San Francisco is the closest I’ve been to my sister since I left Los Angeles five years ago. So as soon as I learned of my trip I started thinking of possibly paying my sister and her family a visit, especially since I’ve never met my niece Emma who will be two years old soon.

And so it happened that last weekend, on the two days we had free from our work abroad, I drove down 360miles (600km) to say hello to my sister and David, and finally meet Emma. A trip, I might to add, would not be possible had it not been for my buddy James who basically gave me his Mini Cooper no questions asked. Thanks again James, you’ve made a lot of people very happy!

It’s been a while since I drove alone in a car for six hours straight, and the Mini S is one sport tuned machine; turbo charged, 6 speed transmission, with sport tuned suspension that rode just on the border of “that’s awesome” and “ohh that hurt”. I got to my sister’s apartment around 9pm, just in time to wave Emma goodbye before sleep and catch the last of carne asada tacos my sister had for dinner that day!

Saturday was all family time. We had mimosas for breakfast at WayPoint Cafe, a cool little restaurant located just meters away from the airstrip of the Camarillo airport. Actually, one variant for getting to Camarillo presented by James was to fly on James’ small plane, but because of President’s Obama’s visit to California on Friday the airspace all over the state was shut down, so no flying anywhere that day. And sidetracking even more, as I was walking in San Francisco on Friday I did see a whole lot of police activity near the San Francisco Hilton. Guess who was staying there that night?

Mimosa’s with chorizo and eggs for breakfast, beach cruisin’ with Kasia, Emma, and David afterwards, then sushi for dinner, capping off the day with beers and Nintendo Wii Sports. Simply said, a quality family day. We had breakfast at home on Sunday, and I drove back up to return the Mini and get back to my San Fran apartment.

But wait, what about Emma? Ahh yes, Emma’s great. It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a happy and smart kid. I must admit that I’m not much of a kid person, but Emma just melts my heart. Even though I did some 700 miles this weekend, Emma was well worth the trip. Kasia and David, too, of course 🙂 Can’t wait to see them again this September when Ania and I travel back to Cali for vacation.

Here’s a quick video of my trip and a few photos below.