First, I spent the Fourth of July in Fresno with Kindra and her family, which was super fun. We barbecued steak and had a little pool party at her grandma's house. Then the next day we had BBQ hot dogs. I was in BBQ heaven, I must say. I love spending time in Fresno. Kindra's mom has these really cute dogs that have grown on me, and I get to watch as much "Criminal Minds" as I want. Not to mention spending time with my girl 24/7 (almost). ;-)
On Tuesday evening, we went to Davis and had a few days to act like a non-long distance couple. She would visit me at work, I would go to her house to watch movies, and we went downtown together to eat frozen yogurt. Speaking of movies, while in Davis I finally watched Sabrina, a movie Kindra has been trying to get me to watch all year. It was an excellent movie, well worth the wait. I have developed an appreciation for films starring Audrey Hepburn. The way she talks reminds me of Kindra, but I'm sure the woman in question would beg to differ. ;-)
I am also excited to say we tried Ethiopian food for the first time with my friend Taj. We went to this place in Sacramento called Queen of Sheba. Ethiopian food is very similar to Indian food in the spices it uses, however they use a different flatbread. Indian food uses naan or chapati, whereas Ethiopian food uses injera, which is of a spongier consistency. I would describe it as a spongy vegan sourdough bread. It's delicious, and functional, as you eat the food entirely with your hands, using the injera to scoop it up. I also tried tej, an Ethiopian honey wine. I'm glad Kindra agreed to go with me, too. :-) She is a saint for indulging/supporting my weird impulses.
On Friday we left Davis and headed towards Menlo Park to spend the weekend with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. On Saturday we went down to Mount Hermon to pick up my brother from the camp he is working at this summer and spend a day at the beach in Santa Cruz. This ended up being a bit of an adventure. We took the main road to the camp, hoping to pick Aaron up and then take the road the rest of the way to Santa Cruz, pick up our pizza, and then go to the beach. Unfortunately, there was a accident that blocked traffic going towards the camp, and so we had to follow a crazy backroute that my brother laid out for me. It involved a lot of sharp turns and one-way roads. To top it all off my car lost traction going into the dirt driveway to pick him up. It was probably more than my poor Buick ever expected to endure in its life. Anyways it was great to see Aaron, and once we said our hellos we took the freeway to Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, there is a short merge from highway 1 onto 17, and a car that was trying to accomplish this merged right next to us in the lane. I moved over, but the driver was steamed and drove right behind me, honking loudly. He tailed me into down, even changing lanes with me, and I was seriously starting to freak out. I had my girlfriend and my brother in the car with me, and who knows what he was trying to do... Thankfully, I lost him, and even more of a miracle, I found a place to park. Then I was able to enjoy the rest of the day at the beach. It was a great time to catch up with Aaron, relax with Kindra, and listen to the soothing sound of the waves.
Once we dropped Aaron off, Kindra and I had dinner at The Crow's Nest. We both had the seafood fettuccine, which was delicious, and shared a glass of Pinot Grigio, also delicious.
After dinner we took a walk out to a lighthouse on the bulwark near the restaurant and watched an impromptu fireworks.
Might have been the perfect week.
