Travel Diary

3:30am bedtime. 5Am wakeup. Yeah, not much sleep.

Since the flight wasn’t super early, I took Uber to Stadium Station and Link Train from there. $23 total. With extra time, I walked around the top of the parking garage, which is always enjoyable and fun to see the world waking up. I found I was at the left side of the airport when I went inside and therefore went to TSA Gate #2, which was not crowded at all. Good to know.

Then it was time to catch my flight. With an upgrade, I was comfortable and got a free meal. It was the breakfast sandwich or sausage egg biscuit or whatever they call it. It’s okay, but I don’t think I will order it again. We flew south and landed in San Jose about 90 minutes later.

I checked the Uber cost and it was too much, so once again, I walked east a bit and towards 880. Then I summoned Uber and got a ride to Pleasanton. This time I was at the Extended Stay. They said there was a charge for early check-in (which Best Western does not have!) so I asked how much and she checked. Oh, well, no charge for me. Great. I checked in early. Not sure what else I would have done since I had my large bag with me.

One nice thing about this hotel is the large rooms. I had a full kitchenette with full size fridge and microwave, and even a stove top. I don’t really need all that, but it’s nice to have. Oddly, they don’t include a coffee maker, but I guess you can request that at reception. No matter. I changed into my jogging gear and set out.

This run would be Iron Horse Trail again. I jogged to Hacienda Bart and under the overpass. Then found the Dublin Blvd overpass STILL NOT DONE. I swear it takes construction forever to complete things in California. I jogged around and back to the slow lights of the intersection.

Then I was on the trail. I headed north for miles. The day was quite warm around 87 degrees. I had no water bottle and this was becoming a problem, so I stopped at Walmart and bought some low-cal flavored water drink (Bai). The bottle is a good size for running. Then it was through Dublin and into San Ramon. The pedestrian overpass at Bollinger also wasn’t finished yet, so another wait...er, actually not as they shut down the road for construction. Okay, at least zero wait.

I emptied out the flavored water as I just wanted pure water and none of that other artificial stuff. Then kept going north. The plan was to run either 10 miles north or for three hours. Finally, I hit the 10-mile marker and sat on a bench. I was tired and past the point of being able to run. I also had a headache and some nausea. Not great signs. So it was mostly walking after that.

Yeah, that meant a LONG walk home, but that was fine. I had no place to be and an extra pair of earbuds, though it wasn’t necessary since I grew tired of music after a while and just listened to what was around me. The sun was starting to set, but the temperature wasn’t dropping too much. I also brought my sweatshirt with me just in case. Seemed silly to bring my small backpack just for that one purpose, although freezing seemed silly too.

Back in Dublin, I opted to take the freeway path and veered towards the 580/680 intersection. I traveled under that and adjacent to 680 after that. It was dark so I used my smartphone flashlight a while. Nice to have that feature on phones these days. Then finally I was back at the hotel.

I showered quickly and started walking again. Odd since my feet were very sore, but I needed pizza and I knew just the place. I reached Mountain Mike’s Pizza before closing and ordered a split ham/pineapple with a combo. It was $25 but well worth it. Then I headed to Walmart and got some beer and fruit. I wanted to get a banana for potassium, but forgot about it when getting a peach. Strange, I know. Then I picked up my pizza. Before leaving, they offered some paper plates which I was glad I accepted. They also pointed out the pepper packs, which I also grabbed. (The lady there was quite nice.)

To return to the hotel, I ordered Lyft. Hopefully, the driver didn’t mind the wonderful and aromatic smell of pizza, but it was too far to walk with all my stuff and the pizza would have gotten cold if I did.

Back at the hotel, I enjoyed my purchases. It was a very filled day.

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