Day 2 Travels, Parts 1 & 2

Part 1: Woke up to a glorious day in San Francisco. WOW. I got in my rental car and headed into downtown to meet up with a couple of friends. As I pulled out of the hotel parking lot and onto HWY 101, all I could do was smile. It was probably 60 degrees and sunny and bright. Not a cloud in the sky. AAAAHHHH. As I was driving, the San Francisco Bay was to my right and I was just awed at the incredible weather...I could see clear across the water and over to the hills in the EAST BAY. These are the days, I thought. These are the days why people pay to live here....WOW.
I parked my car along the EMBARCADERO and walked over to the wonderful Ferry Building
If you have never been to SF, please make sure when you go that you make this spot a MUST-SEE.
An amazing, delightful, and intoxicating display of artisan cheeses, flowers, wines, fresh organic produce, mouth-watering deli display cases, and of course, PEETS. If you are at Peets, you can sit and look outside to the Bay or get up and walk outside to the pier. And of course, on a day like today, quite intoxicating and breath-taking. As I walked along the Embarcadero and Ferry Building, I felt injected with all the romance that has been absent from my soul. This place can certainly do it for you!
I went into PEETS and got my standard small coffee. AHHH...the wait has been worth it. Of course, I do order Peets online to drink at home, but there isn't anything quite like a cup of Peets AT Peets!! With cup in hand, I slowly made my way outside and through some downtown streets to meet up with an old friend.

Part 2: By late afternoon, I left the city and drove across the Bay Bridge towards the city I spent most of my younger years in: SAN LEANDRO Just the driving alone started to bring back so many memories. Even though I continue to visit the bay area, it's been many years since i drove on the highways that would lead to my early home. I drove past exits I had forgot the names of, drove passed the exit to my high school and then the exit that would lead me into San Leandro. This small city was never anything to brag or write home about..it was dull, basic, and not very attractive. Trees are almost non-existent and a very hum-drum sort of energy always seemed to permeate the place. I had NEVER liked telling people i lived there...it was like saying you lived no-where. There was nothing that stood out about the place and even if you live in the bay area, you would often not know about the city.
BUT...somehow during this trip...this sort of "pilgrimage", my thoughts changed. almost drastically so. I drove along the streets very slowly...with delicate and sacred intention as if i was paying my deepest respects. I was! I went into the 7-Eleven I frequented as I would walk to my elementary school. I bought a disposable camera and went on towards my little house, the duplex we had lived in. Driving towards it, I passed so many houses I remembered from long ago...homes I had on my paper routes! They looked so much bigger back in 1980!! I made the block and saw the carport of where we used to park our car: a maroon VW SQUAREBACK
It looked almost exactly the same. Old, dumpy, and worn. The entire duplex looked the same with the exception of some bars across the windows (this location is just on the border of OAKLAND/SAN LEANDRO. enough said)
I got out of the car and took a couple of photos and thought to myself; "shit, i hope i don't get shot!"
Amazingly enough, across the street this one building was still standing although it did look like the biz was not operating. The places' sign was still displayed: TROY's TIRE SERVICE. A black man and his son operated that business and were our friends. They frequently patched our car or bicycle tires and let us just hang around. I wonder what happened to 'ole Troy and his son....I stood and looked at our old place for a while. I thought I would be sad, but I really wasn't. I just sort of reminisced and flashed back to when we had parties in the car port and when my sister and I would hose ourselves in the summer and then lay on the sloped cement driveway and dry ourselves...our cheeks then getting indentations from the surface as our hair dried and we lay there peacefully. I saw images of playing touch football in the street with my 2 brothers and uncle...us all pretending to be the NFL players of the time; Brian Sipe, Walter Payton, Terry Bradshaw. Soon....I came out of my reminiscing and returned to my vehicle and towards my next stop: church.