Update, for those interested:
- The "business" part of the trip took only about 3 hours. Everything went smoothly - the contractors were very on-the-ball, and were 100% behind the pre-installation requirements that I pointed out.
I was panhandled only once, and did not see anyone urinating on anything. :'(
- It was in the low 70s during the day, and allegedly mid 40s at night. Very reasonable weather, requiring a light jacket in the morning, but that was it.
Day 1: Berkeley Gardens. Very nice. I've never seen so many desert plants just out in the open. Up until about a year ago, I'd never been farther south than Washington DC, which looks to be slightly south of Denver, CO. I have since been to Alabama, Texas, and Louisiana, which are certainly not "desert" anything. Humid as hell, especially Louisiana. There was no time for anything else on those trips though. Well, and there was Vegas, but that was in the Strip, where everything is 100% artificial.
There were big aloes in full bloom; potted lithops and haworthias, cacti larger than any I've seen before, though that's not saying a whole lot; little gray lizards skittering around the paths; a snake and large newts swimming in the pond, and a hill-walking workout for my office-job legs.
Oh, and I have no plans to drive in San Francisco or Berkeley, ever again. Assume a normal following distance at 15mph. Then do that at 70mph, with 4 or 5 lanes of traffic.
Or, assume a normal following distance at 15mph, because you'll also be spending a lot of time at that speed.
I also never saw lane-splitting done before. Given how I saw people changing lanes there, I'm amazed that any of them survive more than a few miles of that.
The pedestrians took some getting used to. Fortunately, I was told about that in a previous trip in Las Vegas. It's nothing like in PA.
Here, pedestrians cross wherever and whenever they want to, typically after looking for traffic. Crosswalk signs are at plenty of intersections, but no one pays attention to them. But most people know to not be on the road when there's traffic coming.
CA: Pedestrians usually waited for the signal, and at that point, the cars had damn well better stop, because they're going to cross. Looks like it's the law there: Even if I was just standing at an island by a crosswalk near a yield sign, cars will still quickly stop. The efficiency side of my mind wants them to keep moving, rather than slow down and accelerate again just to let me cross.
This "yield to pedestrians" has a big weakness: Stop signs in crowded areas. I accidentally left the Gardens during a class change. It takes a long time to get through a stop sign there. Pedestrians cross without even looking for traffic; I presume that they are legally assured of right of way.
I think PA has similar laws, but I don't think they're ever enforced.
Day 2: I learned that San Francisco buses are confusing, and extremely crowded. "Bus 44" - there are many Bus 44s. Looking at the live map, there are at least nine Bus 44s. (Numbered by route rather than bus, it would seem. Shows what I know.)
I evidently needed to go to a specific bus stop, with a specific 5-digit bus stop ID#. I knew "Bus 44" and nothing more, and with a 50/50 chance, started off in the wrong direction.
After 3 confused transfers, about 2 miles of walking by GPS to find my way back to some place familiar, some time traveling through some rather lousy areas of town and almost seeing a fight start on one bus, and wasting more than 2 hours, I finally made it to the $30/ticket California Academy of Science, with under 2 hours until they closed.
(The buses were jam-packed standing-room-only. I'm accustomed to buses that are 20-90% full, with adequate seating available, though I'm not on buses very often here. It wasn't crowded like a Tokyo subway, but....damn. People did always politely move to make room for handicapped and elderly passengers though.)
2hrs at the Academy of Science was just fine though. It seems to be geared toward a slightly younger audience, and was fairly basic in terms of its exhibits. But it did have some nice saltwater tanks, and a decent rainforest habitat with various birds, butterflies, and plants.
Luggage: I paid to have it stored at the airport. I'm glad I didn't have to take that with me. That wouldn't have been fun at all with all the bus travel and wandering around semi-lost.
I'm expecting that I'll be going back again, and will seek out other things to do on that trip, minus the rental car. That one will be a post-installation inspection, and will be more involved and time-consuming. But I'm figuring to plan a few days too for a bit of a proper vacation. I'll be looking for things within walking distance of the BART rail service. That was on-time, efficient, and had adequate seating; I wouldn't mind using it again. I'll say that it's expensive to get around in SF though, unless you're walking.
- Go back to Berkeley for another day....possibly by bus. *shudder*
- Golden Gate Park Botanical Garden and the Japanese Tea Garden
- Computer history museum
- If the effects of lactase tablets weren't so hit-or-miss, I might try the Fenton's Creamery. Damn stupid digestive tract, thinking I'm no longer an infant. Masse's Pastries might work though.
- Muir Woods: I don't know if that'll happen. 2h30m by public transit, of which 1.5hrs is spent standing on a crowded bus. Or rent a car and crawl there in heavy traffic, and tolls++.
- ????
Like a number of other people, I'm sure, I'm not terribly keen on checked luggage. Once I got bumped from a flight. (Weight restriction. 10 people were bumped from a 37-passenger plane.) I was flown to another airport, and then bused to the original airport at about 20mph through a snowstorm.
My luggage, however, was left on the original plane, and it arrived in my home town several hours before I did. I got there after the airport closed. :\
They did finally deliver it the next afternoon, after I had to call and ask them about it. (I was told it'd be taken care of, and delivered before 9am.)
Shorty: About your YATT: I'll say this, it was a change going from just-south-of-Canada-in-winter to sunny, warm California. People there were dressed a little bit differently. And I drove through a liberal college campus.
