Travel Diary

As usual, I went to sleep far too late, but this was to be expected. I guess it was 1:30 AM when I dozed off, and I woke up at 3AM, so it was going to be a tiring morning. And just because it happens a lot doesn't really mean I ever get used to it.

Since it was before the train started, I had to take Uber to the airport. It wasn't too bad. I ended up chatting with the driver the entire way. Security was better than expected so I had a lot of time. I pondered visiting the lounge, but as it was 4:50am and it was opening at 5am, there was a long line waiting to get in. Nah. Maybe next time.

I had been upgraded to first class, so I boarded in that group, although with 100k MVP, I would get to anyway. It wasn’t really possible to sleep as I would be getting breakfast, and I was talking to the lady next to me for a lot of the flight. About an hour and a half later, we landed in San Jose. It was nice to be back. I’d been there around January, but only as a layover. This time I wouild be leaving the airport.

Once again, I took Uber so I could get to Pleasanton. This time the driver was from Afghanistan so communication was a little difficult, but I was able to have a decent chat with him about his life here and his family. Fun to learn about the experiences of others. My hotel was the Best Western Plus in Pleasanton. I never stayed there before, though I had seen it for years.

Since it was early in the morning, I was lucky to be able to check in early. That was a huge benefit. I immediately went to sleep and slept for a couple of hours. Then (despite still being quite tired) I had to get up and shower and start walking. My first stop was the gas station across the street for a tall beer. Then I headed towards the fair.

I didn't have time to walk the full distance, so I walked about half of it, and took Uber for the rest of the way. I met my friend Pam at the fair and we walked around and did various things. First thing I wanted to do was attend the horse races, and put on some bets on the horses which was fun. Then we toured the midway, the train exhibit, the exhibition halls, and the 4-H animals. Oh, and one thing they had was a dog show, which was quite entertaining to watch.

Then back to the horse races again, where I of course lost again. I bought another beer or two, and we continued to walk around. It was a nice warm day; however, the evening was cooling off fast. I brought my pullover, but it was just barely enough to stay warm. My friend was getting too cold, so she had to call and get a ride home.

I walked around for another half hour during the early evening. I tried some dead lift weightlifting at the military booths, which didn't go very well. The weights were a lot heavier than they looked (245 pounds). I took a bunch more photos of the rides and then started walking home.

I had plenty of time to get back, so it was nice to see the streets where I once lived and drove around. I was hoping to pop into the Burger King near my hotel, but I just missed closing, so I went over to Nations Burgers and ordered a hamburger. It took a long time, surprisingly enough. But I was hungry and well, had already ordered. Back at the hotel, I tried my burger and was somewhat disappointed. It tasted okay, but sort of like something that could be made at home and nothing special.They just bought the ingredients at Safeway, and put something together—so kind of like homemade, yet that wasn’t the taste I was hoping for. After doing some video editing, I promptly went to sleep. I was dead tired.

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