Means of Transport

No longer do I park my car in San Diego. Unless you wish to pay the salaries of San Diego's city employees, leave the driving not to Hertz but to buses, trains, and even Metro Link and the Coaster. San Diego offers you a different picture every day. I've ridden the Coaster over four hundred times and each time the view of the many marshes, hills and sea water changes.
I garage my car either at the Encinitas Train communter lot or the one at Old Town. Think of them as your arteries with trains, trollys and trains the veins. Each bus takes you to a different destination. I took the number 30 bus the first time I visited san Diego. Everyone spoke about the gorgeous beach scenery in La Jolla. The La Jolla seals were in a good mood. I ate a picknick lunch and meandered down a staircase beside a large cave. The kids swam in a small pool with several variety of birds looking on. The Hotel Circle Bus I use to go to the Town and Country. The hotel offers dancng on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Like a football coach with four quarterbacks, you need to find the best way to get to your destination. The buses, trains and trollies link up at Old Town. Since today I am too tired to write. A authentic Mexican meal is my desire. I climb aboart the Green Trolly to to Old Town. The sound of Maria achi music fills my mind with salsa. I sit and listen to a trio who strum their guitars while the violinist is sinking.  I begin to smile and then take in an authentic lunch. After I tap my compass card on a machine.

Once a month I take the Coaster to the Metlink Station at Oceanside. The Link has had a special lately. Ten dollars for all weekends beginnng on Friday Evenings. I check the schedules and arrive for the eleven o'clock emarking time. A sandwich and books accompany me on a half empty train. My fruits looming ahead are San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano... Once a baseball hit by an Angel hit my car when we entered Orange...I hit the Grand Centra Station a little after one o'clock and spent much of my day at the Riordan Library before i visited my daughter. The 720 bus took me to West Los Angeles.

Remember each bus has a special attraction. The number seven takes me to Balboa Park. The 901 to the Coronado Bridge. The 922 to the airport and the 923 to Pacific Beach or OB as they call it.

   Today is the 24th day of September. It is another clear an sunny day. There is a slight off Santa Ana breeze.  I decide to go to the Encinitas Senior Center. It is about twenty miles north from San Diego. My car Dolly has a bad case of turf toe. In car's lingo, she needs an alignment and two new tires. i leave my YMCA Hotel at six o'clock and visit the 7/11 to buy two ripe bananas. I cross the C Street Trolley tracks and Kettner to the Santa Fe Station.
   The Coaster train leaves at six thirty every weekday. In the distance I see two blinking white lights. The lights take turns. My ears hear the "clang, clang, clang" sound. It is closing in on track three. The incoming train is full. The passengers spill out and stumble over one another to catch a trolley, bus or simply walk to their place of work.
   Fewer new passengers begin to enter the Coaster. Many hold a Mr. Starbucks in one hand and a cell phone in the other. There is not one happy face in the lot. A few Mexicans from Tijuana enter and take turns for one of the bathrooms. They speak no English, but work hard as domestics. They have made sure they have paid there fare.
 
   Yesterday, a conductor warned a passenger about the need to pay before entering the Coaster. I will try to paraphrase what he told the misinformed.
      "You will go to court and be fined $500 for riding without paying. A warrant for your arrest
       will be sent if you don't pay...This is a warning!"
  This conductor is nice. He did not write him up.

  I remove my two eggs and banana and indulge. The others are reading the UT or engrossed in their cell phone messages. Passengers get on at Old Town and we take the twenty minute ride to Sorrento Valley. The valleys, gorges, gullies and hills have various trees like the Oak or the many fir trees standing guard. I take out my Charles Dickens book and begin to read after disposing my trash.
   I feel proud to be a grandfather again. I wish to become an American Charles Dickens, so I have been enveloped in all of his books. I am relaxed knowing not driving has helped to lower my blood pressure. Most of the passengers sit on the ocean side or west side of the train. My stop is coming up in Encinitas.
  I empty my trash inside a receptacle  and descend the train. The 309 bus in waiting. I climb aboard at five minutes later. I tap my Compass card in the bus and enjoy the ride up Encinitas Blvd to my destination. I dond't have a care in the world today, my compass card takes care of that. The bus drives up Encinitas Blvd to my destination.  and sp receptacle