SDSI Course Week!

I finished up my work at the school for the year, and headed straight down to San Diego for another great week with San Diego Shoulder. It's always a long, work-filled week, but also a lot of fun!

 I never get tired of this room or this view!

At the end of our first day, Dr. Esch once again treated us to a magnificent dinner. This year we tried Seersucker, and it did not disappoint!

Cheers! (Loving my new favorite drink...the Moscow Mule!)

We got quite an assortment of food. We tried the must-have duck fat fries, shrimp and grits, baked brie, various main dishes, along with sides of corn, broccolini, and the best mashed potatoes ever!

 And of course, an assortment of desserts...

 and Dr. Esch's after dinner drinks, which get passed around the table...

This year we had Darian join us and it is such a great group. We've all been looking forward to a fantastic week!

We walked back to the hotel with a bright strawberry moon shining above!

 The rest of the week was a busy one! We worked hard, met a ton of people from all over the world, ate a ton, and laughed even more. We even found a morning to run some stairs and take an early morning walk.

Our new registration set up is done and we're ready to go...

We enjoyed having some of the big girls work with us this year!

We took turns walking through the cadaver labs again...always a fascinating experience!

We couldn't go the week without our Donut Bar and Ghirardelli fix!

We had fun with the photo booth at the Chairman's Reception!

Larky spoiled us with massages at the spa, which we followed up with dinner and drinks by the pool as the sun set.

We always have a great time at the Faculty Dinner on Friday night! It's nice to get out of our "uniforms" too!

Such a blessing to be a part of this group!

 I promised myself I would experiment with more sushi this year. Some were better than others, but I couldn't get enough of the California rolls.

Love these girls!

Another successful week in the books! I'm already looking forward to next year!

Heading home...

On Sunday, Cooper wanted to take Zoe to the cafe we had gone to earlier for breakfast.

 I do love the city buildings around here!

We took Bart out to Walnut Creek to take Zoe back to Nori's house. She picked us up from the station and we went into town for the best ice cream ever at the San Francisco Creamery! Seriously, it's up there with the best I've ever tasted.

We did a little clothes shopping in town and some more food shopping to stock Zoe up for the week. We said goodbye and Coop and I headed back to the airport. I hated leaving my girl behind, and hate that she has to do so much on her own in the city, but she is doing great, and I'll see her in a week!

Goodbye San Francisco!

More SF Fun!

Another day of fun in the city. Zoe didn't have class until the afternoon, so we got up early, and walked to Union Square.

 We waited for a cable car, but the lines were too long, so we took an Uber to the other side of town to rent bikes. We rode by Ghirardelli Square...

 and then by the marina, and through Crissy Field...

It was a beautiful day, with perfect weather for a ride.

 

 The hills to the bridge were harder than I expected. Cooper, of course, flew up them...quickly followed by Zoe. I took up the rear!

 We made it on the bridge!

We rode all the way to Sausalito. This is such a cute little town.

We parked our bikes, and walked the main street to pick up some smoothies and taffy. :)

Waiting for the ferry ride back to SF...

 Love this view of Sausalito from the ferry.

We returned our bikes and rushed over to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch before having to get Zoe to the studio. This poor girl had to go dance for 4 hours after a tough 8+ mile bike ride.

 We had to get some clam chowder in a sourdough bowl...and Coop got shrimp and chips.

 While Zoe was at the studio, Coop and I did a boat tour around Alcatraz. 

 I was a horrible mom, and didn't get Alcatraz tickets early enough in the month, and they were all sold out! I felt awful, as I knew this is something he wanted to do. This was the next best thing, and we did get to hear the audio tour at least.

Nori picked up Zoe and we had a great dinner in the Mission District. I love getting to spend some time with her. It's fun to share history with someone with 35+ years!