Prost!

This weekends adventure led us to San Francisco's version of Oktoberfest, the Oktoberfest by the Bay. We went on Friday night, which according to some other people I talked to was much quieter than the rest of the weekend. There were long tables in authentic Oktoberfest style, and The Spaten Oktoberfest beer was flowing freely. We also enjoyed some German Potato pancakes a delicious bratwurst with lots of kraut, a weiner shnitzel sandwich, some german chocolate cake, and some apple strudel. Its fair to say that this trip, and last weeks sausage and suds festival have not been diet friendly. We were responsible citizens and didn't drive all the way out there and proceeded to get ourselves stuck there when we couldn't find a cab in time to catch the last BART train back to the east bay (12:30 a.m.). We wandered around a bit and tried to call a cab but came up painfully short. Facing a night stuck in the city, Wendy's friend Dave (the same Dave from our Bangkok trip) picked us up and deposited us safely back in San Leandro. Needless to say we owe him big! Saturday brought us another win for both Auburn and USF, and to make matters more interesting losses for LSU and Cal. All of the Cal grads I work with had such sad little faces today. Auburn travels to LSU this week, and we'll be hoping for more than 9 points out of the offense, and an even more impressive performance out of the defense. USF has a tough Rutgers team on their hands Thursday night, so I'll be desperately trying to get out of the office at a reasonable hour so I can see the game.

Guardian Angel Frog

Guardian Angel Frog
Originally uploaded by jrherron.

This weekend W and I had a rare weekend of little work where we actually got to hang out. Saturday I got up early in the morning and rushed over to Ricky's to watch the Auburn game with the rest of the Northern California Auburn Alumni. They always have a good crowd, and I enjoyed a delicious waffle for breakfast during the first quarter. W and I then went for lunch and we snuck in a quick trip to costco and then tried to empty out the DVR some. I even got to sit and watch the UF/LSU game, making myself a temporary gator fan for the day. For the record that never works out for me. Everytime I root for those jerks they let me down. On Sunday I worked a quick shift at the BRO and W put in a few hours at work too, and then we went to the San Leandro Sausage and Suds festival. It was actually a lot of fun, with beers from our favorite pub, and we ate some delicious barbeque. Horrible for the diet, but a great way to spend an early fall afternoon. I have hidden my camera bag from myself, so I didn't actually bring a camera with me so I'm giving you this as a consolation picture:
Sometimes when we leave the porch lights on, we get a visit from this friendly frog who snaps up bugs and watches over the front door. Frogs have a special place in my house, so this one is always welcome.

Pennsylvania Hills

Pennsylvania Hills
Originally uploaded by jrherron.

I've been meaning to post for 3 weeks straight, so we definitely have some catching up to do here. Things were a little slow at the office, and we knew the madness of a quarter close and a financial forecast so a group of us went to San Francisco to eat at House of Prime Rib. It was fabulously good food in a really great atmosphere. I can't afford to eat there everyday, but next time I have some money burning a hole in my pocket or need to celebrate something it will definitely be at the top of my list. Last weekend was my good friend Adam's wedding. I met Adam while at USF, and we spent a lot of late nights working on group projects, and even more later nights at Applebees and the Copper Top in Temple Terrace. It was a fun wedding and required a cross country trip to Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. Last Thursday I worked until 9:00 p.m., went home to finish packing and slept for a couple of ours before leaving for the airport at 4:00 a.m. We flew first class, where the featured coctail for the flight was bellinis. After 4 of them and a tasty quiche for breakfast I slept for the rest of the flight. From JFK we rented a Pontiac G6 that we really enjoyed that included the Hertz Neverlost system. It came in real handy since we had to move through 3 states in a short amount of time. We found a nice little restaurant called Haystacks that served addiction forming potato pancakes. Adam + Heather's wedding was a very nice little catholic ceremony and the reception was at the golf club pictured here. After the reception they had rented out the hotel bar so we huddled around a tv to watch the 4th quarter of the Auburn/Florida Game. Adam's a UF grad, and a lot of his fraternity brothers were there. They made the saddest little faces as both of Wes Byrum's kicks went through the uprights to win the game. We couldn't get on any flights offered by W's employer, but fortunately for us she gets a discount on Jetblue also, and there coach seats are nice and roomy and offer your own direct tv screen in every seat. I watched the simpsons and Family Guy, and then watched the sunday night football game. It wasn't first class, but it could have been a lot worse