California Dreamin'

A busy, whirlwind trip to California has left me a bit "lagged" and kinda foggy . . . but with great memories of 4 fun days with Erin.

As you may remember, Erin is doing a summer internship with LinkedIn -- and that's what brought me to the Silicon Valley. . . LinkedIn Intern Day last Friday.

It was really fun to spend a day on the LinkedIn campus, learning about the company, meeting Erin's "team," and being totally WOWed everywhere I looked.  (What you hear about tech companies?  Pretty much all true.  It's like a wonderland . . . )  Probably what I liked best, though, was the Intern Fair -- where each intern presented their summer work to the rest of the company.

The LinkedIn interns work on "real," meaty projects during their tenure.  They work very hard!  Erin works in the engineering department -- doing internal software documentation.  I think my favorite part of the day was watching Erin explain her project to engineers.

This internship has been a great experience for Erin -- she's learned a lot, lived independently in a new place far from home, and set herself up for future success.  (Even though she misses Keith and her kitty terribly, and whines about her roommates incessantly.)  It was great to be able to see Erin "in action."  Burst-your-buttons-Mom-pride is still a Thing . . . even when your kid is a grown-up 28!

After the Intern Fair, I stuck around for the weekend so Erin and I could spend some time together and take a couple of day trips.

First, we took the train in to San Francisco and spent a day sight-seeing.  (I've been to San Francisco many times, but Erin had never visited.)

In true San Francisco style, what started out like this . . . 

ended up like this!

We had a great time on Fisherman's Wharf, eating sundaes at the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory and sourdough bread at Boudins, sipping Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista, and taking a whirlwind tour of the city from the top of an open-air bus.  It was a really fun day . . . plus THIS just never fails to thrill.

The next day, we decided to drive down the coast a bit on famous Highway One to visit some California beaches.  We stopped in Santa Cruz for brunch (so many surfers!), and then headed further south to Monterey.

(And, no.  We didn't have time to visit the aquarium.  We'll save that one for next time!)

Erin loves beaches.  (Loves.)  So she made the most of our brief time in Monterey.

We really had a great time together, and I'm so glad to have had this chance to go out for a quick visit.  (The only thing we didn't do that we had hoped to do . . . was shop for jewelry for her to wear for her upcoming wedding.  Oh, well.  There's still time . . . )

This week, you can be sure I'll be humming California Dreamin' all the time!