Blogstipated

 

Day Twenty two: all day in the East Bay

Today we have to do chores. We are wearing weird-ass outfits because all of our other clothes are dirty. R. Girl needs some serious attention in the form of an oil change and a bath. There's a ton of online banking to be done. And, as ya'll know and have let us know, we need to post some blogs.

Katie and Sparkle

The thing is, we're blogstipated. All of the entries are written, the photos are on standby and it's all waiting to be posted like a line of impatient off schedule airplanes at JFK. Several factors must align in order to get a blog out. We have to have internet access, either electricity or a full battery, Mariposa has to be agreeable and we have to have the time and energy to make it all happen. In many cases, these favorable factors must be devoted to looking at weather and lodging in the coming days (crucial shit).

When the blogs finally do flow, I'm sure I don't need to point you in the direction of the proper metaphor for you to understand the feeling of relief.

Aunt Mary's

Now that that's out of the way...we had a lovely day in Oakland/ Berkeley. We started the day at Aunt Mary's, a groovy “southern” place where the waitresses are rocking a cool retro look with bright red lips, cat eye glasses, little sweaters and aprons. It seems that the Pirate and I are bar/counter sitters. We like to sit next to each other since we usually share food, and we like to spy on the cooking. We have the “southern bubble and squeak” with a side of their house made sausage. Dang, this is some good southern-by-way-of-northern-california stuff. We have a big pile of cooked greens, crispy potato cakes topped with 2 eggs over easy and some “pot likker” (that's them being southern I guess) gravy that rivaled anything we've had back home. The sausage is “holy crap spicy” according to the Pirate, and is fantastic when slopped around in that gravy. After we licked the plate, we had a piece of cold buttermilk pie. If I lived in the East Bay, I would wear this place out.

Off to do laundry now that our bellies are full and our nerves are quaking with coffee. It's within walking distance, so we get to poke in to a few shops and get a feel for the neighborhood. I like it. It's both funky and quaint, a little like a college town and a little like a city.

The rest of the day is devoted to getting our chores done. The Girl gets some fresh oil, the clothes are folded and re-packed, some blogs are finally posted. In the evening we ride around Berkeley and get to see the snooze-y night life. We have some run-of-the-mill pizza and then head back to our cozy trailer. Mariposa is nice enough to let us watch a TV show, a perfect cap on a day of domesticity.