ABCW: The Narrative (Part One)

Here's a little narrative of the start our adventure - written on the laptop on the train ride down to Santa Barbara, before I realized that there was no wireless available (at least for the laptop) and no way to post it...

Our Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is almost here. Mel came out to our house last night and spent the night, since we were catching Amtrak fairly early for the 9 hour train ride down to Santa Barbara. After chatting for a little while we both went to bed. I was so proud of myself for finishing all of my packing before I went to bed, so I didn’t have to wake up in a panic in the morning. To top it off, I woke up (not too tired!) before my alarm went off in the morning and jumped in the shower. Mel and I were ready to leave the house on time, we jumped in the car at 7:40 (our exact intended departure time) and left Taki with one cranky and throwing up Nikos (??) and one waffle-munching Olive. Time to Train Arrival: 40 minutes

We drove over to Emeryville and realized we had enough time to stop at Starbucks. We ordered our food and promptly got back in the car with our grandes (chai for me, toffee mocha for Mel.) Wake up early, all packed and time for coffee? I have to be honest I was getting a little cocky here. Time to Train Arrival: 20 minutes

Time to Train Arrival: 12 minutes We find the Amtrak parking lot and pick a space not too far from the station. I had visited the website the night before and found it to be extremely UNhelpful in terms of parking instructions, so I figured I would play it by ear once we got there. The pay-to-park machine gives me the option for Hours or Days. Perfect! I select 4 days (@ $20 a day – gulp!) and punch in spot 74. It tells me ONE DAY MAXIMUM. Yes in all caps. WTF I respond. Again in all caps. Why would you give the option for dayS if you can only select ONE day. Blah. I select one day and pay for it, figuring I will need to call Taki to see if he can move the car tomorrow. I grab the printed ticket - you know, the one with the exact time that I plan on returning to my car printed on the front of it so the thief knows exactly how much time they have to rob me - and place it in my car.

Time to Train Arrival: 8 minutes We walk over to the station entrance and survey our surprisingly-devoid-of-helpful-signs surroundings. I spot the little fast ticket machine, scan the barcode I have and it spits out our tickets. We wonder outside, vaguely hoping we will find some sort of signage and/or helpful employee to point us in the right direction.

Time to Train Arrival: 6 minutes The platform is swarming with security and police officers, including a pair of head-to-toe neongreen-jumpsuited atv-riding officers. I glance around for the probable reason on why we have just been thrust into the center of a Ludlum novel. Hmm, no Jolie-Pitts, no terrorists, nobody juggling some sort of radioactive bead necklace – at least to my untrained eye. I mention to Melanie that maybe they thought the San Bruno fires were an act of terrorism or something? Proving how fast rumors start, the girl in front of us turns around and says “The San Bruno explosions were caused by terrorists??” Before she can turn around and alert her friends I quickly explain that I was just trying to figure out the extra security. She looks at me like I have just fallen off the spinach truck (or is it turnip??) and says that she assumed it was just due to tomorrow being September 11^th. Ohhh riiight. I decide to quickly extricate myself from the situation and walk over to one of the police officers to ask him if he knows anything about parking at the station. (Because that is what he is here for right, parking? Ha. Hopefully he hadn’t talked to his colleagues outside the Emeryville Starbucks to ascertain that I had already utilized their skills for directions to the station.) He informs me that when you take a train ride somewhere you don’t have to pay for parking, that when you get your ticket the agent should give you a pass for your car. AhHH? I zoom into the station for said pass.

Time to Train Arrival: 2 minutes The not-winning-employee-of-the-month station agent scribbles me a pass and I race out to the lot. I quickly announce to the thief the new deadline time to break into/borrow my car – September 13^th! – and sprint back to the track.

Time to Train Arrival: Oh right, it is here. I find Mel on the platform (apparently asking the guy how long the train waits at the station) and gather up all of my stuff. After picking up my Starbucks drink, Starbucks coffecake, train ticket, i.d, phone, sleeping bag, giant backpack and laptop bag I lumber down the side of the tracks with Mel. Since we are sitting in the coach cars we have the privilege of getting to talk down to the end of the platform (about 8 cars) before we can board. Luckily at the other end we do not need to show our tickets. We board the train and find our seats, stowing our luggage and settling in. Conveniently I waited until we had already left the station to discover my i.d. was missing. After scouring everything on the train it quickly became apparent that my i.d. had been lost somewhere between when I picked up my items on the platform and boarded the train. I called the Emeryville station and spoke to the same agent who had given me the pass earlier. No luck so far.