yep we did *most of the trip using transit up till
Hanford then speeding up the trip by jumping on Amtrak
to Merced. (mostly we were worried
we could be stuck in some small city on Friday when
some of the transit might not be running that day due
to the Veturns day)
then after Merced back on transit..
here's what happen Monday, Nov 6
I meet my friend, Tim at Union station (he came off a
flyway from
Lax he had stayed at the Hilton that morning] he tried
to get a shuttle
from the hilton to lax but since those shuttles also
service other hotels
they were already full (he ended walking into Lax)
he arrived about 10:30am, then we got some lunch at
the Union Bagel stop, then walked to track 5B and
waited for our Lancaster train-the train was due to
leave at 11:40am
due to the track maintenance we departed about 10
mintues late not bad.
we took Metrolink to Lancaster. we arrived about
1:45pm not too bad,

then waited for the Kern county bus. due at 2:18pm she
arrived about
2:25pm -the bus was quite full -it empty out a little
at the Metrolink station, we paid our fares $5.00 then
the bus contiuned to the senior center where she
discharged most of teh other riders including a person
in the wheelchair.. -here the wheelchair lift almost
broke down
but she got to work expect for the flap on the lift)
[it did make me wonder what Kern county does if one of
their buses
breaks down in that area -would they send a repair
truck from
Bakersfield?] this was about a 3 hour ride -some
interesting cities
we past though, we got to Bakersfield a little after
5:00pm I would
say,
then we waited at the GET transit center for our next
bus to Delano
this bus is usually crowded so they have 1 bus at
5:40pm and another one at 6:00pm we found room on the
5:40pm to Delano
we took this bus to Delano transit center.. we were
the last passengers
then we had to find a motel -we found one about mile
away (in the dark)
but it did the job for the evening this was about
7:00pm
so for dinner we had some pizza delivered to our room
for dinner
[we couldnt have taking Delano transit as they shut
down at 5:00pm]
===============================================
Tuesday Nov 7 -Delano to Merced (via Hanford)
we got up walked to McDonald's for some breakfast,
then return to the Delano transit center, and waited
for our Turale county bus
this was was like a small van -but what I got a kick
out of -every bus we rode on had a bike rack even this
small van,
we board this bus, and took it to the Turale transit
center.
then had about 20 mintues wait for the Turale transit
line 6 bus to Visalia
took this bus to the connection point where they seem
to have a great
time transfer point to Visalia coach -then took the
VCC bus to
Visalia transit center (which is service by Turale
county, VCC, Visalia
trolley, KARTS, Orange Belt stages, and Greyhound..
our bus to Sanford wasnt due till 12:30pm so right
across the street
was a nice little Mexican restaurant and they had a
great lunch buffet
for about $6.00 (and very good food as well)
then we waited for KARTS , the bus arrived and we took
this bus to
Hanford, at 1:00pm now this is where we decied to
speed up the trip
(since we were doing so well with our trip we figure
it would be shame to
stop so early in the day we check with Amtrak and yep
there was a San Joaquin
train going north due at 2:40pm so we bought tickets
for that train

we board the train,.and took it to merced whats
interesting here
the San Joaquin and the Capitol's trains -they offer
"transfers" to Local transit
(Like for Merced county ("the bus" ) and other transit
agencies
north of Fresno. we used
our transfer to ride the 5X bus to our hotel
Vagabond..
which was adjacent to a Denny's.
thats where we had dinner..
===============================================
Wenesday Nov 8 -Merced to S. San Francisco
the vagabond had a Very little continental breakfast
(a danish)
we board the 5X again and took back to the Merced
transit center. and got a day pass for the day - you
see their Turlock
bus fare one-way cost $5.00 yet you can buy a day pass
for $4.00 good
on all routes Including the bus to Turlock (a pretty
good deal)
we board the Turlock bus -about 9:15am and took to
Turlock connect with
Start we had about a hour to kill, so I bought my self
a new roll way
suitcase for only $10.00 at Target , (all before I
jsut was carrying a duffel bag -sure made it easier!
we waited for STart express bus to Modesto,
we took this bus to Modesto, here we had some time to
kill
so we went to Fedex kinkos (about 20 mintues on a
local bus)
but since that local bus only ran every hour I didnt
spend that much time at Fedex Kinkos
we backed track to Modesto Transit center..
then about 3:45pm we checked in at the center for Max
express
bus to Bart..
MAX uses a MCI for this route, (you supposedly have to
make
reservations for the afternoon trip) they have two
departures
on at 4:00pm and other at 4:40pm.
we caught the 4:00pm bus to Bart Dublin/Pleasanton
then my Friend Tim had a 1/2 off coupon for Red roof
inn
and the hotel would accept *providing we got there by
8:00pm
we made it by 15 mintues]

in Burlingame (south San Fransciso) and hotel had a
shuttle service as well
we caught Bart to the SFO Airport, had a dickens of
the time
trying to figure out where the shuttle stops were
we found it..
this shuttle also service 2 other hotels as well
but we got a room on the 5th floor
we thought we made it so it time to end our trip

===============================================
Thursday Nov 8 SFO-Lax and home (for me)
I did some checking and I figure out flying home was
the safest
yes I could have taken amtrak or greyhound but that
would
put me in Los Angeles anyway past 9:00pm to Midnight
flying home would be easier
so we hopped the shuttle back to SFO -as a backup I
had
made a reservation on United (but was using travelers
checks)
so I didnt *pay for the reservation*
I first checked American -where we were very rudely
treating
they basically said we cant sell you a ticket unless
you have a reservation
so I remember Frontier just started operating some
flight SFO-Lax
and I tried them Yep! they were happy to help me and
sell me a ticket
for $129.00 which was cheaper then American in the
first place
they had a flight at 2:35pm plus their ticket agent
was very helpful and friendly as well
so I took this flight -of course since I was paying
cash I was naturally selected for secondary screening
but I had planned for that, got though that quite
easily then I waited for the flight.
the plane they used is airbus 318 (or 319)
the seating was just a little tight for me,.
we even arrived 15 mintues early as well
then I worked my way to the baggage claim and was
suprised
to see that my luggage beat me
then I decied to splurge and used Super shuttle home
thats the trip
comments welcome