From Isla Vista it was time for my first Greyhound bus experience – all 8.5hours of it – up the coast to Oakland. During my travels I’ve been reading Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’, a classic from the 1950′s beat generation, based on Kerouac’s own travels around the U.S. Kerouac often rode the Greyhound, and described his experiences, so it was funny to be in the same situation 60 years later. I can confirm that they are still stuffy, crowded and full of all walks of humanity, but I was lucky to meet some friendly fellow wanderers. I broke out into the hugest grin when a Brazilian guy I met told me he was on his way to Napa Valley to see “a reggae band… called Katchafire.” Represent!
Toward the end of my ride, two men boarded the bus together, and we quickly established that we were all couchsurfers, and they were looking for somewhere to stay that night in San Fran. They ended up being transferred to another bus, but I exchanged details with Olivier, a smiley frenchman who was keen to explore SF with me. Well, he turned out to be one of the very best people! When we met up in the city, he asked if we could head off in search of Jack Kerouac Alley (I hadn’t even mentioned Kerouac yet!!), so we set off and explored that area, spending large amounts of time in both the bookstore and the bar which Kerouac used to frequent. Olivier and I found we had a lot in common, and I fell for his wonderful energy and fantastic outlook on life. It was an absolutely perfect day. My host in Oakland was Caitlin’s good friend Ben, who is another spectacular human being. He gave me a sticker that said “I met a real clown today,” and when I wore it out, a real clown boarded my ferry!! Ben is also a CS host, and one of the best, with a pre-prepared Word doc with insider tips on where to go in the bay area, links to local websites of events etc. Olivier came out and stayed with us the second night, and we both fell in love with Oakland – the only place I’ve ever heard someone sincerely say “can I get a woop woop?” (in response to receiving a cigarette). We set out to find real coffee (American coffee is pretty terrible), and found the best place… We stopped to admire a street side art installation, and when we went to continue we realised we faced two crossroads: one like any other street crossing, the other painted in a rainbow. Naturally, we chose the rainbow, and on the other side lay a “Taqueria” (Mexican cafe), with espresso! Perfection. I keep being told, “Tarsh, NOBODY visits Oakland,” but we really had the best time, sipping coffee and meeting passersby. It could have almost passed for Modaks or Mou Very on a sunny Dunedin day… Ben, Olivier and I spent the funniest afternoon ‘thrift shopping’ (op shops!) These two guys are just the most hilarious. Macklemore has nothin’ on us when it comes to thrift shopping, I tell ya ;) Our enthusiasm was unbeatable, and when one of the stores announced 20% off dresses, well!! Too much excitement for one day really. It was hard to say goodbye to Olivier so soon, but – we will always have Oakland.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
I am a conservation field worker in New Zealand. I love mountains, sunrises, river swims, barefeet, cold beer, campfires, live music and whiskey. Archives
December 2014
Categories |