A little accidental tourism
Jan. 11th, 2008 03:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
multipurposegoddessI took DH to the airport today, so he could go visit his mom for her birthday. I've driven to the Oakland airport umpteen million times in my life, I ought to know how to do it.
I'm pretty pleased with how NOT aggravated I was with myself for making the bonehead maneuver in the first place and for being able to enjoy Yerba Buena. Go Team Rolling With It.
Well, I got there no problem, even in time for DH to make his flight, which looked dicey for a while, but I assume that no message on my phone saying he's stranded at the airport means he made it.
Heading home, I started thinking about whether I should stop and pick something up for lunch or eat leftover stew for the rest of the day and listened to Peter Fonda on Fresh Air. I paid attention to what the cars around me were doing, but not so much what the highway signs said.
Earlier than I expected, I was approaching a bridge. My first thought was that I wouldn't be able to get all the way over to the left where the Fastrak Only lanes live on the Carquinez. But wait, there's a Fastrak Only lane all the way to the right. Hm, the whole approach looks wrong. Did I end up in the wrong lane in Richmond and get myself on the 580, as I have almost done many times in the past? If so, I console myself, I can surely find my way to the 39 and skirt the north edge of the Bay to get home without having to pay another bridge fare.
And then I see the sign for Yerba Buena and realize that I'm on the Bay Bridge. Whoops.
So I take the YB exit, which I have never done before. It's a really pretty drive, especially as everything is all green right now so the trees are gorgeous and even with the fog the views were pretty spectacular. I just kept following the orange "Oakland ->" signs right up to the gate of the Naval Weapons Station (which may not be what it was, I think I am confusing it with something else, but that's how I'm remembering it) where the orange signs directed me to make a U-turn. Beautiful view of the SF skyline right there. Pretty much retraced my path back to the bridge.
For some reason, the merge back onto the bridge there has a stop sign. Now, it is a bit hard to see what the cars in that lane are doing as you approach, but it's harder still to merge into 50 mph traffic from a dead stop. I suppose traffic on the bridge is rarely moving at full speed, but it was today. I made it back on with only one car blowing it's horn petulantly and managed to stay on the correct route the rest of the way home.
Heading home, I started thinking about whether I should stop and pick something up for lunch or eat leftover stew for the rest of the day and listened to Peter Fonda on Fresh Air. I paid attention to what the cars around me were doing, but not so much what the highway signs said.
Earlier than I expected, I was approaching a bridge. My first thought was that I wouldn't be able to get all the way over to the left where the Fastrak Only lanes live on the Carquinez. But wait, there's a Fastrak Only lane all the way to the right. Hm, the whole approach looks wrong. Did I end up in the wrong lane in Richmond and get myself on the 580, as I have almost done many times in the past? If so, I console myself, I can surely find my way to the 39 and skirt the north edge of the Bay to get home without having to pay another bridge fare.
And then I see the sign for Yerba Buena and realize that I'm on the Bay Bridge. Whoops.
So I take the YB exit, which I have never done before. It's a really pretty drive, especially as everything is all green right now so the trees are gorgeous and even with the fog the views were pretty spectacular. I just kept following the orange "Oakland ->" signs right up to the gate of the Naval Weapons Station (which may not be what it was, I think I am confusing it with something else, but that's how I'm remembering it) where the orange signs directed me to make a U-turn. Beautiful view of the SF skyline right there. Pretty much retraced my path back to the bridge.
For some reason, the merge back onto the bridge there has a stop sign. Now, it is a bit hard to see what the cars in that lane are doing as you approach, but it's harder still to merge into 50 mph traffic from a dead stop. I suppose traffic on the bridge is rarely moving at full speed, but it was today. I made it back on with only one car blowing it's horn petulantly and managed to stay on the correct route the rest of the way home.
I'm pretty pleased with how NOT aggravated I was with myself for making the bonehead maneuver in the first place and for being able to enjoy Yerba Buena. Go Team Rolling With It.
