So, Christmas Break was awesome...lots of good quality time spent with my loved ones! And I have yet to update you all on the highlights from Catalina. But first comes first...yesterday.
Yesterday was Travel Day:
After finishing packing, I drove Mom and myself up to the Green Bay airport. That was my last chance to drive for the next 7 months!!!
Mumsie and I had a surprisingly tasty lunch at the airport, and then hung out for a while before I checked into security and hopped on the plane.
Let's back up a sec...
I realized the day before my flight left that I still hadn't figured out how to get from San Francisco (where my plane was landing) to Sacramento (where I actually needed to be). Huh... So I hopped online and found a few options, made a few phone calls, and jotted down a few notes. Turns out that the train tickets aren't worth buying early since the seats aren't actually reserved, so I just focused on getting down the train company info and hoped that it would all fall into place once I landed.
Ok, Back to the Travel Day:
I managed to only have a duffle bag and backpack, and I have to admitt, it's SUPER nice to not have any checked baggage.
While waiting in the security line in Green Bay (a bit teary-eyed as I waved by to Madre) I was watching the girl infront of me struggle to get her laptop out of her bag. Except it wasn't a laptop. She reached in her bag and pulled out the cutest, calmest, sweetest little dog wrapped up in a red sweater! That was a nice pick-me-up. Turns out there were two puppies on my plane! And two screaming babies with dirty diapers. Besides the breath-taking turbulence (it was a VERY windy day-the car door almost flew off when I got out the car that morning!), the flight actually wasn't that bad. I was able to drown out some of the noises with my new ipod. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) It has a bass-boost option, which I quite enjoy!
My connecting flight in Chicago was actually only 5 gates away (super convenient!) and I only had to wait about an hour until I boarded. I was able to sleep on this longer flight and enjoyed some cranapple juice. Yummy! ...And I may or may not have eaten the entire bag of seasoned pretzels G-ma sent me away with. Also yummy!
This is Where it Gets Interesting:
Right when the plane was landing I decided it may be a good idea to check in with the guy sitting next to me and see if he was familiar with BART, the subway system I planning on using. Turns out he had used it once before, but had little to no memory of where to find it. He actually needed to find it again though.
It also turns out he had gone to the same christian conference thingy in Kansas City, Missouri that I went to in high school.
It also turns out he was really fun to talk to.
So he waited for me on the plane, since I had to get my bag from one of the overhead storage bins in the back of the plane (I may have overpacked my duffle this time around... It was difficult to fit it anywhere). Once off the plane we walked quite briskly until we found a sign for the BART subway system. Chatting this whole time made talking a wee-bit difficult (he's a very fast walker!). We walked where the sign was directing us, and then failed to find any more signs, or the actual subway itself. He decided we were having these problems because his shoe wasn't tied. Of course that's why. So he tied his shoe (while I asked a security guard for directions) and then magically we went up a flight of stairs and found the airtrain that was supposed to take us to the subway. :) Success #1.
Then we got off the airtrain and found a kiosk to purchase our BART tickets. I, of course, bought a $20 ticket instead of the $10 I actually needed. Yeah, I had no idea what I was doing. We asked another helpful airport worker where to find our platforms, and she directed us to an elevator. We saw that platform 3 (the one I needed) was on the third floor. The only complication is that no matter how many times you pushed the 3 button, nothing happend. Huh. So, we pushed 5 and walked for a while until we found another helpful airport employee. Turns out, we were at the right place. Our platforms were directly opposite from each other about 10 feet away from where we were standing!
As we parted ways, we decided to finally introduce ourselves.
Him: I'm sad our little travel adventure is coming to such a quick end.
Me: I know, it was fun! Well, you're going that way though right (pointing to his platform)?
Him: Yep.
Me: Ok, well, it was nice to meet you. I had fun. My name's Jenny, by the way.
Him: Gustav.
Me: See ya! (I ended with such a quick salutation because I didn't quite understand what he had said...I thought he had uttered some salutation in another language, not registering that Gustav was his name at first. Haha, oops...)
So, we smiled and waved goodbye as we got on our trains.
Then:
I rode that subway a few stops until I had to change to another subway.
Then I wandered around and found another train ticket kiosk (an actually train this time!), and then wandered up some stairs, past a man smoking pot, to the platform. Thankfully there was a group of college-aged people hanging out (since the train they were supposed to take the hour before mine broke down) and explained where the train would drop me off in Sacramento, and kept me company until the train arrived.
Finally I got off the train and found a taxi conveniently waiting to take me back to base! The cab driver was pretty sure he knew where it was... He kept asking which streets he should take though, which I was completely unable to explain. His confidence was low since he had just given his GPS to a friend of his who needed to navigate his way around Napa Valley.
So, Let's Re-Cap:
1) Drive up to GB
2) Flight from GB to Chi-Town
3) Flight form Chi-Town to San Fran
4) Airtrain ride
5) Subway ride
6) Second subway ride.
7) Train ride to Sac Town
8) Taxi ride to base!
Once inside my little dorm room I turned up the heat and crawled into bed! That was a long, but fairly up-beat travel day, thanks to my Korean-American travel buddy (and the puppy)!
Today:
Today has been a fun reunion day with my teammates. And a nice calm before the storm of Americorps meetings and such that begins tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment