Now that we are settled into our hotel in Fresno I thought I'd make a post from the road. We have had a fantastic time so far!
Friday, we landed in San Jose about 20 minutes earlier than scheduled, but spent nearly an hour trying to get out to the rental car pick-up. San Jose Airport has always been bad, but now it's completely unbearable. They run one shuttle bus every 20-30 minutes and they are so packed only about half the people waiting can get on at any one time. After we got the car settled we headed over to Sean and Amy's. The weather was beautiful and we spent the afternoon drinking beer and mojitos while watching DVDs and catching up. Sean took the kids out front to play in the sprinklers, then BBQ'd us some steaks. They provided us with a very relaxing afternoon which was much needed after the 8 hour of travelling.
Saturday; we headed for my Dad's in Denair. It rained on and off on the drive there. Brie was thrilled to be able to get a Starbucks. That's one of the things we do not have in rural Virginia. My sister and nieces arrived later that evening and we spent the day walking around his gorgeous gardens and went out io the orchards and picked some peaches. I made peach cobbler for dessert
Sunday; was the real treat. I had asked my dad to invite some family over since I have only seen a few of them once since our wedding. Everyone turned up including some cousins. It was great to see everyone. None of them had ever seen Maddy and I got to meet my new 2nd cousins.
Monday; I took Brie and the kids into Modesto to see my childhood home and schools. We drove by Cindi's parents house (which was a new color!) and then out to the mall (which has been completely remodeled). I was very edgey the whole trip. I do not feel at home there anymore and I was not happy at how poorly our old house has been treated. Overall Modesto has really gone downhill, I could never live there again.
Tuesday; was a day of rest just hanging out at the ranch and my dad treated us to hometown buffet. Then we watched the sunset.
Today we have arrived in Fresno and after a quick bite at The Elephant Bar we are settled into the hotel and awaiting a call from Brie's mom so we can meet back up with them.
I have been taking lots of pictures, but I forgot my USB cable so I won't be able to upload them until I get back home.
Posted by John at August 06, 2003 08:28 PMi grew up in modesto, and i have two words:
LEAVE NOW!!!!
Posted by: blurrygrrl on March 7, 2004 05:44 PMI admit I see Modesto like an abusive parent, I was so glad to grow up and get away from it. When I visit I hope to see some changes for the positive, but it only seemed worse. Fresno, on the other hand, has really grown into a great city. Perhaps because unlike Modesto it is not filled with the overflow population of Silicon Valley. I could see living here.
Posted by: John on August 9, 2003 01:13 PMI guess when you live in a town with only two stoplights (both of which are completely unnecessary) you tend to think of towns like Modesto as not so bad. Besides, I grew up in Modesto, quite happily, and it will always be home to me. I would have no problem living there again. And I wouldn't have to be drunk to do it.
Posted by: cindi on August 7, 2003 09:35 PMI disagree too! I could totally live in Modesto.
...if I were a raging alcoholic so I could block out mind numbingly boring the town is...or if I wanted to have a bunch of kids, to run my farm!
No, it's a quiet town. To visit. ok... enough sarcasm...i'm killing me.
yes...my parents had siding put on the house a couple of years ago. Trying to keep up with painting that big of a house get to be too much. And I disagree with you about Modesto. When I was there in April I thought it had improved since I left. The downtown area has really been revitalized by the movie theatre complex and it was a pretty happenin' place to be on a Saturday night. I would live there again but only if I could buy a place out near Oakdale or Waterford. At least they have more than one Starbucks now!
Posted by: cindi on August 7, 2003 08:55 AM