July 4- Independence Day

Day two in California: Directly above is my official picture of the day, but I took about three hundred photos today and it would be a shame if all but one went unshared. So in addition to picture of the day, I'm posting my favorite "people" pictures in this entry. This morning my sister and I rose early due to jet lag (is it jet lag if it makes you feel awake?) and went to go get coffee and talk with my uncle Frank. He is actually my great uncle, so he could be my grandfather, and because he lives in California, we've really only seen him a couple of times in our lives. He told us about his son-in-law Lalo, who came to America as an illegal immigrant completely without a knowlege of English and pretty much grabbed the American Dream by the balls. After breakfast we took the Bart (subway) into San Francisco. I am attempting to comprehend the geography and climate of northern California but to no avail. So far all I understand that San Francisco is twenty degrees cooler than everywhere around it, and that it is usually shrouded by a very life-like fog. When we arrived in the city we caught a cable car which was fun and also probably the second most touristy thing to do in San Francisco (Golden Gate Bridge is number one). Then that old Fray song was stuck in my head for approximately an hour.

We also went to Fisherman's Wharf and saw Alcatraz from a distance. We took a cab at the end of the day to return to the train station, and it was definitely the most tumultuous part of my day. The cabbie could have released the accelerator maybe three times. He wove through crowds of pedestrians and passed cars who were in the act of passing other cars. Because the hills of San Francisco meet the horizontal ground at a near-ninety degree angle, the cab ride bore strong resemblence to a mild yet still exciting rollar coaster. Man, and I thought Abby Sushchyk's driving was thrilling. This was a rush! Bring on the near-death experiences! Also, bring on the Ben & Jerry's. There are signs for it anywhere.

Hooray for having a fourth of July in which the only patriotism I encountered all day was two guys screaming out of the sun roof of their car, while speeding down a busy street, "GO TEAM! AMERICA IS THE BEST COUNTRY!" and frantically waving little cloth flags.

It's too bad I abolished song of the day yesterday, because "Turn Into Something" by Animal Collective has been in my head nonstop since I woke up this morning, save for that difficult hour of The Fray.