I got on a plane full of kids today. It was so weird. I thought for sure they were on the flight because it connected to LAX and they were Disney hopefuls but most of them got off in Oakland. On the plane I walked past one family full of kids (like 2 rows across) and sat down thinking I'd avoided that misery and what did I get instead? A little boy and girl who were so excited they were talking in scream voices and the girl (who was SO SMALL) had amazing reach and was totally beating up the back of my seat. I couldn't believe the abuse. My goodness. Ha!
My friend Walter got me to the grocery store from the airport. A Walmart they built by our old offices in San Leandro. Had very few things but enough to get by. From the feel of this place it will be an in and out sort of trip to the kitchen. Yuck.
I had training most of the afternoon and that was fun. Lots of details and we reviewed the policies of the "mother ship" that is really selling these tours. I met the camping guides and the one guy had done the tour a few times already so he was loaded with information. It was good. I'm glad to be this far. Now to pass my behind the wheel driving test! I do that Monday morning. Wednesday I'll be able to hop on a van going to Yosemite for a day trip, that will be nice. A little refresher. Other than that I'll just be walking around alot. No real things to do. No where to go. Which is actually kind of fun. This city is fun to explore. Tonight I went to Sam Wo's in Chinatown (Grant and Filbert??), recommended by the other overland guide. He took me there to show me what he meant by being immersed in the culture. You walk into what appears to be the kitchen, like tupperwares full of the ground meat and the old Chinese man hacking the chicken to bits. Wow. Real. Then you walk up a tiny flight of stairs and find a seat and hope for the best. The food was good! And dirt cheap too so that was good.
Tomorrow I have to find my way back to the office using the bus and streetcar etc should be interesting. From here I know I just head south. I'm as far away as you can get from the office at this hostel and no real direct route to get there.
After dinner I wandered up into North Beach to catch the bus and walked past Mara's pastry shop (Stockton and Columbus). Oh boy! So glad I found it again. There were tons of people out enjoying the amazing weather and its a great time to scope out the good local restaurants because by that time the tourists have gone home.
That is a picture of the hostel from the back side I guess. I'll get a better snap of the view from those windows. It looks right onto the Bay! So pretty.
Okay, a good nights sleep (complete with earplugs) is in order. And I've got to tackle the shower room. From the common room here you can see directly onto my bed and into the womens bathroom/shower room when the door is opened. I guess privacy is optional. I'll get over it. I didn't come prepared to be quite so exposed though. Not a great place for my comfy nightie to be certain. Yeah me, isn't traveling fun?!
More adventures to come. Probably not much until I leave on my tour but you never know. I do have to revisit the DMV after all! Tomorrow I train on the van pre-inspection and that will be interesting. A drive around the city.
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