside the theater, so I can't tell you how I came across the photo below. But it's so cool, I had to show you! Oh, and Patty Duke was in it, as Madame Morrible!

Definitely a great way to spend the 4th of July. By the time we got home and got some new window coverings at JC Penney, we were tired and didn't go anywhere for fireworks. Instead, we watched the numerous shows playing them on TV (Boston, D.C., and New York). It was a fantabulous day!