Raquel's Birthday

Raquel and I have been best friends for 13 years but we've never been together on her birthday. That has mainly been due to the fact that she moved to Illinois during the beginning of our friendship.

Well, I was extremely blessed when she moved out here in February for a year. I knew that this was the year when we would finally spend her birthday together. So, my scheming began. I originally intended to kidnap her and make the entire thing a surprise but I just couldn't keep the secret so I told her to plan on spending the day with me but I wouldn't tell her where we were going. So, I loaded up my Ipod, cleaned out my car, and sent her this little email:
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Hey Campers!

We are so happy you're going to be joining us on Sunday, May 18. Below is a list of items you will need. See you there!

Don't Forget:
Jacket or warm coat
Comfortable (but cute!) clothes
Stuffed monkey
Camera
Sunglasses
Bottled Water
SENSIBLE SHOES
Umbrella
Bathing suit
Cardboard box
A block of your favorite cheese
Walking stick
Compass
Instructions on how to fashion a tent out of garbage bags and duct tape
Garbage bags
Duct tape
Bible
Journal/Pen
Anti-caking agent
Parental consent form (see below)

Please do NOT bring:
Electronic devices
Weapons of any kind
Live animals (taxidermied animals are acceptable)
Boy band paraphernalia
(If any of these items are found in your baggage, they will be confiscated immediately.)


_____________________Tear Here_____________________________
PARENTAL CONSENT FORM

I, _________________________________, hereby give my permission for Raquel Angelique Lomelin to join Chelsea Lyn Dilbeck on a day of random escapades (full of excitement and wonder). I do not hold Chelsea responsible for any alteration (physical/mental/emotional) to said victim- I mean Birthday Girl. If any alteration exists after Raquel's return to civilization, I vow not to sue Chelsea for damages.

Sign Below:
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It was a team effort, the list compiled by my mom, Mallory, and myself. We had a blast putting it together and I knew she would be completely thrown off as to where we were going.
Sunday finally came and she arrived at my house in the morning. I had borrowed my mom's GPS so I inputted each of the four locations we would be travelling to that day.

I gave her four postcards, each one to be opened right before reaching the corresponding destination. Oh, the suspense I put her through all day! I only hoped that our activities would live up to the anticipation.

Each stop during the day was chosen for a specific reason. Our first stop was the marina in San Francisco, because Raquel had often mentioned that she missed the ocean most of all, since moving out to Illinois. Once we got there, we walked against the extremely strong wind and found the little spot, at the edge of the water, that I had been looking for. It was called the Wave Organ, and it was a dock made completely from the gravestones of a cemetery that was torn down awhile ago. It was actually really pretty. The reason for the name "Wave Organ" is the multiple pipes that come out from the cement and go down into the water below. If you put your ear up to the pipes, you can hear the ocean rushing beneath the stone.

We ate a picnic lunch there, even though it was really windy and really cold. It was still nice, though.
The next stop was MOAD: The Museum of the African Diaspora. It took us forever to get there because was couldn't find cheap parking. After driving around for twenty minutes, we finally settled on parking five blocks away, on a street marked "free parking". We prayed over my car (that it would still be there when we returned) and we went on our way.

The museum was incredible. It was small but beautifully done. There were a few rooms showing how Africans have brought their culture to America and how they have created history here in this country. We watched a few short films, one about how Africans celebrate and another about Nelson Mandela. Raquel and I were even more inspired than we already had been to go to Africa. My heart is for Zimbabwe and Raquel's for Malawi. We talked about Africa the rest of the day. That tends to be the topic of our conversations together anyway, but that museum really brought it to the forefront of our minds and hearts. I loved being absorbed in the culture for a few hours while there. I am craving Africa...

After our visit in the museum, we made the walk back to our car. On our way there, a homeless guy pushing a shopping cart hollered at me, "I'm rich, I'm just faking it. You're beautiful. Don't tell anybody!". Ah, the joys of being in San Francisco...

We got to the next block and another homeless guy looked at us and asked, "You're not going down there, are you?" We answered that we had to go that way and kept walking. He told us, "I wouldn't go that way." Sure enough, we ran into the hippie convention. We had seen a few on our walk to the museum earlier but they had tripled in number since. We had to shove our way through the lovefest and the weed (oh, and all of the guys standing on the corner with one index finger in the air). One lady walking through dryly commented, "Cute...smells like hippies." There was nothing creepy about it, just awkward and very, um, crowded.

One block away from our car, we were walking faster, eager to be in our car and driving away, when we passed a (wo)man who looked at me and said, "Hey, beautiful." I really think it was a woman but Raquel wasn't sure. Anyway, it was the capper for an eventful walk through San Fran.

Safe in our car, we happily drove to to our third destination, Golden Gate Park. The week before this eventful day, I found out, in a roundabout way, that Raquel had a secret love of buffalo. Well, on a whim, I went online and typed in "San Francisco + Buffalo". Funny thing was, something actually turned up! Apparently, there are buffalo in Golden Gate Park.

When we arrived in Golden Gate Park, we saw tons of people in the craziest costumes. It took awhile to figure out what was going on but we finally learned that it was Bay To Breakers that day. Honestly, it was the most entertaining day I have ever spent in San Fran.

Once we parked and started walking, I realized, with a twinge of worry, that this park was BIG! I didn't have a clue as to where the buffalo actually were and the GPS wasn't going to tell me. I just went in the general direction that I had recalled form the map I had found online the day before and hoped for the best. While walking, Raquel was seriously wondering what I could possibly be taking he to. He postcard had said, "I always knew you were a country girl at heart but only recently learned how true this is." She was convinced that I was dragging her to some Billy Ray Cyrus statue or something.

At the point where I was about ready to give up and admit that I was lost, I saw them, tiny brown specks in the distance.

She was the happiest Raquel I had ever seen! She hugged me so many times and kept taking pictures of the big nappy animals. It was pretty cool, though, considering I've never seen one in real life. We stayed there for a good while, watching them, well, pretty much stand there. She loved it, though.

Our last stop of the day was our chance to be kids again. This was my favorite part of the entire day. We went to a little (and I mean little!) park at the edge of town, tucked in a tiny residential neighborhood. There were 2 cement slides there. This was where the cardboard boxes came into play. Until this moment, Raquel really didn't know that I was serious about bringing them. One look at the slides and the boxes in my hands, and she looked a little freaked. I don't think either of us was so sure that we would be able to go through with it. Well, we'd come this far.

By the time we walked up to the top of the slides, it appeared a whole lot higher than it had from below. Sitting on our cardboard, at the top, was not a little bit scary. We just willed ourselves to go and (after counting a couple times) went for it. I swear I got, like, 3 feet of air that time (Napoleon Dynamite fans, you dig?). I actually did come a little off of my seat at the bump in the middle. That was the scariest. I got the biggest adrenaline rush I've had in a long time. Once we started to go down, we couldn't stop because there was no friction. Scary but totally cool!







What a rad way to end Raquel's birthday. We had so much fun and she really seemed to enjoy every place we went. I had a blast planning the whole thing and spending the day together so I call it a success!