Wed. 10-16-02

Okay, well- we're sittin' at the Amtrak depot the next day! I dunno' really what happened yesterday.Of course, we had to run into some kinda' bull****. (Actually, this was obviously a blessing I didn't recognize. At least we didn't have to arrive at 2:30 am!) So we had to stay in Martinez over night. & we're takin' the train this mornin' at 7:30. It's about 7. So yesterday, after we found this out, we walked over a small bridge & sat on a bench that overlooked the depot. We were gonna' stay up all night. It was only 6:30-40pm or so. We got a little high & went for a walk. We found a park & some grills, but no wood or water- therefore-no oats! We lay in the grass for a while & then walked over to an old train surrounded by a fence. We found a hole cut in the fence & went in. We climbed up to the top of the thing & smoked more. Then we watched some trains go by w/graffiti on 'em. On our next walk to find a 24hr market or somethin', I noticed one of the only places open. It was a Thai restaurant. I stopped & looked at their hours (open 'till 10:00-another 40 min.) & then glanced at their menus posted on the glass. We went in. I wanted to treat us. There was no one else in there as we lugged all our **** in & sat down. The woman seemed happy. "Waiting for train?" she asked. Yep. It was hard to understand much of anything else she said, but ****! It was THE best meal we've EVER had! The food was extremely delicious! Brett ordered some rice & some peanut sauce & I ordered Roma Tofu. Pan fried tofu w/eggplant & coconut milk (red bell peppers, green peppers & onions, & real good coffee too) First of all- she gave us extra rice & put it on both our plates for us. Then another woman comes w/more rice-"No extra charge," she says. Then came time to pay. I took out my check card & asked if I could leave the tip on that. The she tried her hardest to explain to us that their machine wasn't working. I went to go to the Wells Fargo a couple blocks down to get 20 out & suddenly Brett's next to me. "Go! You can't leave her like that!" she said. Or somethin' I guess. We got mints w/the bill too! & then we come back & she brings us 4 more mints. The bill was 11 somethin' & I left her 6 bucks & all the change as a tip. We leave & she runs out after us seconds later. Handing me a dollar she says, "You left me too much!" & runs away. It was like we just stepped inside some one's kitchen & were fed. & it was amazing food. We were high on the food & the service for the rest of the night & couldn't stop laughin' & talkin' about it. (Jesus loves us so much! He took the time to make such an ordinary thing into such a blessing! We were served by angels!)

Then Brett found a path across from the depot, that went along some beat up old buildings. We slept on the side of the path, against a fence. Weirdest spot left- but we were tired! A couple times, a big-*** train would go by & wake us up, but otherwise we had good sleep once we got in our sleeping bags! Train'll be here soon. We 'll be in L.A. at 9:00pm.

The train guy just said we're in Berkley. Never knew we'd be goin' through here. I guess we're in Emeryville though or somethin'. While we were goin' through Berkley, we were supposed to be able to look to our right & see the San Francisco Bay. (which I guess I did.) & also the island of Alcatraz. He said we could see the city of San Fran or somethin', but all I could see were trees in the way. Oh well. I dunno'. I also saw an extreme amount of graffiti. & I think Brett missed it all 'cause he's takin' a ****.