This morning we woke up happy to be sleeping indoors on carpet, but sad we had to get up at all. By the time we got out the door in search of wireless internet, we were starting to get nervous about the time. We prepared a quick breakfast on the roof of the car-- a single hard boiled egg each and 2 rice cakes and peanut butter (yes again). We managed to find UCSF without too much difficulty, except for the rogue road construction worker who yelled at us because he was in the middle of the road and we thought he was directing traffic and really confused us. We have New York plates on our car, what do you expect? We did manage to get to UCSF on time (barely) and met with the internship director, who was nice, if a bit distracted. Afterwards, we stopped at the bathroom and then walked to Starbucks on campus to get some work done. Sabrina was waiting in line when she realized she had set down her work notebook somewhere. Panicked, she hurried back to the bathroom at the hospital, 2 blocks away, but it was no longer there. After a frustrating 10 minutes waiting to ask the security office if they had seen it, she realized it was gone for good. Since it has basically everything she needs to do her job in it, it was rather devastating to lose. We went and sat in the meditation room at the hospital (yes they have one) to gather strength (i.e. stop crying) before Sabrina called her boss to tell her what happened. Kathy was of course lovely and understanding, so we were able to put it behind us and move on to the next catastrophe. Which was finding a health food store, but now we didn't have a map because the map was in Sabrina's binder. All we could do was laugh because it was a repeat of our Vancouver experience (see post 2).
We hadn't eaten since our sad breakfast and were delirious with hunger. We gathered directions from 2 sources to find our store--Rainbow Grocery. We got on the road and with much circling and "where do I go" from Laura, we managed to find it. It probably took us 45 minutes or more to find the place...a bit ridiculous. We entered, weary from the road, hungry and dressed in our professional clothes. When we entered, we immediately began to feel better. This place was AMAZING! Ok, so it didn't have any meat, but there were so many other treasures that we didn't feel deprived. The bulk section alone would be something that Bastyrians only dream about. They had Natto for God's sake! Oh and the spice section, spectacular. Seven different kinds of olive oil, any kind of bean or tea you could imagine. It was a feast for the senses.
Going to a store while hungry is never a good idea, but by this time it was 3pm and we hadn't eaten since our meager breakfast around 10, so we were starving. At the time, things like gluten-free noodles and spring rolls sounded delicious. We also got gluten-free cookies, apples and some seaweed rice chips to try. When we got back to the car, we realized that noodles and spring rolls were ridiculous foods to try eating in a moving car. The spring rolls had sauce which we both managed to spill on our skirts. We were laughing hysterically as Sabrina tried to feed Laura noodles while she drove. Not our best idea. We also found ourselves on the freeway during San Francisco rush hour which was no fun at all. It took close to two hours to finally get out of the traffic and relax again.
Despite our late start, we drove all the way to San Luis Obisbo and were unwilling to put up a tent in the dark, so we are staying in a Econolodge (now called "America's Best Value" or something ridiculous). We first stopped at a Super 8 where the man laughed at us when we told him we wanted a hotel room for less than $60 a night, but who's laughing now? Bargain price of $55 and well worth it. After a lovely sushi and miso dinner we are drinking wine and watching What Not to Wear on TLC-- and are glad to be warm, not have to walk far for the bathroom and to be out of the car.
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