...because today would include an adventure on...
A Bus - A Subway - A Train - A Trolley ...
...all to get to and return from a meeting in San Diego. Her Highness would visit the San Diego State University for the weekend...and all we get is the day.
Nevertheless, it would be an adventure! We would make it an adventure! And an adventure it was!
The day starts like this!
LATE!
The night before, Her Highness gave every argument not to take public transportation; first with reason then with the preposterous. In her increasing frustration, I thought I sensed a silent threat to impede those transportation plans in hopes we would resort to taking the car. Nevertheless, I knew that would never happen, and that sense quickly passed and I still had all the confidence that Her Highness and Me would be on time and on that bus at 6:00 am.
The Colleague, though, I had to question. And question I did. She said she was willing to take the earliest train, and swore up-and-down and back-and-forth that she would make it on time. I was doubtful. And that doubt was to become jinxed....for it was She who was on time and it was Us who were late.
Itinerary, Friday, March 18, 2011:
6:00 am Bus departs
6:30 am Red line to Union Station
6:55 am Arrive Union Station
7:20 am Depart for San Diego
10: 25 am Arrive San Diego
10: 45 am Blue Line San Diego Trolley to Old Town San Diego
11:00-3:30 Meeting
3:30 pm Blue Line Trolley to the Amtrak
4:00 pm Departure
6:35 pm Arrival Union Station
Red Line then Orange Line then home.
San Diego weather: Sunny with some clouds, temperature high 69F.
San Diego weather: Sunny with some clouds, temperature high 69F.
But sometimes things fall apart!
FRIDAY MORNING:
5:00 am Alarm. Get up. Shower up.
5:10 Coffee starts brewing.
5:15 I wake up Her Highness. She's all packed up ready to go. She just needs a shower. I have no concern.
5:20 Go for the coffee. Crap!
The lid was askew so the water spilled out and filled up on top of the grounds and the water was trapped.
Off Schedule! I had limited sleep so I'm tired...and I already want to go home. Coffee is a must! So it's clean up, make up and babysit one more pot of coffee.
Off Schedule! I had limited sleep so I'm tired...and I already want to go home. Coffee is a must! So it's clean up, make up and babysit one more pot of coffee.
5:30 Coffee starts (again) brewing. After poking and prodding, Her Highness stumbles and grumbles into the shower.
5:40 Coffee is brewed, poured and, at last, drinkable.
5:45 Tap on shower door to get Her Highness outta there.
5:50 Depart for bus. We're just making it!
We arrive at the bus station, but this is the conversation just prior to parking the car:
"Mommy, I guess I'm going to have to buy a bus pass."
"You don't have your pass?"
"No, it's in my wallet and I leave my wallet at home so I don't spend any money."
"I thought your bus pass was on your I.D."
"It is."
"You are supposed to have your ID for the train and the University. We just talked about this yesterday."
"I guess I forgot."
I wonder: Is this a feeble attempt at trying to get us to drive rather than take public transportation? Maybe! But our plan will not be thwarted by a little girl!
So an 180 degree turn of the wheel, a quick call to The Colleague, a speedy drive to the house, a quick pick up of the wallet, and 2 buses passing later, we join The Colleague who is patiently waiting and sitting on a bus station bench. And each and all three of us chant and throw our all and every thought into:
"Bus"
"Bus"
"Bus"
"Bus"....and lo and behold materializes a bus: 6:10 am.
Off Schedule! But we still can make it.
We stumble off the bus, roll ourselves across the street and bounce down the escalators. As we practically catapult ourselves off the escalator onto the platform, we see the next/last subway train leave. We have another 7 minute wait.
Off Schedule! We still have hope.
We arrive at Union Station 7 minutes plus 22 minutes later and quickly take stock of the station. Where do they sell the tickets? We walk briskly through the station looking for that ticket booth...it's down the hall, around the corner and through a line of 5 people, one of which is a crazy lady...she is up next. Yet, it's 7:05...we think positively and throw our all and every thought into making it up to that booth, purchasing those tickets and boarding that train on time.
Now if it wasn't for a ticket-booth-personnel-ish-person going on her break, and a crazy lady who kept screaming, "you forced a single woman to sleep in the bushes overnight!", we may have had plenty of time to make that train. However, despite that, we still think, with putting our best efforts forward, we can still make that train.
After our IDs our handed back, I volunteer to stay behind to collect the tickets and instruct my travel mates to make a dash for that train. I would catch up with them in just seconds. As I make my way around the bend of the Station, I see Her Highness. She's the front-runner with her suitcase trailing and flailing behind her. The Colleague is right behind Her lugging her computer bag, the noise of her boots' heels echoing throughout the Station. And I am trailing behind them...huffing and puffing, wishing I had eaten breakfast and not drank so much coffee. I couldn't help but laugh as we were running through that station trying to catch this train and, I'm sure, at 7:20 am, that traffic of pedestrian-people thought I was crazier than that crazy lady in line.
So, with best efforts and heavy panting, two girls and one teen ran through practically that whole station, against pedestrian traffic...
Terminal One
Terminal Two...
...Terminal Eight...
...Terminal Ten
Terminal Eleven...and up that ramp at full speed. With never a stop.
Then all three of us came to a halt at the top of that ramp as we watched the train, our train, the train that would have made us on time to that meeting, round the bend. The clock above turns to 7:21 just as one lady screeches, "the train already left." What lady? The Crazy Lady!
