A Night in Oaktown

Day 15

On day 15 Tobe and I went into Oakland to watch the A's kick the trash out of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The game started at 7:00 on a Friday night -- knowing we would have to travel during rush hour, Mr. Matthew Tobler and I decided to take public transportation to the Coliseum. This took serious, SERIOUS preparation.

While Matt was at work, I researched the best routes to get to and from Oakland. I prepared a list of possible bus routes for the following:

1) Annie's ride into the city to meet Toby at work
2) Annie and Toby's ride on the BART to the Coliseum
3) An 8:30 departure (in case the game was horrible)
4) A 9:00 departure
5) A 9:30 departure
and
6) A 10:00 departure

I didn't want any foul ups.

I also made sure to pack Toby clothes for the game, and snacks for the ride into Oakland.
When the appointed hour arrived, I took my bag full of Toby's goodies and went to meet bus 41. Everything went quite smoothly -- however, still having some public transportation nerves, I dropped my $2.00 fare (in quarters) onto the stairs of the bus upon boarding. Looking at me with concern mixed with annoyance, the bus driver started the bus on its merry way while I grappled for my change on the steps. Man, good thing I've been doing kenpo or somebody would have been walkin'.

Anyway, despite my one mishap, all was well. I made it safely to 100 1st St., Tobe made a quick wardrobe change and we were off to find the BART.

Now I would like to stress to you the confusion the BART transit center can cause. Upon descending underground, the hustle, flashing signs, and massive crowds were so befuddling Tobe and I could barely communicate. After stuttering and hand signaling to the nearest ticket booth, we secured our tickets and went to wait for the BART.

At this point Toby had snack #1:

After Toby pounded his traveling treats, the BART arrived. We were pretty excited. We talked and giggled the whole way to Oakland amidst stoic, i-pod wearing, commuters.

Lucky for us, we were able to get right off BART and take a skywalk directly to the Coliseum.
We got to the stadium right before 6:00. It was pretty peachy.

On the night we went to the game, the Giants were playing the Red Socks. No one wanted to miss out on what was going on at AT&T Park that night, so we were able to purchase AWESOME tickets -- field level for $20 a piece.
Third row, on the third baseline. Word.

Once we found our seats, Toby had snack #2:
He got a hot dog - he wasn't impressed.

So he had to have Snack #3:

What was impressive was Coco Crisp's flexibility...
He must do P90X.

The game was very entertaining. Toby noticed the Pirates and the A's were both playing their worst pitchers that night -- they did not disappoint.

Coco Crisp hit a single, double, triple (and we think a homerun -- we left a little early) -- and in that order. The Oakland resident next to me kept talking about how proud she was of her "Mistuh Crispie Creme."

Since I was a little tentative about taking a bus out of downtown San Francisco late at night, I made Toby leave the stadium at 9:30. Right after we left, the A's scored 7 runs -- sorry, Tobe. My bad.

We caught the BART back to the city right at 9:45 -- we were pretty proud our transportation had gone so smoothly.

We got off at the Montgomery St. station and summited the stairs at Sansome and Sutter (the intersection where my previous bus adventure occurred).

According to my notes, bus 3 was supposed to arrive at 10:15, it was 10:00. Toby and I waited patiently as multiple different buses came to different stops at the intersection. Slowly, 10:15 came and went and it soon became 10:25, 10:35, then 10:45.

I kept telling Toby,

"It has to come, Tobe, it is probably just behind schedule."

I don't think he believed me, but he just laughed and smiled and kept waiting.

We watched anxiously for bus 3 as dozens of buses continued to come into our view. It never came.

I was so happy during this bus mishap I had Toby by my side.

After watching a few homeless men carry their blankets to their resting spot for the night, Tobe made the executive decision to hail a taxi -- also unsuccessful.

No unoccupied cab ever passed our way, and when I called the Yellow Cab Co. they responded,

"Sah-rry, wreng numbah."

And hung up.

Wah?

As we were about to start getting creative, blessed bus 12: Van Ness and Pacific came into view. I knew from my extensive research of the San Francisco public transit system that bus 12 went into our neighborhood.

"Toby!" I gasped. "Bus 12 will get us home!"

Toby looked at me and nodded, already moving to get to bus and we sprinted to the bus's upcoming stop.

We have never enjoyed a bus ride more.

Bus 12 got us safely home. As we entered our apartment, I looked at Toby and said,

"I am never taking a bus from the corner of Sansome and Sutter ever again."

And I am sure in his mind he was giving me a hearty "Amen!"