Day 25: Santa Cruz to Oakland

It's annoying when you're supposed to have a live telephone interview at 11 AM and it's the only reason you've stayed in Santa Cruz another night, and then the station calls at 5 past 11 to say that the interviewer needs to reschedule and he'll be off the air in an hour, can he call you then? No, I'm sorry, we'll be gone by then, I say. I give the woman Lisa and Christopher's number in Oakland where we'll be the next three nights. I have this feeling I'm never going to hear from them.

So we check out of the Chaminade at last, three tan, polo-shirted young men bowing all over their golf-cart selves to open the doors for us. When the woman at the desk skeptically asks me for my credit card to pay for this ostentatious monstrosity of a stay here, I tell her it's all corporate, and no, I don't even want to look at the bill. And then we're OUT of there!

We stop at Java House on the way out for more Chai and a little lunch, and I again remember what I adored about the place: the outdoor gardens, the high ceilings, soft music, such a peaceful feeling place. (See "Mailing Incorrectly" in the U of I edition of "Out of the Girls' Room" for full description of coffeehouse.) Then we hit highway 17 up to Oakland to Lisa and Christopher's beautiful new house. I do a quick photo shoot with a woman named Susan for the Detroit Free Press article and it is surprisingly painless for a photo shoot. She's got a digital camera, so I can actually see the shots and they're not that bad, although Susan keeps telling me I look about sixteen. It's true. I do. I'm making peace with that.

Christopher's friends Chris and Eric arrive in early evening (yes, we're now a house of three Christophers). Lisa makes chili and we eat at the dining room table, alternating place settings, a Chris, a non-Chris, a Chris, a non-Chris. Lisa's chili is fantastic. We eat ourselves into lovely comas. Then suddenly we are inspired to play games and we pile into cars to go to Toys R Us, where we debate eternally among Cranium, Beyond Balderdash and Trivial Pursuit Genus 5. We go safe with Trivial Pursuit. Lisa's Christopher and Eric are a team and beat the pants off us. When in doubt, the answer is The Sultan of Brunei.