one thing I failed to mention in my last post is the US border crossing: the multi-million dollar, state-of-the-state facility is shuttered, or torn down, or something. in its place is a primitive little room, reminiscent of 3rd-world immigration offices. two of 3 lines were active, and both guards were giving their victims a hard time. but after about 5 minutes, after the guy at the far booth had ushered his "client" into the inner office, he waved the next guy, then me, through without a word.
I decided not to do the 11-mile-or-so walk up the Santa Ana river this time, opting to learn the bus routes. turns out I had to switch from the 1 to the 55, then at Main Street catch the 53 to ARTIC. I got there in the early afternoon yesterday and tried to get some sleep in the park across the street. I don't remember ever nodding off, but I got up refreshed anyway. hung out at ARTIC for a bit, then walked to get something alcoholic for the trip. Megabus now says alcohol is prohibited, but they still don't do anything to enforce it. The Walgreen's or CVS I tried wouldn't let me in with my bags, and didn't offer me any safe options, so I left and went in search of a mom-and-pop liquor store. I got a little sample bottle of some whiskey with whose name I was completely unfamiliar, but it tasted OK. then I got two packs of that decent cheese at Dollar Tree. then I tried Ralph's to see if I could find a $1 beer since that was all I had left of the $4-something I started with, but the guard chased me out of there too. paranoid jerks.
slept a little on the bus, I guess, because I haven't felt like sleeping all day today. headed north immediately after the Megabus got to the Caltrain station. homeless people everywhere. cops rousting the ones on Market Street, leaving everybody else alone as far as I could see.
once I hit the greenery at the north end of the city, I was overwhelmed with the green growth. after 6 months in the desert, it's always a welcome shock to the system to see things growing so well. but one thing that wasn't so welcome was seeing how many poison oak are sporting the 5-leaflet haplotype that got my lady and me last year in Forestville. we didn't clean up as much as vigorously as we would have if we'd been certain it was a real Toxicodendron.
after the Sausalito-Mill Valley path, I went into Whole Foods to use the bathroom and check Internet. didn't buy anything, in fact I haven't spent a penny all day yet. continued on Blithedale to cross over 101, then tried to take a footpath down the hill but it turned out to be on the highway itself; not wanting any conversations with the cops I scrambled up the ramp, found a hole under the fence, and crawled under it to the frontage road. then after a few wrong turns, I ended up on the hill path I'd found coming the other direction one time.
got to the Panera at Northgate in San Rafael about 20 minutes ago and got my 3rd and last of the 30 free bagels they had offered me this month. and I still have lots of biscuits I made Friday morning before leaving, one 6-ounce bar of cheese, and some of the sauerkraut left.
can't stay too long, I want to try to get to Petaluma before 0700 tomorrow.
I'll probably still be remembering little details here and there and posting them. I had so many little things that caught my attention but I didn't want to stop and write them down.
last updated 2017-06-05 09:40:30. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com