Call Off the Search Parties

[kevin_standlee]

We set out just past 12:30 PM and set a course for the Alameda Creek Trail. Here's the course we followed. Two hours later, at about 9.5 km, we stopped and had lunch at the Alameda Creek Stables Staging Area near the Ardenwood/Union City Blvd bridge. Then we decided that rather than turning back home, we would swing around through the Coyote Hills Regional Park, which sort of committed us to continuing on along the Bayview and Apay Way trails, crossing CA-84 on the pedestrian bridge over the Dumbarton Bridge toll plaza, and into the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. Here, I fed a couple of dollars into a vending machine to buy a couple of Diet Cokes priced at 90 cents each. Thanks to other people having not collected their change, I got fifty cents back. This would prove important later.

We had previously resolved that if we made it this far and didn't feel like continuing, we could call a taxi from here. Although we were a bit tired and footsore, we decided to go ahead and continue walking home over Thornton Avenue through Newark. If you went and looked at the walking map, you'll see that it's an open loop. That's because while walking through Newark and waiting for a traffic light, I looked up back and saw that we were at a stop for bus route 218, which also runs right in front of our apartment, and the once-an-hour bus was approaching. On the spur of the moment, we decided to go ahead and ride the bus the last 5 km or so home. We boarded the bus and I dug for my wallet in our backpack. (I was wearing shorts today, with no place for my wallet.) Bus fare is $1.75. I hadn't brought any small change when I packed my wallet in the backpack. Fortunately for me, the extra change from the vending machine at DENWR meant that I didn't have to waste fifty cents overpaying the bus fare.

The bus driver didn't notice that we'd pushed the "Stop Request" button for our stop and overshot it. "Oy! You missed our stop!" I yelled from the back door. The driver, who had been yakking away on his cell phone since before picking us up, made a quick stop that actually put us slightly closer to the entry to the apartment complex. I appreciated this, as my legs were starting to seize up after slightly more than twenty kilometers hiking today.

Including the bus ride, we got home just before 6:30 PM. We both think much rest is now called for. We can veg out and watch rugby matches without feeling the slightest bit guilty.

Update, 21:00: Corrected typos and clarified some points. You expect me to be coherent after hiking 20 km?

Comments

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

Not my bus! Not my bus! *grin*

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

*chuckle* That's right. It's one of those AC Transit drivers. And he wasn't even using a headset or other hands-free device.

[dave-gallaher.livejournal.com]

Don't feel like you were singled out. I regularly ride the SB from San Francisco, taking the bus at the same time each day. The regular driver still misses requested stops (even mine now and then) (although it would help if they didn't keep moving my stop) and he isn't even talking on his cell phone.

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

Is that also an AC transit bus?

[dave-gallaher.livejournal.com]

Yes. One of the Transbay bus lines, normally the green ones with the Wi-Fi (see http://www.actransit.org/news/articledetail.wu?articleid=5c933dca&PHPSESSID=70641d65cff73786bde11f5338467288), though lately the 1000 series and 4000 series busses about 40% of the time (not appropriate for our route).

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

You know, I just don't like people goin' all off on my peeps. :-)

[dave-gallaher.livejournal.com]

Hey, you were within walking distance of our house. I've got Diet Coke that neither Spring nor I drink. (A hike like yours, all of Fremont is within walking distance!)

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Yes, I knew we were nearby you. We would have been even nearer if we'd come down Ardenwood after having lunch, rather than swinging out through Coyote Hills. I thought of dinogrl when noting that there seemed to be a lot fewer lizards on that section of the Alameda Creek Trail than there are at the section near Quarry Lakes.

[howeird]

One thing I love about metric,it sounds so much more impressive to say how many kms you walked vs.miles. Still, a laudable effort!

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I don't think walking 12 1/2 miles is that shabby, either.

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

That is alot of walking I am expecting to walk that over four days at SDCC, not in one day. My legs would seize up a mile into it. I have only been regularly walking the last month and a half in preparation for SDCC.

[chocolatescifi.livejournal.com]

I think I can go you one better on bus drivers, Kevin. One time, I got on a TARC bus, and the entire time, the driver was talking with a friend who was helping him download a ringtone for his cellphone. I'm surprised that he could even be spared time to deal with unimportant stuff like driving the bus.

And yes, we expect you to be coherent after hiking 20 km.