road trip...

the north carolina state fair started october 13th

and goes through till the 23rd.

being from california and having gone to the california state fair

a few times we wanted to experience north carolinas state fair.

so we took a little road trip to raleigh...

there were lots and lots of agriculture stuff to be seen...

as to be expected at a state fair...

a 522.8 pound pumpkin and a 282 pound watermelon

were among the many...

oh, and lots of animals...

but the girls weren't too interested in walking through that section

because the smell didn't exactly make it very welcoming.

however...

we did buy the traditional fair food stuff...

cotton candy and a caramel apple....

along with kettle corn...

and blooming onions!

two of my favorites.

we finished walking through in about 2 hours...

it was a good one time experience...

i can say i've been there, done that, and i can now cross it off my 

list of things to do

while living in north carolina.

"san francisco" my favorite city...

san francisco...

i grew up romping the streets of this city.

the mahal and i both worked in the city for years

before moving 2 hours north for more affordable housing.

i miss san francisco but i'm glad i am 

able to go back and visit!

stanford university...

on our drive to san francisco with my parents...

we stopped by stanford university for kuya to check out!

pa and kuya

beautiful campus...

sure would be nice if he could get in with a full ride scholarship!

(yes, every parents dream i suppose).

our last day in so cal...

on our last day in southern california...

we visited USC...

(university of southern california)

for kuya.

a shot in front of the school stadium...

hanging out on the steps of the bookstore...

and...

we even got to stop at another food truck lunch spot

which happened to be in the same area as USC.

oh joy!

and coincidentally the nom nom truck was there : )!

and i was tickled pink that i got a photo op of misa...

(one of the owners of nom-nom).

and this is normally what it looks like at food truck stops...

a few tables set up in a parking lot so that one can sit and enjoy their food.

kuya had a mocha boba drink...

mui had cheese fries...

the mahal had some type of fried potato...

topped with an amazing sauce!

ate had fried shrimp tempura...

and of course,

for one last time...

i got to enjoy a grilled pork banh mi (no photo)

 and it sure was deelish!