Thanksgiving Travel Adventure, Part 2

[bloodyrosemccoy]

My siblings' apartment is a nice setup , with an open kitchen/living area and an airy hallway. They've been gathering furniture for it, and it's getting pretty comfy. The one strange thing, though, was the drifted piles of plasticky and papery and feathery little ditzels and greebles in odd corners.

MY SISTER: Oh, those. Yeah, just be glad there aren't any Starbursts or grapes. All will become clear in time. Anyway, here's the air mattress. Tomorrow we'll go pick up Harley.

Meeting the Kitty

It's been a while since I've had a tiny kitty around. My cat is old and tired, and outdoorsy, able to gallivant around outside if she's bored. I'd been assured by my siblings that little Harley* is in no way an old lady cat. And when we went to pick her up from the friend's house where she was staying, I quickly saw it for myself.

FRIEND: It was great to have Harley back with the other cats! Back when we were fostering her, before you adopted her, the other cats were a little annoyed with her. She's settled down a lot since then!
HARLEY: *streaks by chasing one of the other cats*
MY BROTHER: Thanks again for taking her in again. And for dinner! You guys are great.
HARLEY: LOOKIT ME EVERYONE! THE FLOOR IS LAVA!
FRIEND: No problem! We love you guys! And it's nice to see your sister again.
ME: I am glad to see you, as well!
HARLEY: HI, NEW PERSON! WANNA SEE MY STICK? HERE IT IS! MAKE IT GO! MAKE IT GO!
FRIEND: Indeed! Let's enjoy some dinner!
HARLEY: *zooms by again* MEEP MEEP!

She didn't even slow down after we'd left their excellent dinner and went home. The moment we arrived at the apartment, she launched herself into the nearest pile of the debris drifted in the corners of the house. The ditzels and thingies were her toys. And by god, she liked them. She selected one and brought it to me.

ME: Well, hey, little buddy!
HARLEY: Look! This is my favorite toy! That plastic seal-and-ring thing that seals an orange juice carton! It is the best thing ever! MAKE IT GO!
ME: ... Uh, okay. *toss*
HARLEY: VIEW HALLOO AND TALLY HO! *charges off*

First cat I've ever met who plays fetch.

I also discovered that Harley--who accepted me into the fold as another family member (she doesn't do that with all visitors)--likes to sleep next to your head. Which would be great, except that she is a BOUNCY little bugger. She runs up and down your body, pokes her head up against yours, futzes with her toys, and loudly cleans herself, all next to your ear. And when she finally settles down and you think maybe finally you'll be able to rest, she cracks off the most astonishingly nasty little closely-contained farts. It's hard not to giggle, though.

My brother points out that as an indoor cat, Harley has less stimulation than our own indoor-outdoor cat, which is why she's so eager to play all the damn time. And they work hard to make it up to her. My sister particularly likes to do what she calls "enrichment," but which pretty much boils down to Messin' With The Cat. Hiding treats in boxes and egg cartons, buying her cat towers, putting her in boxes, that sort of thing. Harley puts a lot more effort into it than my cat ever would, too--and yeeks about all her discoveries like a little Fuzzy. It's pretty goddamn funny.

ANYWAY! There was more to the weekend than Messin' With The Kitty. I got to check out the bookstore where my sister works! It's an excellent little spot in downtown Pleasanton. I realized while there that one of the drawbacks of having left the library was that I no longer effortlessly keep up with books that are just coming out. It made me a bit jealous.

MY SISTER: No worries! I'll send you all the good stuff I come across!
ME: SHH! I'm trying to write down several interesting book titles I just saw on this shelf!

I'd have liked to stay there longer, just to hang out but it was, y'know, Thanksgiving weekend, and chaos reigned. Books were flying everywhere; old ladies fretted whenever we made even a cursory move toward the space in front of them in line; cash registers were registering cash. So my brother and I left her to her Black Friday rush and decided to do some sightseeing.

MY BROTHER: Well! Shall we go into San Francisco? There are sights to be seen! There's Fisherman's Wharf ...
ME: Smells of fish.
MY BROTHER: ... Alcatraz ...
ME: Depressing.
MY BROTHER: ... the absolute hole-in-the-wall Cartoon Art Museum?
ME: SOLD!

We had a hot chocolate at a Ghirardelli bar, but that's not a substantial dinner.

MY BROTHER: As long as it's just you and me, let's go to the Blue Agave for dinner! Our sister does not like it so much.
ME: I am pleased that you guys are so excited to show me around your town.
MY BROTHER: Actually, I am mostly doing this because they have this seasonal stuffed pepper dish and dammit I am craving it.
ME: I'm for it!

We worried that my sister would also be unavailable for the trip to the Academy of Science's museum, but her boss, who is apparently a pretty great lady, decided that this wasn't fair and let her have the day off work to join us. We spent the day frolicking around the museum, taking photos of frogs and plants and things. We saw Frozen together. And, finally, it was time for me to go.

MY BROTHER: Well, have a good time figuring out the trains!
ME: Yeah! No problem! I have these trains down TOTALLY pat.
an hour later
MICHELLE THE CONDUCTOR: You know you're going to San José, right?
ME: Actually, no. Do tell.

