This week we have been in beautiful San Jose, California. Getting here via jetBlue was a breeze out of Boston, where direct flights are available. On the plane, I sat next to hubby with my body scrunched against his so as to allow the third seat partner a little more elbowroom. Coincidentally, it was a treat to be so lovey-dovey for the plane ride. It was also a real pleasure to watch the TV in front of my seat, where I happily flipped through the channels for hours.

Once we arrived in San Jose, it was almost midnight. Pre-planning for the trip included booking a car at the San Jose Airport through Hotwire at a reasonable price. Pulling into the rental car facility, we sought out Enterprise and I pulled up the reservation on my phone. Showing it to the attendant, he shocked us and informed me that the Enterprise at which I’d booked the car was at least 10 miles away, and they closed at 11 pm. How could that be? I thought it was reserved at the airport. Near tears, which were enhanced by hubby’s annoyance at the situation, the attendant agreed to match the rate at which I had booked the car. All was well and a lesson was learned.

The weather here is gorgeous…on average there are 257 sunny days per year. The larger area, which includes San Jose is called “Silicon Valley” where the technology giants have transformed this area into a multi-cultural powerhouse of intelligence and innovation. It is in this area that my son, his wife and our granddaughter live. My son works for one of the major technology giants, but I can’t say where or they would have to shoot me. Frances keeps any talk of his work to himself, and will not discuss where he works. He’s also tight lipped on whether or not he has an office, what he does when he flies to other countries, and even what he eats for lunch at the various food vendors offered at his work. He takes this job thing seriously, but is obviously very skilled and very successful. I imagine the best for him.

Once we had arrived and visited with them for a while, hubby and I wanted to find a local Target store to get some snacks and soda for our hotel room. (Francis’ family only eats healthy food and drinks lots of good, clean, water.) Using the app on my phone, it finally located a nearby Target store; travel time 1 day, 22 hours and 18 minutes to get to the Target on Bald Hill Road! When we finally found a closer one, we gleefully shopped and purchased bottles of diet coke, chips, popcorn, mixed nuts and so forth. I threw a curling iron into the cart to replace the one sitting at home in my bathroom that did not find its way into my suitcase. I also found a few pairs of shorts and a couple of easy to wear dresses on sale. It wasn’t until the check-out that we realized that stores in San Jose do not provide bags. (San Jose has got to be the most advanced recycling city in the nation!) So there we were, hubby and I, trying to carry our new possessions to the car. It was like some sort of weird game show. Balancing them with ever step, I almost made it, but a bottle of diet coke fell off the top and smashed on the ground. If you have never been covered by the spray from a busted bottle of soda, you are lucky, because it is soooooo sticky!

Being with my 3 year old granddaughter is the super prize of the trip. Giggling, she clings to me and hubby, and we both cuddle with her and whisper how much we love her. We have to squeeze in a year’s worth of loving into a one week trip. On Sunday, we went to Happy Hollow Park, (which I kept calling “Sleepy Hollow” for some reason.) It was perfect for the younger population, and as she rode on one of the toy police cars, Francis reminisced about how much he used to enjoy riding similar rides at Rocky Point.

On the surface, San Jose is much like any other city; Walmart, Home Depot, Marshalls, Toys R Us lining the streets. However, if one looks closer, they will see that minorities make up the majority of the population. Conversations in a restaurant are a cornucopia of languages, and all signs are in English, Spanish and Chinese. It reminds me of all of the nationalities represented in Disney’s “It’s a Small World.”

Monday was the most amazing day, the day of the solar eclipse! Special sunglasses were handed out everywhere, and, as we drove to my son’s house, we could see the staff of large companies, like eBay, spilling out of their buildings and looking up towards the sky. The excitement was infectious, and by the time we reached Francis’ home, we pulled out our glasses and looked up at the sun, mesmerized by the sliver that looked like a crescent moon.

We have several more days of pleasure with our granddaughter awaiting us. We are the luckiest grandparents in the world!