Saturday afternoon I fetched Jeanne from the BART station and brought her to Chez 21stCenturyMom where I discovered that we are really the same person! I’m not kidding. Look – you can see for yourself.

Okay so I’m a little shorter but other than that we are undeniably cut from the same cloth. She not only didn’t mind that my house is riddled with half completed projects, she didn’t even notice! She may even think that’s the way to go. I’m not sure but by the third time I had pointed one of them out and she responded with , “Huh? what are you talking about?” I decided to drop the subject.

Our visit got off to a bit of slow start due the exigencies of my maternal life which dictated that we sit around tapping our toes while I waited for my son to call for a ride. We had tea and chit chated and I got caught up on her visit to San Francsico and her family history in general.

Finally the kid called and we got to go to the lovely downtown area of my bucolic hamlet. It didn’t take long to establish that we could be in East Stump Hole Indiana and the place would look pretty much the same – Banana Republic, Anne Taylor, Eveyln and Crabtree – you know the drill. We were starving but had no time for a real dinner (due to son’s transportation requirements) so we went to the California Pizza kitchen and had foccacia bread with melted cheese and artichoke dip with chips. We ate the bread and butter that showed up, too. Ummmm…. fat and carbs, fat and carbs. But hey – we had a run to gear up for.

The kid called, we delivered him and then … then… then what? We weren’t starving anymore so no dinner. Instead I took her on a ride in the car to show her where I like to ride my bike. I’m telling you – I really know how to entertain guests! I was gratified at how impressed she was with the hills I tackle so it all worked out for me.

At that point it was time for some delicious California wine or at least that’s what I figured and since I was heading up this West Coast Livin’ Large extravaganza we headed back to my house. For all I know Jeanne was still starving but she didn’t say anything and neither did I. I popped the cork, poured the wine and we decided to watch ‘Walk the Line’ which had arrived that very day from Netflix. I drank a whole glass of wine but Jeanne only managed a few sips. Party animals – Toga! Toga! Toga!

Exhausted from the wild bacchanal we headed for bed. The plan was to get up at 7 and go to the trail to start our run. We did manage to get up but that heading out the door thing took a while. We each had a piece of healthful, whole wheat cinnamon raisin toast, filled our water bottles, stuffed a packet of Gu in our pockets and were off – at about 8:00.

We ran to and fro:

I ran with Jeanne to the 3.5 mile mark and then sent her back to get my car and head to my house. I continued to run to what was supposed to be the 5.5 mile mark but I really needed a potty and I knew one was just up ahead so I sort of overshot the mark by about a mile before I turned around and ran home covering a total of 13.5 miles. I felt good, too. Jeanne felt good. We are GOOD! We did it.(ps- the butt shots are Jeanne’s idea. The one teeny difference between us is that I don’t really get it but I’m going along with the program because I’m a team player).

After showers and the downing of electrolytes we decided to go in to Berkeley. We poked around in fun little shops and looked at shoes some more as well as going on an extensive tour of athletic clothing. Hungry again I decided she needed to try the world’s very tastiest pizza and it was back to fat and carbs. Yum! Note, we did not have hot fudge Sundaes.

Next on the agenda was a trip in to San Francisco – until I discovered that the inside edge of my front tire now exposed because I hadn’t bothered straightening the wheel after parallel parking, was beyond bald. It was down to cloth. Yikes! So I had to treat my out of town guest to a trip to the tire store (Big O because a Big O is always a great thing, right?) instead. I just hoped that we didn’t have a blowout on the freeway on the way home because as dull an entertainer as I am I wasn’t interested in putting my guest into the middle of a scene from an action movie .

With new tires on the car we finally headed in to the Big city only the traffic was horrendous so we got to spend lots more quality time gabbing while we inched our way across the bridge. When we finally got to Pier 39, the biggest tourist trap available, we finally connected with Jeanne’s NOD who was, coincidentally enough, also in California visiting her boyfriend. After meeting up with them Jeanne got a “fruit smoothie” (which looked suspiciously like a chocolate milk shake), I scored a graduation present for my little Pookie (which was why I chose Pier 39 where the jewelry store that had the goods was located) and we all perused the tourist shops.

Sadly enough it was soon time for Jeanne to head back to the airport so I took her to BART (getting her there a little bit late for comfort) and came back home. It was a great visit while it lasted, if not a little understated in terms of the activities. The part that counted was the getting to know each other and that part was unequivocally great.