No pics. :twisted:
- The "business" part of the trip took only about 3 hours. Everything went smoothly - the contractors were very on-the-ball, and were 100% behind the pre-installation requirements that I pointed out.
I was panhandled only once, and did not see anyone urinating on anything. :'(
- It was in the low 70s during the day, and allegedly mid 40s at night. Very reasonable weather, requiring a light jacket in the morning, but that was it.
Day 1: Berkeley Gardens. Very nice. I've never seen so many desert plants just out in the open. Up until about a year ago, I'd never been farther south than Washington DC, which looks to be slightly south of Denver, CO. I have since been to Alabama, Texas, and Louisiana, which are certainly not "desert" anything. Humid as hell, especially Louisiana. There was no time for anything else on those trips though. Well, and there was Vegas, but that was in the Strip, where everything is 100% artificial.
There were big aloes in full bloom; potted lithops and haworthias, cacti larger than any I've seen before, though that's not saying a whole lot; little gray lizards skittering around the paths; a snake and large newts swimming in the pond, and a hill-walking workout for my office-job legs.
Oh, and I have no plans to drive in San Francisco or Berkeley, ever again. Assume a normal following distance at 15mph. Then do that at 70mph, with 4 or 5 lanes of traffic.
Or, assume a normal following distance at 15mph, because you'll also be spending a lot of time at that speed.
I also never saw lane-splitting done before. Given how I saw people changing lanes there, I'm amazed that any of them survive more than a few miles of that.
The pedestrians took some getting used to. Fortunately, I was told about that in a previous trip in Las Vegas. It's nothing like in PA.
Here, pedestrians cross wherever and whenever they want to, typically after looking for traffic. Crosswalk signs are at plenty of intersections, but no one pays attention to them. But most people know to not be on the road when there's traffic coming.
CA: Pedestrians usually waited for the signal, and at that point, the cars had damn well better stop, because they're going to cross. Looks like it's the law there: Even if I was just standing at an island by a crosswalk near a yield sign, cars will still quickly stop. The efficiency side of my mind wants them to keep moving, rather than slow down and accelerate again just to let me cross.
This "yield to pedestrians" has a big weakness: Stop signs in crowded areas. I accidentally left the Gardens during a class change. It takes a long time to get through a stop sign there. Pedestrians cross without even looking for traffic; I presume that they are legally assured of right of way.
I think PA has similar laws, but I don't think they're ever enforced.
Day 2: I learned that San Francisco buses are confusing, and extremely crowded. "Bus 44" - there are many Bus 44s. Looking at the live map, there are at least nine Bus 44s. (Numbered by route rather than bus, it would seem. Shows what I know.)
I evidently needed to go to a specific bus stop, with a specific 5-digit bus stop ID#. I knew "Bus 44" and nothing more, and with a 50/50 chance, started off in the wrong direction.
After 3 confused transfers, about 2 miles of walking by GPS to find my way back to some place familiar, some time traveling through some rather lousy areas of town and almost seeing a fight start on one bus, and wasting more than 2 hours, I finally made it to the $30/ticket California Academy of Science, with under 2 hours until they closed.
(The buses were jam-packed standing-room-only. I'm accustomed to buses that are 20-90% full, with adequate seating available, though I'm not on buses very often here. It wasn't crowded like a Tokyo subway, but....damn. People did always politely move to make room for handicapped and elderly passengers though.)
2hrs at the Academy of Science was just fine though. It seems to be geared toward a slightly younger audience, and was fairly basic in terms of its exhibits. But it did have some nice saltwater tanks, and a decent rainforest habitat with various birds, butterflies, and plants.
Luggage: I paid to have it stored at the airport. I'm glad I didn't have to take that with me. That wouldn't have been fun at all with all the bus travel and wandering around semi-lost.
I'm expecting that I'll be going back again, and will seek out other things to do on that trip, minus the rental car. That one will be a post-installation inspection, and will be more involved and time-consuming. But I'm figuring to plan a few days too for a bit of a proper vacation. I'll be looking for things within walking distance of the BART rail service. That was on-time, efficient, and had adequate seating; I wouldn't mind using it again. I'll say that it's expensive to get around in SF though, unless you're walking.
- Go back to Berkeley for another day....possibly by bus. *shudder*
- Golden Gate Park Botanical Garden and the Japanese Tea Garden
- Computer history museum
- If the effects of lactase tablets weren't so hit-or-miss, I might try the Fenton's Creamery. Damn stupid digestive tract, thinking I'm no longer an infant. Masse's Pastries might work though.
- Muir Woods: I don't know if that'll happen. 2h30m by public transit, of which 1.5hrs is spent standing on a crowded bus. Or rent a car and crawl there in heavy traffic, and tolls++.
- ????
Paid-for checked luggage? Are you able to access it again once it's checked, prior to boarding the plane?
Like a number of other people, I'm sure, I'm not terribly keen on checked luggage. Once I got bumped from a flight. (Weight restriction. 10 people were bumped from a 37-passenger plane.) I was flown to another airport, and then bused to the original airport at about 20mph through a snowstorm.
My luggage, however, was left on the original plane, and it arrived in my home town several hours before I did. I got there after the airport closed. :\
They did finally deliver it the next afternoon, after I had to call and ask them about it. (I was told it'd be taken care of, and delivered before 9am.)
Shorty: About your YATT: I'll say this, it was a change going from just-south-of-Canada-in-winter to sunny, warm California. People there were dressed a little bit differently. And I drove through a liberal college campus.
No pics. :twisted: