How much air did you save today ?

Today was "save the air day" in the bay area, and all major transport services were free.
Being a sucker for free stuff, I ventured into the adventure of the free Caltrain ( and in part to do my part ), early in the morning...

The first thought on reaching the station ? Distance from home to the nearest Caltrain station is not as close as it seems. I took about 20 minutes with brisk walking, inspite of having taken a shortcut ! And I was just in time for my train - The Baby Bullet.

It really travels like a bullet. No, it really does. It felt awesome to eat up miles so quickly, sitting in the comfortable air conditioning ( better than in my car, by the way ). There was a pretty Bongali girl who came and sat in front of me, so that probably made the ambience seem even better. It was fun to listen to her talking to her mom in India, I could barely hold my smile... I suppose I can smile all I want now,thinking back (smile smile)

My stop came soon after, or so I thought. Redwood city. I got down and was surprised since it was not the familiar Ralston Ave station that I remembered driving by. Figuring that I was somewhere in the previous street or so, I began walking roughly north east. And I walked. And walked till I hit 101 on Broadway. That was when the Motorola Razr came in handy and my dear roomy announced that I had got down two stops too soon!
But the baby bullet, it had stopped in Redwood city. And Oracle is in Redwood city. Elementary, wouldn't you think ? But no, the closest caltrain station to Oracle happens to be in Belmont. Anyway, back to the trin station it was, and another wait for 20 minutes or so. By then, it was 10. The sun was scortching, and I felt my skin burn. Boy, was I glad walk to office in the last leg of the journey and get into the air conditioned building! The things we take for granted in the US !

Evening was fairly pleasant to walk back. While waiting in Belmont station on the way back, a north bound Bullet whizzed past us. It blew me away ( literally and figuratively ). Some speed, that thing! Felt like I would be plucked out of the ground any moment and thrown away. All of us at the station were taken aback, and a small baby I was playing with got a mega fright.

The journey back was quite uneventful, except for one scene in mountainview which I will remember for a while. This girl ( woman? ) got down from our box and was greeted by a leaping labrador, followed by a crushing hug from the boyfriend who was waiting for her. You should have seen how she lit up! It was a scene fit for that advertisement (where they show people greeting each other in many different ways, I forget what they were promoting).

It was refreshing, taking the train. So many people, so many things to see, so much time to think.. Driving to work, 'tseems quite bland now.