I'm Back In California!
Having not heard from Frank about the directions of his travels, I bid farewell to Brittany and rode the train into New York headed for Burlington, VT. First, however, I planned to meet up with Dave in the city for breakfast. As 9:00 sharp became 10:30, I realized that I had totally missed my train to Vermont and decided I felt like staying in the city for the day. I met Dave and we happened upon this nice little diner which was quite affordable.
On the way out from the diner, we saw an advertisement showcasing the olympic gold medal runner guy (not sure on his name) and as we were commenting a third gentleman joined the conversation from off the street. We stopped to talk, and it turned out that he was the staff photographer for New York City Hall - basically, the fly on the wall who knows everything and has great connections within city government. It was Dave's second day in New York, and already he is on his way to being well connected as an activist.
We crashed in Queens in a bugged apartment and I woke up in the morning at 6 AM, after three hours of sleep, to catch thte only craigslist ride to Montreal - saving me from the prospect of an $80 dollar train or bus ride out of the city on a holiday. The driver was wiggy and absent-minded and insisted on a two and a half hour stop at an outlet mall to buy a pair of shoes, but the other passenger was a Colombiana from Florida and Queens who made for fantastic company during the hair-raising drive and the long layovers up Interstate 87.
At Port Kent, NY, a small town with little more than an Amtrak platform, a dock, and a french fry stand, I disembarked from the car to cross Lake Champlain on the ferry to Burlington as the sun set. I arrived in Burlington to meet Bronwyn, and old Summer's End-er that I had not seen since two years ago, and her housemates and friends as they enjoyed the last weekend of summer out drinking in Burlington's wonderful bar scene, in swimming holes not far out of town, and staying in to play Jenga, drink Genessee Cream Ale, and barbecue hamburgers.
While wandering through Burlington on Saturday, I was sitting in the Crow, a used book store on Church Street, looking through architectural design and gardening books thinking "this is absolutely what I would like to do." I get home and as I'm looking through craigslist, I find an ad that proclaims "Urban Homesteading" for a reasonable price and with seemingly great potential out in Berkeley. Then, only a couple hours later, a friend calls me up and asks me to tour with his band on a get-out-the-vote tour through swing states!
Clearly this is an offer I can't refuse. I booked a ticket home from New York to San Francisco, with three days advance purchase (and a good price to boot!) and on Labor Day, after a hearty free meal at Battery Park on Lake Champlain, I hitchhiked back down to New York in eight hours, gathering a few shorter rides through Vermont and a long ride down to the Metro North with the UU minister from Lancaster, PA. I made the train in the nick of time and crashed again in Queens on Monday and Tuesday nights.
Wednesday, after omelettes, I set out for San Francisco - taking the E train to the Airtrain to the airplane to the Airtrain to the BART, and marveling at how far one can travel without leaving "the bunker." I slept in this morning and went to a protest on UC Berkeley campus, where I met some folks who hopefully will be interested in having an SDS chapter here. This weekend I'll be getting paid to do a brain-imaging marketing study and to park cars at Power To The Peaceful in San Francisco, and meeting up with some CSSC folk from SF State; and after that, I'll head to LA to meet up with the band.
Long story short, this week I have found myself in an incredible flow which I hope to carry forward as I travel, make music, build movements, and eventually make my home up here in the Bay. The possibilities are truly endless.
Tank
Berkeley, CA
On the way out from the diner, we saw an advertisement showcasing the olympic gold medal runner guy (not sure on his name) and as we were commenting a third gentleman joined the conversation from off the street. We stopped to talk, and it turned out that he was the staff photographer for New York City Hall - basically, the fly on the wall who knows everything and has great connections within city government. It was Dave's second day in New York, and already he is on his way to being well connected as an activist.
We crashed in Queens in a bugged apartment and I woke up in the morning at 6 AM, after three hours of sleep, to catch thte only craigslist ride to Montreal - saving me from the prospect of an $80 dollar train or bus ride out of the city on a holiday. The driver was wiggy and absent-minded and insisted on a two and a half hour stop at an outlet mall to buy a pair of shoes, but the other passenger was a Colombiana from Florida and Queens who made for fantastic company during the hair-raising drive and the long layovers up Interstate 87.
At Port Kent, NY, a small town with little more than an Amtrak platform, a dock, and a french fry stand, I disembarked from the car to cross Lake Champlain on the ferry to Burlington as the sun set. I arrived in Burlington to meet Bronwyn, and old Summer's End-er that I had not seen since two years ago, and her housemates and friends as they enjoyed the last weekend of summer out drinking in Burlington's wonderful bar scene, in swimming holes not far out of town, and staying in to play Jenga, drink Genessee Cream Ale, and barbecue hamburgers.
While wandering through Burlington on Saturday, I was sitting in the Crow, a used book store on Church Street, looking through architectural design and gardening books thinking "this is absolutely what I would like to do." I get home and as I'm looking through craigslist, I find an ad that proclaims "Urban Homesteading" for a reasonable price and with seemingly great potential out in Berkeley. Then, only a couple hours later, a friend calls me up and asks me to tour with his band on a get-out-the-vote tour through swing states!
Clearly this is an offer I can't refuse. I booked a ticket home from New York to San Francisco, with three days advance purchase (and a good price to boot!) and on Labor Day, after a hearty free meal at Battery Park on Lake Champlain, I hitchhiked back down to New York in eight hours, gathering a few shorter rides through Vermont and a long ride down to the Metro North with the UU minister from Lancaster, PA. I made the train in the nick of time and crashed again in Queens on Monday and Tuesday nights.
Wednesday, after omelettes, I set out for San Francisco - taking the E train to the Airtrain to the airplane to the Airtrain to the BART, and marveling at how far one can travel without leaving "the bunker." I slept in this morning and went to a protest on UC Berkeley campus, where I met some folks who hopefully will be interested in having an SDS chapter here. This weekend I'll be getting paid to do a brain-imaging marketing study and to park cars at Power To The Peaceful in San Francisco, and meeting up with some CSSC folk from SF State; and after that, I'll head to LA to meet up with the band.
Long story short, this week I have found myself in an incredible flow which I hope to carry forward as I travel, make music, build movements, and eventually make my home up here in the Bay. The possibilities are truly endless.
Tank
Berkeley, CA
posted by tank at 9:19 PM
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