Are We Not Men?
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Got up early, showered, packed, and ate again at the Curry buffet. Got on the earliest YARTS shuttle back from Yosemite to Merced. Listened to Metallica's black album on the way--my dad played it in the car during one of our trips up there in 1994, when it was just me and brother Zack with him. I arrived at the Merced Amtrak station and called the hotel I stayed in before I went to Yosemite, so I could retrieve my camera battery. I gave them half an hour to find it (there were a couple of lost-and-found areas). When they told me it couldn't be found, I said, "THAT'S IT. I'm coming over." I asked the Amtrak station to hold my luggage for a little while until I could come back to it, and skated 2 miles to the hotel. I got the run-around a little bit, but pressed, and sure enough, the battery to my camera was exactly where I knew I had left it, plugged into a wall socket just inside the front door. The staff didn't bother taking care of it when I had called two days before. But no worries; I could move on. Skated back to the Amtrak station, collected my luggage, and took the bus system to Atwater. The bus went right through what used to be Castle Air Force Base, which was a depressing sight, but I determined that I would take my time when I got around to it.
Checked into a hotel right off of Highway 99. I was supposed to be there for four nights, but I was just short of cash to pay for all of it, so I paid for three and then kicked myself for spending so much money whlie dining at the Ahwahnee Hotel alone. I knew I had plenty of spending cash at the start of my trip, but staying in the Ontario airport for 36 hours, and not getting to go grocery shopping BEFORE I went to Yosemite, screwed me over as I ate out for almost every meal for four days straight. Went to my hotel room and collapsed, and tried to nap, but I was too restless to sleep. I decided to simply start seeing my hometown.
Stuffed my camera and my cell phone into my pockets, and headed out on the skateboard. I learned real quick that I could only ride skate on pavement; I couldn't get very far on the sidewalks without being thrown off because of a deep crack. Ate at Fosters Freeze, a great burger-and-shake joint that I remembered from my childhood. Took photos of downtown and the surrounding neighborhood. Skated down to my old neighborhood, which used to be military housing. The houses were still there, but now it is a gated senior community. I snuck past the gate and found my old house. It still exists! It looked EXACTLY the same as I remembered it, and as I approached, I found that no one was living in the house. I got right up to the windows and took pictures. I was paranoid the whole time, and had a whole speech prepared in case someone threatened to call the cops, but no one bothered me (or probably never saw me in the first place). I skated around to see some other houses in the neighborhood, then had to hop the tall metal fence to get out. Stopped by a baseball field to watch a community youth game going on, then went back to my hotel. Went out one more time for a milkshake at Fosters Freeze, then returned to my hotel and called it a night.
Got up early, showered, packed, and ate again at the Curry buffet. Got on the earliest YARTS shuttle back from Yosemite to Merced. Listened to Metallica's black album on the way--my dad played it in the car during one of our trips up there in 1994, when it was just me and brother Zack with him. I arrived at the Merced Amtrak station and called the hotel I stayed in before I went to Yosemite, so I could retrieve my camera battery. I gave them half an hour to find it (there were a couple of lost-and-found areas). When they told me it couldn't be found, I said, "THAT'S IT. I'm coming over." I asked the Amtrak station to hold my luggage for a little while until I could come back to it, and skated 2 miles to the hotel. I got the run-around a little bit, but pressed, and sure enough, the battery to my camera was exactly where I knew I had left it, plugged into a wall socket just inside the front door. The staff didn't bother taking care of it when I had called two days before. But no worries; I could move on. Skated back to the Amtrak station, collected my luggage, and took the bus system to Atwater. The bus went right through what used to be Castle Air Force Base, which was a depressing sight, but I determined that I would take my time when I got around to it.
Checked into a hotel right off of Highway 99. I was supposed to be there for four nights, but I was just short of cash to pay for all of it, so I paid for three and then kicked myself for spending so much money whlie dining at the Ahwahnee Hotel alone. I knew I had plenty of spending cash at the start of my trip, but staying in the Ontario airport for 36 hours, and not getting to go grocery shopping BEFORE I went to Yosemite, screwed me over as I ate out for almost every meal for four days straight. Went to my hotel room and collapsed, and tried to nap, but I was too restless to sleep. I decided to simply start seeing my hometown.
Stuffed my camera and my cell phone into my pockets, and headed out on the skateboard. I learned real quick that I could only ride skate on pavement; I couldn't get very far on the sidewalks without being thrown off because of a deep crack. Ate at Fosters Freeze, a great burger-and-shake joint that I remembered from my childhood. Took photos of downtown and the surrounding neighborhood. Skated down to my old neighborhood, which used to be military housing. The houses were still there, but now it is a gated senior community. I snuck past the gate and found my old house. It still exists! It looked EXACTLY the same as I remembered it, and as I approached, I found that no one was living in the house. I got right up to the windows and took pictures. I was paranoid the whole time, and had a whole speech prepared in case someone threatened to call the cops, but no one bothered me (or probably never saw me in the first place). I skated around to see some other houses in the neighborhood, then had to hop the tall metal fence to get out. Stopped by a baseball field to watch a community youth game going on, then went back to my hotel. Went out one more time for a milkshake at Fosters Freeze, then returned to my hotel and called it a night.