But Michelle the Conductor was pretty awesome, and got me set up on the right track (and as I went along I realized just how dang much train idioms still exist in vocabulary). I just had to catch the Sacramento train the next day, which meant staying an extra night there with Gram.

ME: I appreciate you letting me stay here.
GRAM: THIS WILL BE SO MUCH FUN I'LL MAKE YOU DINNER AND WE CAN SIT AND TALK AND DO THREAD THINGS WHEE!
ME: I see you are cool with this.

I got on the train the next morning and cruised from the nice, balmy California weather** into the Sierras and watched everything turn from autumn to winter. I got home at 3 a.m., and that was the end of my adventure.

But I wasn't the only one who had an adventure! While I had a good time, Mini Addy was having her own adventures. Maybe those will show up next!


*Harley Dent is her full name--in honor both of the way her face splits down the middle, and of the way the split is red and black and switches sides at her ears like Harley Quinn's hood.

**"IT IS SO COLD" all the Californians said, shivering in their sweatshirts in 50° weather. "IT IS LIKE SNOW WEATHER!"

Comments

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

I bet Harley would become best friends with Calliope. She is a very small brown tabby with a dose of Egyptian Mau, slightly over a year old and still acting giant kitten with massive energies. Luna and Jupiter are still not sure what to do with her, but giant Jupiter may be growing to really like her. He brings her toys.

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

That cat sounds adorable (if stinky).

You're really not missing much with not going to Fisherman's Wharf, it's a pretty bog-standard tourist trap area. I've actually never been to Alcatraz which is kind of embarassing. But the Cartoon Art Museum isn't a hole in the wall! It's awesome! I know the curator, he's a cool guy.

Glad you enjoyed my hometown-ish zone!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

It was quite a cool place, yes! But it's easy to miss when walking by--it looked like a hole in the wall until I got inside. But yeah, it's got some great art!

I've been to Fisherman's Wharf before once or twice. Mostly I remember it being a Nice Family Outing. (Also, I was born in San Francisco, but since we moved when I was three months old it barely counts.)

I'll have to come back around and visit you next time I'm in your area!

[broken-moons.livejournal.com]

Our cat plays fetch, too. :D And plastic seal-and-ring things that seal an orange juice carton are the best thing ever, indeed. We've got a basket full of official cat toys that he never plays with, except the little foam balls and one of the mice, but any time we open a fresh loaf of bread, or we get a package that has cable ties, or any closure made of plastic, really, he demands the closures as his new favouritest toy.

Your siblings sound like awesome people. Looks like you had fun on your trip! :)

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Charlie was a fan of the little strips of plastic on milk jugs, but not for long. Harley has STAMINA.

My siblings ARE awesome people! We had a second round when they came to visit for Xmas. Sadly, no Harley, but we had a fine old time!

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

Kitten farts are the worst thing. Our previous cat (the current cat is a Secondhand Cat and we did not witness her kittenhood) would climb up into your lap, get all comfortable and happy and turn into a buzzing sprawl of adorable fur and get all relaxed ... and then fart the foulest farts. She was always confused as to why this resulted in no lap shortly afterwards half the time. To be fair, it wasn't really her fault, but my GOD, the SMELL.

Being a Minnesotan native transplanted to California was fun in winter. 50° is t-shirt weather by my standards, at most light hoodie, but the natives would stare incredulously. "Aren't you cold?"

"No, I'm from Minnesota," I would reply, and they generally responded with a that-explains-everything oooohhhhhhhhh.

[beccastareyes]

One of my mother's cats would fetch hair elastics. And a friend's cat will fetch anything. Both figured out that if they bring the toy back to the humans, the humans will throw it again, and the game won't end.

I visited Florida during a cold snap in December. My dad, stepmother and I are all wearing short sleeves and eating outside (in the sun, since we're Notherners, not insane) while the locals are bundled up and worried about the oranges.

[acrossthelake.livejournal.com]

Eva's cat Vlad is the only other cat I know who plays fetch. He especially likes rubber bands. Additionally, the only thing I know about the Cartoon Art Museum is that Shaenon Garrity used to volunteer there back in her Narbonic days (she may still do, I'm not sure) and she always made it sound like a really good time, so jealous.

[hrhleia.livejournal.com]

My cousin's cat will fetch her little mice if you throw them. Mine is much more dignified, in that she will play with her toys (or especially little things she is not allowed to have), as long as you are not watching her. So while she is determinedly chasing her tail in a box (for example) I can only watch her out of the corner of my eye, never get the camera for a picture, and heaven forbid I laugh. If I do, she will stop, notice me watching her, and then calmly take a bath or wander into another room as if playing had never occurred to her. But she is very good at warming up my bed for me - under the covers if it's cold - usually sleeps next to my legs, and never farts that I notice. She's really pretty perfect! :D But Harley sounds like a lot of fun!

[dinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Shadow plays fetch :p. Well, she used to play fetch reliably when she was younger, now she'll chase her toys and bring them to you sometimes, and she doesn't always connect those two activities together any more. But she'll fetch her mice and her puff (it's...a fuzzy yellow circle) and her feather-on-a-string (her favorite).
She used to get deadly kitten farts too, but that stopped after I changed her food.

[prodigal.livejournal.com]

My kitten loves to zoom all over and release what a friend termed "horse farts of death" also, so I can sympathise.