Finally

Waking up in San Jose.

SAN MATEO, Calif. – It took a mighty long time, but I’ve finally made it to the Bay Area.

I last blogged when the train left Colfax. Soon after that, we  were given permission by Union Pacific to divert onto a different track and pass the freight train that had been delaying us so much.

We ended up reaching the next station, Roseville, at 8::00 p.m. – five hours and five minutes after the scheduled arrival time. Roseville is best known for being home to a massive Union Pacific depot, and it’s no coincidence that right after we left there we took off like a rocket for Sacramento.

The timetable lists the travel time between Roseville and Sacramento as one hours and 16 minutes; we made it in 30 minutes. Obviously, there’s some schedule-padding in there, but there’s clearly good reason for it.

Sacrament to Davis is listed as 31 minutes but we made it it in 25; Davis to Martinez is listed as 42 minutes but we made it in 30.

Then came the final leg of the trip, and the railroad gods decided to play with us again. Martinez to Emeryville is listed as a 46-minute trip. After leaving Martinez at 9:25, we got to within a few hundred yards of Emeryville at 10:05. But because we were so late, all the platforms were full when we arrived. So we had to wait until 10:23 for a train to leave, and we finally disembarked at 10:26.

Emeryville is a major hub for long-distance and commuter trains in the Bay Area. In addition to trains that go north to Sacramento, they also go south to Oakland and the San Joaquin Valley. But there is no BART station anywhere near Emeryville; instead, you have to go 19 blocks across town to MacArthur Boulevard. It’s not walkable, and it’s even less walkable late at night.

Problem was, there weren’t any taxis at the station. It took 20 minutes for one to show up, and the driver wasn’t in a great mood. But after a very fast ride across town, I only had a brief wait for a train.

Forty minutes later, I made it to Fremont and met an old college friend who I’m staying with in San Jose until I leave town late tomorrow.

I woke up this morning at 7 a.m., and headed out a few minutes after 8. My friend lives all the way across town from the CalTrain station, so it took a 15-minute walk and a 30-minute light rail ride to get where I am now: en route to San Francisco.

We’re supposed to arrive at King Street just after 11 a.m. That means my first stop after getting off will be SBC Park, the spectacular home of the San Francisco Giants. I went to a game there three years ago and totally fell in love with its dazzling views of San Francisco Bay.

After that, I’ll probably hop on the MUNI towards Fisherman’s Wharf and walk around for a while. I’d like to get out to the Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park, but I’m not sure I’ll have enough time.

I also have to get to a Starbucks or a Kinko’s somewhere along the way, because I’ve been working off the aircard ever since leaving Chicago and I have a gig and a half of photos to upload.