Happy Late Night from Benicia, Sweet Baby!,
I am back from today's trip into the City of San Francisco, that began mid-afternoon and culminated at AT&T Park where David and I watched tonight's game between the Washington Nationals and the Giants. More on that in a moment, but first I want to once again congratulate you on your video. Now, I need to add a disclaimer because I was only able to see about 30 seconds worth; then a message popped that read "sorry, your browser does not support this format", which must refer to the 360. I guess means that my Chromebook is wimpy, but I already knew that. Anyhow - doggonnit! :( So now I guess I will have to wait and try it out back at Northridge Library, which I will do when I get back.
But the 30 seconds I did see just looked amazing, and again - I just can't overstate this - your work has become high-level professional in just the year and a half you've been doing it, since you graduated from school.
So, SB........do ya think you chose the right profession, or what? :)
"Life Is Magic". (I think I'd better trademark that phrase asap).
Well, today's trip was a good one, and also legendary in that over the last two days, since my voyage began, I have dealt with not one but two temperature extremes. I met David at his apartment (and I am already good at my directions after two tries and only one minor flub), and he drove us from there to the nearby BART Station. The acronym stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit, which is part elevated train and part subway. They've had their system in place since the 1970s, 20 years before L.A. got it's subway, and I first rode BART when I used to come up here every year from 1976 to 1980.
So we took BART from Concord to The Embarcadero in Downtown San Francisco, about 25 miles away. One thing that is kind of cool is that you go underneath the ocean floor of the San Francisco Bay for a brief part of the trip. You don't really notice it, other than that you are descending a bit and your ears can feel some minor pressure, but I still think it's neat in the same way I think it's neat when I walk many of my trails near sandstone boulders, because then I am also walking on what was once the bottom of the ocean.
So it is a "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" trip, and if you've never heard that phrase, you can Google it.
The Embarcadero is a waterfront district in SF, and it's skyline - looking in one direction - is somewhat similar to downtown Los Angeles, i.e. a mixture of older buildings and modern skyscrapers. In the opposite direction, though, lies the water of the Bay, and some beautiful views. We got down there about 3pm and just walked around. I took some pictures here and there, of the Bay Bridge and other landmarks. Hopefully I got some good ones. About a mile and a half down, we got to the ballpark, an absolutely gorgeous new stadium that combines old-style brick architexture (spelled that way because I like to) and old-style ballpark ambience, combined with tons of modern day amenities like a wide variety of food choices and a baseball themed play area for kids.
We went into the stadium right when they began letting people in, at 5:15, so we could watch batting practice and just enjoy the atmosphere. Our seats were awesome. Today they were celebrating Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, and before the game began they had about 100 motorcycle cops ringing the outfield, on their bikes with lights flashing. Several police chiefs from Northern California agencies were there. It was a big deal, and I thought it was a good thing in light of recent troubles. It was done in a friendly and respectful manner and there was a lot of well-deserved applause.
Well, I mentioned that I've experienced temperature extremes over the past two days, and I am not kidding! Yesterday, the drive up here was duly mentioned, with it's long distance extreme heat averaging 109 and topping out at 113.
And by the time the ballgame started, it was getting mighty chilly in AT&T stadium. I had worn a long sleeve shirt, but it was making little difference. There is an old (and ironic) saying that "the coldest Winter you will ever spend is a Summer in San Francisco". That may not be strictly true, as certain midwesterners can testify haha, but it's darn close to truth.
The game was off to a great start, meaning the Nationals were beating the Giants (hey, I'm a Dodger fan), but in the stands, David and I were experiencing knocking knees and shivering ribs.
I'm telling you it was c-c-c-cold, Sweet Baby.
We both got hot coffees to warm up, but by the 6th inning, David asked if we could call it quits, and I agreed. I could have made it the rest of the game, but he was the host, and I mean it was cold.
Besides, the Nationals' pitcher had Giant hitters well in check, and it was pretty clear it was gonna stay that way. So we headed out of the park, and walked somewhat rapidly the mile and a half down the waterfront back to The Embarcadero BART station, and from there took the train back to Concord, where it was at least 20 degrees warmer, and probably more. And from David's place, I drove back here to Benicia, 12 miles away.
When I got back I Googled "Temperature at AT&T Park", just for the heck of it. And lo and behold, tonight's temps came up, for the park itself, and an hour by hour timetable. And for 7pm it read 51 degrees. With the wind chill added from a steady breeze, I'd guess it was about 45 degrees there. Many folks were wearing jackets with hoods, and had blankets draped over their laps. David and I only had our thin long sleeved shirts. We had expected it to be a bit on the cool side........
But it was about 45 degrees..........on July 28. :)
The Old Saying held true tonight, but we had an awesome time overall : A) Because it was Another Legendary Trip, and for me personally I went from several hours of enduring a 109 degree blast furnace yesterday to near-hypothermia tonight (making it double-legendary), and B) we got to see the waterfront, and to spend a lot of time at the ballpark anyway, because we got there early.
So overall, it was a great day, and a day to remember for sure.
Tomorrow, David is gonna show me a nature park in Concord, and then we will be having dinner at his sister's house, with the extended family. That should prove to be legendary as well.
And that's Today's Report from Northern California, SB.
I Love You and will see you in the morning. You "knocked it out of the park" with your video!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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