For Advice on Life Please Consult Your Local Psychic (Miss Cleo)

All night I heard airplanes flying around outside my hotel window. I'm pretty certain they were putting on a flying concert just to interrupt my sleep. At the very least, Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer could have visited me in my dreams for the inconvenience. They didn't.

Mom and I took a tour of the Winchester Mystery House. Mrs. Winchester was nuts. After the untimely death of her husband (2nd President of Winchester Arms) and daughter, Mrs. Winchester consulted the local Boston psychic. This lady told Mrs. Winchester that she was being haunted by the ghosts of men/women who were killed by Winchester firearm products and that the only way to appease the spirits was to build a house and never stop. And, so, Mrs. Winchester did. For 38 years, construction workers were around-the-clock pounding nails and adding rooms to her house of fun. Gullible?

The house reminded me of a place that Willy Wonka would live in. Oompa Loompas would serve as staff and carpenters and Charlie as the favorite family member. It was completely odd and eccentric. It was a labyrinth of rooms and secret passageways to "trick the spirits." Seriously, it would take more than blood hounds to find her trail. There were doors that opened to concrete walls, staircases that led to the ceiling, cupboards with no depth, rooms that had one entrance and three exits. This lady was bizarre. And, her house was way cool. It contained 160 rooms, 10,000 windows, 950 doors, 47 fireplaces, 40 staircases, 13 bathrooms, 3 elevators, 2 basements, and 1 shower. Um, ONE shower? Good luck finding it.

California has the worst Mexican food. THE WORST. Parmigiana is the west coast Mexican cheese. Apparently it isn't just for pasta in fresh-mex land. It was atrocious and from here on out we'll stick to Taco Bell.

Mom and I got completely stressed and tense while driving downtown in San Francisco. There was a trolley driving right next to me and intense hills and crooked streets. Finally, we made it to McCormick and Kuleto at Ghiradelli Square where we met up with an old penpal of mine, Kyle. It was really surreal sitting across the table from a guy I met on a cruise when I was 15 years old and hadn't seen in person since. We were going to continue the evening (minus the adult) after the meal, but mom is scarred of driving in San Francisco alone and I'm scared of driving in San Francisco downtown without her. Plus, we were just plum tuckered out.

We ended our night with a game of travel Mah Jongg and a truffle. Would you believe me if I said I won?

(February 6)