I swear..I do not know how those actor peoples in the movies run through train stations, through airports, though all of New York City...on top of cars, over fences, up walls and through alleys. Because I just dashed through that damn station and I swear I was going to lose my breakfast if I had any in me.
So that's exactly what we need. Breakfast! We eat breakfast....consume more coffee...and sit and relax in that Station...with peoples, with birds. Next train? 8:30 am. Early for the train. Late for the meeting. Nevertheless, already on time for our adventures.
We made it onto the train. Early. It was a nice train ride. The whole time my eyes are peering out the window at garbage dumps, recycling factories, homes with big doors, houses with weird chimneys, a nuclear power plant, the ocean, a marine base, people waving, people walking, people surfing, people biking, rolling hills, jagged cliffs, crops by tracks, tracks by crops. The Colleague makes fun of my childlike enthusiasm as we finally arrive in beautiful downtown San Diego. And a beautiful day in San Diego it is.
We take the Blue Line Trolley up to our meeting. We're late. But we catch ourselves up, feed ourselves full, exhaust our voices, and exchange all our business cards.
We take the Green Line Trolley back...which did not take us back at all. So we travel through more of San Diego before we realize our mistake. We get off, get back on, and return to the Blue Line Trolley just in time to hop on and make the Train home.
We stumble off the bus, roll ourselves across the street and bounce down the escalators. As we practically catapult ourselves off the escalator onto the platform, we see the next/last subway train leave. We have another 7 minute wait.
Off Schedule! We still have hope.
We arrive at Union Station 7 minutes plus 22 minutes later and quickly take stock of the station. Where do they sell the tickets? We walk briskly through the station looking for that ticket booth...it's down the hall, around the corner and through a line of 5 people, one of which is a crazy lady...she is up next. Yet, it's 7:05...we think positively and throw our all and every thought into making it up to that booth, purchasing those tickets and boarding that train on time.
Now if it wasn't for a ticket-booth-personnel-ish-person going on her break, and a crazy lady who kept screaming, "you forced a single woman to sleep in the bushes overnight!", we may have had plenty of time to make that train. However, despite that, we still think, with putting our best efforts forward, we can still make that train.
After our IDs our handed back, I volunteer to stay behind to collect the tickets and instruct my travel mates to make a dash for that train. I would catch up with them in just seconds. As I make my way around the bend of the Station, I see Her Highness. She's the front-runner with her suitcase trailing and flailing behind her. The Colleague is right behind Her lugging her computer bag, the noise of her boots' heels echoing throughout the Station. And I am trailing behind them...huffing and puffing, wishing I had eaten breakfast and not drank so much coffee. I couldn't help but laugh as we were running through that station trying to catch this train and, I'm sure, at 7:20 am, that traffic of pedestrian-people thought I was crazier than that crazy lady in line.
Terminal One
Terminal Two...
...Terminal Eight...
...Terminal Ten
Terminal Eleven...and up that ramp at full speed. With never a stop.
Then all three of us came to a halt at the top of that ramp as we watched the train, our train, the train that would have made us on time to that meeting, round the bend. The clock above turns to 7:21 just as one lady screeches, "the train already left." What lady? The Crazy Lady!
I swear..I do not know how those actor peoples in the movies run through train stations, through airports, though all of New York City...on top of cars, over fences, up walls and through alleys. Because I just dashed through that damn station and I swear I was going to lose my breakfast if I had any in me.
So that's exactly what we need. Breakfast! We eat breakfast....consume more coffee...and sit and relax in that Station...with peoples, with birds. Next train? 8:30 am. Early for the train. Late for the meeting. Nevertheless, already on time for our adventures.
We made it onto the train. Early. It was a nice train ride. The whole time my eyes are peering out the window at garbage dumps, recycling factories, homes with big doors, houses with weird chimneys, a nuclear power plant, the ocean, a marine base, people waving, people walking, people surfing, people biking, rolling hills, jagged cliffs, crops by tracks, tracks by crops. The Colleague makes fun of my childlike enthusiasm as we finally arrive in beautiful downtown San Diego. And a beautiful day in San Diego it is.
We take the Blue Line Trolley up to our meeting. We're late. But we catch ourselves up, feed ourselves full, exhaust our voices, and exchange all our business cards.
We take the Green Line Trolley back...which did not take us back at all. So we travel through more of San Diego before we realize our mistake. We get off, get back on, and return to the Blue Line Trolley just in time to hop on and make the Train home.
The Train ride back was quite pleasant. The subway a little crowded. And the bus back kinda late. But we got home. And even though we were late for the meeting, we were on time for the adventures. Because if it were not for the...
Failed first brew of coffee
Her Highness leaving her ID
Arriving late for the bus
Missing the subway train by 5 seconds
The Crazy Lady
Missing the train
Eating breakfast at Union Station
Being late to the meeting
Hopping on the wrong trolley...
...we would have not had the adventure we had. In fact, those WERE the adventures we had.
So, yes, we may have been late for the meeting, but we were RIGHT ON TIME FOR THE ADVENTURES!!! And that made it even more the worthwhile!
Ciao for now!
k
Failed first brew of coffee
Her Highness leaving her ID
Arriving late for the bus
Missing the subway train by 5 seconds
The Crazy Lady
Missing the train
Eating breakfast at Union Station
Being late to the meeting
Hopping on the wrong trolley...
...we would have not had the adventure we had. In fact, those WERE the adventures we had.
So, yes, we may have been late for the meeting, but we were RIGHT ON TIME FOR THE ADVENTURES!!! And that made it even more the worthwhile!
Ciao for now!
k
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