0

San Francisco Day 1: Through Meisha's Eyes

Leaving our Vegas hotel seemed extremely easy and left a feeling of forgetfulness.  In reality, I was just used to packing much more for this kind of trip.  Getting to the airport was a breeze, as well as getting to our gate.  Giving ourselves two hours was unnecessary, but gave us plenty of people watching time.  My favorite was a man waiting for the same flight.  He was walking around talking on his cell phone, when he turns his back to us and with his free hand reaches deep into his underwear to scratch his behind.  Josh and I were shocked and very disappointed not to catch this act on camera, a few times!!  I hope he washed his hands before holding the baby he strolled onto the plane.

Virgin airlines as of now, has the best coach seating, I was comfortable.  The flight was short so we enjoyed the holiday free WiFi by watching "Ever ever rest rest rest" (Everest) via Netflix.  The plane lands and we calmly wait while others scramble for their massive luggage and the exit door.

First thing of importance, find a comfy seat & look for tonights sleeping accommodation.  Airport WiFi is a blessing!  After a short Google search we decided to give The Green Tortoise Hostel a ring.  I made sure they had an open private room & that we could get there from the airport on public transportation.  Not only was I given verbal directions, they sent a detailed email with directions and cost.

>We boarded a BART train hoping it to be the correct one and figured it would just be an adventure to get lost and find our way.  As we waited for the train to leave, Josh figured out the best BART app to download.  As soon as the train took off, a lady decided to tell us an epic tale (please see video).  I sat puzzled and unsure what this lady was saying.  I glanced to my right and a girl about my age seemed just as puzzled.  She would look at us then the lady, back and forth with confusion in her movements.  This went on until the lady exited on Balboa.  The rest of the train ride, we tried to piece her story together.

Emerging from the subway, we found ourselves amongst the masses.  "Which way is north on this diagonal intersection?" Josh asks his phone compass.  This compass was found to be unreliable, but Josh decided to head what he thought to be north.  His senses were correct, so we headed north on Montgomery St.  The suits and high heeled boots paraded around us, heading to the place for them to feel important.  Wait, what just happened?!!!  Pedestrians walking diagonally across the street?!  My heart actually fills with joy.  Amazing, what a brilliant intersection!  All cars stop and all pedestrians cross six different directions!  My thoughts flash back to the week prior:  as I make my way across an intersection, a car squeals it's breaks to a short halt, just inches from me.  Of course, it was a sports car rushing to make a right hand turn!  Seeing this intersection brings me some piece of mind. Someone was thinking of pedestrians!

We hit another decision point (Montgomery St. splits), Josh again sensed the way.  Shortly after, we made a left turn on Broadway and spotted The Green Tortoise.  Josh lead us into the building and up the stairs towards the shuffling feet and muffled voices.  We patiently waited through the check in process, eager to look around.  When all was said and done, we headed to the computer area, down a mysterious hallway to the stairs, and wound our way through the building to a nice corner room (supposedly the front desk's favorite).

Josh unlocked our door to reveal our slumber oasis.  This shall work, now to find coffee and a meal.  We questioned the front desk for a coffee recommendation and were promptly given a place and directions.  Before entering Caffe Trieste, we searched out a market to quickly grab yogurts.  We ordered our coffees and sat down for the first chances to research tings to do.  We decided upon The Nomad Codes discussion with Erik Davis.  This seemed to be fitting for our current challenge.  We hoped we might even learn a thing or two.  We had a few hours, so we got back to survival.  We finally ate our gourmet meal of yogurt and granola back at the hostel.  We gulped it down and dropped a few things off in our room i.e. pillows, toiletries.  The slightest amount of weight decrease helped free us to vigorously search for used clothing.

Our clothing mission was a complete FAIL!  The only thing that came out of it was the chance stroll through Chinatown and find our next destination.  The discussion was to be at The City Lights Bookstore.  After a frustrating and failed attempt at our last mission we arrived early to wander the maze of books.  Our frustrations subside as we listened to the author's history.  I was intrigued and plan to take a further look into his book The Nomad Codes.  He opened the floor to some active discussion, which all seemed to lead to the misunderstood gap in generations.  We left with a deep conversation going between the two of us.  This dialog was where my focus was while on our way back to the hostel.

After wandering to gather our dinner (granola and yogurt) we kept up the discussion as we sat in the common room to eat our meal.  We sat for a while and became a bit irritable and tired from the day's events.  We had been overloaded for the last 17 hours, so we called it a night.  I was startled sometime after 2 am by a verbal fight between a group of drunken men and a man trying to sleep.  I was quick to recognize this to be a dwindling threat and easily drifted back to sleep.