If you're going to San Francisco

August 12th, 2002 was a pretty important day in my life, for a number of reasons. I spent that day roaming around the city of San Francisco with my best friend and traveling companion Stephanie.

Stephanie had spent the summer in LA. I flew out there in late July to spend a couple of weeks there. It was my first time out there, and it was a big deal. (more on that later) Stephanie had to drive back to South Carolina. So I offered to drive home with her. We decided to go to San Francisco first, to visit my brother Jesse. Then we would drive cross country, beginning from there.

So this particular Monday morning, we woke up in San Francisco. Something very important happened right away. Jesse lived in Oakland but worked in San Francisco. He lives in a nice little house. It had a front and back yard, and was on a relatively quiet street, in a relatively nice neighborhood. We walked about an 8th of a mile to a bus stop and waited for about 5 minutes. We got on the bus and rode for a little less than 10 minutes. We got off the bus and walked into the train station. We boarded a train. We rode for less than 5 minutes. Under the bay which was pretty cool by the way. We arrived in San Francisco, and then walked about 6 blocks to Jesse's office. All for just a few bucks. I couldn't believe how easy it was. No worries about gas or parking or anything. No dealing with traffic. And Jesse didn't have to live in a big high rise stacked on top of anyone. And thus began my interest/facination/obsession with public transportation. We took various forms of transportation the rest of the day, and needless to say, I was in love.

More important than that was the city itself. What a cool place and what a fun day. Steph and I were just really getting to know one another. And it was the best way to do it. We hoofed it all over that place. We saw Pac-Bell park where the Dirty Giants play baseball. We went out to a park, where we could see the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked down crazy crooked Lombard Street. We went to China Town and Downtown. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe. And we went to the corner of Haight/Ashbury. It was a fantastic time. I still feel bad that Steph didn't get to see the Full House house. I will take her back someday.

This was what it was all about for me. This was real world exploring. Road Tripping. Seeing places in person that I had seen my whole life on TV. And the thing that got me the most was that it was really not hard. I was 3000 miles away and having the time of my life. This is the point that I realized I can do anything I want. I can go anywhere I want. And I DO want to go places. And I DO want to do things. Its the day I began to see how badly most people live their lives. With no freedom. Steph and I just went to San Francisco. Why? Because we could. Maybe it was just that Haight/Ashbury mood I was in, but I realized that maybe the ideals of "60's" are still very relavent today. (more on that later) I hate to put to grand a stamp on the whole day, but it was Earthshattering for me. I have since dedicated my life to living it they way I want. I will go off and explore the world.

The other thing that happened was that I really found Stephanie that day. We had bonded over a lot of things already. But this was the cement that sealed the deal. I found someone that thought like I did. Someone that sought adventure and believed in excitement and passion. And someone that also did not believe that being married and having kids and having a "good job" and a house are the true meaning of life. She validated all of the emotions and thoughts and feelings I'd been having for years. I thought I was nuts. That there was something wrong with me. Turns out, that I just wanted more out of my life than to be just a regular Joe. Every day since then has been better than before.

Looking back on that day, Its really very important. A date I should remember. But I didn't right away. A weird thing happened today. I was listening to the Ipod while at work and If You're Going to San Francisco came on. Real quick explanation. In 2002, I made a CD of 60's songs that were part of that whole SF Monterrey Pop Festival movement. And they are all on my Ipod. I have heard that song on the Ipod many times at work, but it was today that it made all of those memories come flooding back to me. I honestly spent an hour thinking about that day. All the while skipping songs until I came to the songs that were on that CD. It made me really happy, and it really reminded me about how that place and that day made me feel. It wasn't until on the way home, that I realize that today was the 3 year anniversary of that day. It's pretty weird, but its true.

-T