Day Three: Oh hey there San Francisco (Jen again)

As one would expect, it's a bit of an experience to sleep in bunk beds on a moving train. The night before, our delightfully sassy attendant, David, went around setting up everyone's beds (there are 10 roomettes in our car in total - he also brings meals for those who don't want to eat in the dining car, assists those with mobility issues, and shaking his head Trish and I as needed). Setting up the beds involves converting the two seats in the room to a bottom bunk for Trish, and lowering the upper bunk for me. Also, showing me where to clip in the criss-cross straps meant to prevent my fall should I attempt to role out of bed. (Spoiler alert: Trish did not wake up to me suspended above her in a precarious position).

It turns out that this wasn't our favourite experience. While Trish found the swaying of the train soothing, the noise of wheels on rails when we curved and climbed was less so. I didn't love being unable to sit up in my bunk, and found my nighttime mantra of "Don't roll over, don't fall out" to not be the most helpful way to sleep. We were human enough when we woke up though, and in time to grab some fresh air in Sacramento while other passengers loaded. We then made our way to breakfast where we were seated with Joe from North Carolina. Through earlier eavesdropping Trish had learned it was his birthday, and she wasted no time in letting the waiter know, leading of course to everyone singing Happy Birthday. 

Much like our dinner companions from the night before, Joe was quite friendly and shared with us stories of his trip, his family, and his home. Although our dinner the night before had been a two hour engagement, we kept breakfast a bit shorter. Our stop was coming up in Emeryville. When David asked what we thought we'd get up to there, we let him know our only plan was to catch the bus to San Francisco that left 20min after we arrived. And so we bid farewell to our little roomette, and the delightful David. Now I'll have to up my sass game to keep Trish on her toes...

We hopped a bus that took us into San Francisco, and brought us a short walk from our hotel. We arrived there about 6.5h before our check-in time, and we’re oh so happy to find that there was a room available for us! We snagged a morning nap, and then started our San Francisco exploration by heading to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), one of the biggest museums of modern and contemporary art in the US. On route we came across a community concert in the Yerba Beuna Gardens, and took in some “fiery Louisiana tunes”.

At MOMA, we decided to take a top-down approach, although were immediately turned away from the Members Only 7th floor exhibit. We quickly rebounded on the 6th floor, as a favourite artist of Trish’s, Gerhard Richter, had works on displays. We wove through the hallways and rooms, separated for a while when Trish was given access to a different Members Only exhibit and I turned into the hallway moments later to find her having disappeared. Luckily MOMA’s free wifi meant we were able to reconnect without too much effort, and explore the remaining floors.

Having not eaten since breakfast (very unlike us) we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for a delicious burrito and quesadilla late lunch, while I ogled all the gorgeous succulents that grow in the flow boxes here. It’s taken a significant amount of willpower to not take cuttings and grow my own. For our evening entertainment, we headed to the Exploratorium (a learning laboratory to explore the world through science, art, and human experience). Trish likened it to Science World on steroids in Vancouver, and similarly I would liken it to several-levels-up THEMUSEUM in Kitchener. We had bought tickets to their weekly “After Dark” event - aka no children were permitted, so we didn’t have to compete with them to do all the things (plus there was a bar and a DJ). We started off with Seeing and Reflecting, playing with light, mirrors, and sound. We our way through living systems, observing landscapes, outdoor exhibits, human phenomena, and tinkering. Over the course of three hours, we absolutely did not manage to see and experience everything, though you know we tried.

We made our way home weaving through the streets (Trish having thankfully resumed her role of Captain Direction) and guiding us back to our hotel, ready for a solid night’s sleep.