Road trip! - September part 4

Sourdough waffles!

Our first stop on the way to Texas was San Francisco. We had a pretty long day in the car and ended up in a hotel right on the waterfront. Our typical day of sightseeing someplace we’re interested in usually consists of bookin’ it from one place to another so we’re sure we do everything we want to do. This time was a totally different experience. We just wandered all day long. We started with sourdough waffles at Boudin’s on the pier and slowly made our way through the city to Chinatown. 
 
Ah, Chinatown, how your buckets of strange dried things and random weird smells took us back to our dear sweet China! We found some really wonderful things that made us smile, like some essential Chinese cooking utensils, our favorite sunflower seeds that we never traveled without, and the BEST instant noodle soup on the planet. We picked up some wicked awesome steamed bbq pork buns on our way out  and then indulged in a dark chocolate Ghirardelli ice cream sundae before we loaded up for another long day in the car to Las Vegas.

Tired girl - that Ghirardelli sundae did her in! Gotta hang on to that spoon in case there's more ice cream to eat when she wakes up!

Aunt Wendy is always so much fun!

Scout enjoying some tickles and TV.

 In Vegas we got to stay with my aunt Wendy and her family. We got tickets to see La Reve, which was awesome, and then got tapas at Wendy and Phil’s favorite place -

Josh and Macaiah.

Firefly. Bacon-wrapped figs stuffed with almonds and drizzled with a red wine reduction and blue cheese crumbles? Yes, please! Yowza. We visited a Greek festival for some lovely baklava and other assorted delights, and enjoyed some of Phil’s famous carne asada. 
 
 

Mario's gramdparents.

From Vegas we made the short hop to Mesa, Arizona to visit Mario’s grandparents. We had a great visit with Lois and Bob, and had the chance to visit some other friends from law school nearby, the Lloyds.

The Lloyds!

We had almost weekly playdates with the Lloyds in Boston, and had a great time catching up.

Santa Fe

Waiting for bbq in Santa Fe.

From Mesa we traveled to Albuquerque to stay with Scott and Anita, my brother and sister-in-law. We planned on staying one night and ended up staying three. We also made a short day trip to nearby Santa Fe. 


They are amazing cooks and made us some delicious Korean bbq.

 




And then we were back to Texas, which was almost just as hot and humid as when we left last August. Home sweet home!