We got to Madi and Koji's and stayed in their second bedroom. We had not seen them since the reunion in July, so it was very nice to see them again. Somehow we didn't seem to take any good pictures with them. Sometimes we suck at this.
The noise coming from the little belt pulley wheel on the car was becoming louder again, so we decided to have it taken care of while we were in San Jose. We had ordered the part from a McDonalds as we were leaving Tahoe so it would be there when we arrived. Despite being notified by phone it had actually arrived, they couldn't find it when we arrived. After some round and round it was sitting on a shelf, right where it was supposed to be. They were very apologetic and got started on the car.
That afternoon they texted us that it was going to be done in an hour, but then another, and then another. I finally went in an hour before close, and they wanted to walk over and take a look at the engine bay. They were curious if it had any "pre-existing conditions". Not that I was aware of, other than the oil drips and leaks common for a 25 year old car. It had just been driven about a thousand miles from Phoenix with no issues but that occasional squeak from the pulley.
Apparently the bolt for the pulley was bent a little, and in applying some muscle to it the tech had placed his other palm on the radiator, specifically a little plastic tube coming out of it. It had fractured the tube at the base, and they had clearly been trying to fix the leak all afternoon. As fate would have it, the radiator was one of the very few things I had replaced at the Toyota dealership in Mesa, with a Toyota part, with that recorded in their online records, although it had been several years ago. They agreed to replace it, albeit with an aftermarket model, free of charge. It would be ready in the morning, and of course came with a fluid flush. Certainly worth a little irritation.
For Saturday Madi had made reservations to visit Muir Woods on the north side of the Golden Gate bridge.
We made some zigs and zags, missing a turn, but finally picked up one of the very last parking spaces, much to the irritation of the line of cars behind us. It was crowded because it's a pretty small space and it was a beautiful day.
The trees here can be 380 feet tall, 75 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, and average 6-800 years old, up to 1200 years old. It's hard to imagine a little sapling here doing its thing during the middle ages, and still alive today.
It was beautiful in so many ways. In the middle of all that beauty and people happy to be there was Grumpy the park ranger, seen directly below.
This is one of the few places we took a lot of pictures, so a sampling follows. It's better than the pictures convey. Go sometime (but make a reservation so you can park).
We went to Miller's East Coast Delicatessen. Amazing delis like this are one of the top reasons for living in a big city. Then we went back to their apartment in SJ for one last night.
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