Rainy exit, funny black man, eight hour bus ride, and old friend.

Last night I went to the Oakland A's game. Everything felt more familiar as they are like the LA Clippers of Bay Area Baseball.

That's probably the accurate view of where I was sitting.

Tickets were incredibly cheap— the concession stand is where they made bank. I witnessed a man losing his $6 nachos— it was painful for me to watch. The A's didn't really do real well against the Derek Jeter's Yankees, but that was expected of them. It was fun here cause after a few innings, I could go sit anywhere I wanted.  It was way fun. I ate a nacho and a chili cheese dog (I hate both of those unless it's overpriced at a sporting event).



Today I left Oakland. It was really hard to say goodbye to Lori, and especially to Tater Tot, who has been one of the biggest emotional support I got this past week. No matter how many bruises and wet willies and scratches and licks I got, I'll really miss her a lot. 

The weather pooped on me this morning. It rained hard and I had to take a bus. However I met someone waiting for a bus underneath the protection of a big tree. He was a black man whose passion lies in tea blending. He was in fact a master tea blender. He was really awesome and said something to me that made me forget entirely the rain pouring down on me. 

We talked about a few things but what will always stick in my mind is how he described his perception of Utah:

"Utah just has a big lake, mormons, and a bunch of trampolines, right?"

 I was pretty speechless but I laughed really hard. It cheered me up. After trying a breakfast corned beef hash for the first time (delicious I might add), the rain let up. I was on my way.

Got on the (late) bus to L.A. Met a guy from India (seems to be the trend this entire month) named Umair. He was from Delhi. We made small talk and bigger talk.

During the eight-hour-ride, I read more Steinbeck (which has turned out to be a wonderful wonderful inspiring and wonderful book), thought about reading Jack Kerouac (as suggested by my friend Jaclyn), watched Polanski's China Town, and listened to Radiolab. 

I was picked up in North Hollywood by an old friend Sean. We ate a big piece of meat. We drove to his house in Valencia. I feel kinda home here. Laundry time never feels more appropriate. It's been awhile... haha.

Your friend,

Pete