I'm guessing the Nilly and I will leave LA around 10 AM on Thursday and I'm planning to come up the 101 to SF. If memory serves I should be planning on around 8 to 10 hours going that route. I'm also allowing for some stops at nice viewpoints and such. If that is correct then we should be rolling to the Deb's around 8 PM. Does this jive with plans people are making?

Also, Deb, can you give me directions to your place given that I'm coming up the 101?

ND, you bet, but where do you need them from? Hitting the City proper, or what?

Basically I need them from whenever it is that I have to leave the 101 Northbound. SF has the dubious honor of being one of the very few cities in the country where I can get totally turned around direction wise.

OK, then really, your best bet? Is to stay on 101 northbound all the way to, Hillsdale, where you see the Highway 92 sign. Take 92 westbound (NOT EAST!) and take it until you see the freeway onramp marked 280 Northbound.

Take 280 northbound all the way up, staying to the left, and follow the signs for 19th Avenue; that takes you into the City proper, and once you're on 19th? straight shot, stay to the right, come down 19th (the streets are alphabetical in reverse order on the south side of the park, so you'll pass SF State, Stonestown Galleria on the left, and once you cross the big intersection at Sloat? You'll see backwards alphabetical street names as you head north: Yorba, Wawona, Vicente, Ulloa, Taraval, and so on. You'll hit Golden Gate Park; stay right where you are, making sure you're in the right lane. First street out of the park on the north side is Fulton; hang the right, come up to Arguello, hang the left, two blocsk to Golden Gate.

Going back to Friday in SF, what are the people who aren't going south to feed the cats doing? Do we want to try to plan something?

I may be going to spend the night at a beach house with Lois and Katie on Friday night. There's sleeping room for only 3, though Lois said that more could come for hanging out on the sand/chatting/partying. I'm not sure it's Friday night, though. That depends on her, and she's out of town until Tuesday. I hope it is, I think, because that seems the most reasonable night to try to squeeze it in. It would be nice to have others come hang out though. I'd like that lots.

At some point I'm under orders to buy chocolate for Greg's coworker and supervisor who made it possible for him to have the time off while I'm gone. Would that fit in with anyone's plans?

Didn't Deb say that Scharffenberger chocolate (quite possibly one of the best on the planet) is kosher? 'Cause the factory is in Berkeley and offers tours. Lemme see if I can find a schedule.

Aha. Found it. The tour schedule can be found through this link. Tours are free but reservations are recommended.

I certainly want to find time to hang out with Deena. Of course, I want to find time to hang out with everyone.

Scarffenberger cooking chocolate certainly gets great reviews. I wonder if it's cheaper there. If so, I wonder if large amounts of chocolate in my luggage would set off any alarms.

Didn't Deb say that Scharffenberger chocolate (quite possibly one of the best on the planet) is kosher?

Yes, it is, and not only that, it's cruelty-free; they use only known Central American sources, they guarantee it, no slave or child labour to pick or process the beans. And no, it's actually more expensive at the factory, for some reason; but they carry it at excellent prices at Whole Foods (we have two of them here in SF). They also carry theloose weighed unsweetened cocoa (which, alas, is no longer kosher because the kosher wrappings are opened at the store and then reweighed into small individual containers of different weights). But all the wrapped chocolate is in fact kosher. I was going to see if Nilly wanted a quickie wander through Whole Foods, because a) they have a ton of kosher goodies, and b) the SOMA branch is three minutes by car from Trader Joes, which has even more kosher food.

Deb, Nilly will have a chance to see both Whole foods and TJ's here with me, if she wants, and it seems like there might be more time for it down here.