Captain's Report: TNDO ~ ExGld
Explorers!
For all of your considerations, Captain Lark has submitted her Captain’s Report for Transit Nerd’s Day Out. For those looking ahead at future expeditions our next is September 14th in search for the Dambo Trolls at Filoli Gardens. We’ll be releasing the Call to Adventure for that later this week, so keep a look out.
Captain’s Report: Transit Nerd’s Day Out
The sun was shining and the sky was blue in San Francisco as members of the Explorers Guild Troupe 001 gathered for Transit Nerd’s Day Out. I chose the Powell St. Cable Car turnaround as our meeting spot because it was transit themed and easy to find. But as every Transit Nerd knows, the long line of tourists makes it a less than ideal location to board our first train. It did offer some great amusement while we waited for our fellow explorers to arrive. There was a large guitar shaped slide with a crank on the side. As our littlest explorers enjoyed the slide Dr. Professor and I carefully observed other children’s use of the crank. Each child approached, and turned it about twice. With every turn, the lilting voice of Scott McKenzie graced us with the opening line of his song, “San Francisco.” Tiring of hearing the same line repeated again and again, and wondering if there was more, we put our shoulders into it and discovered the entire song was there for those dedicated enough to keep cranking through the entire thing!
With 19 adult explorers and 2 little ones signed in, I had everyone cross the line in the escalator and we headed to the T line via the Powell station. We were in awe with the mood ceiling lights, their green tones surely indicated whimsy and enthusiasm were abound because that was what our troupe was exuding. Luck was also in our favor as the moment we stepped onto the platform the train arrived to take us forward.
We only needed to travel one stop to the Chinatown exit, but this gave us the proximity to the Cable Car Museum we needed. As we walked into the building, everyone was excited to learn. As I checked in with explorers, I was delighted to hear how everyone was learning history and sharing with one another. I heard wonderings and questions, quickly followed by fellow explorers chiming in, “Oh look! This sign answers that question!” It was a delight to see our group working together to discover all sorts of new fun facts about cable cars. The giant wheels, photos, and views into the active mechanics shop were absolutely the best. We even got to meet Gary, a second generation gripman who told us stories of his experience working with the cable cars over his decades of service. We were a riveted crowd, that is until we realized we had a cable car of our own to catch.
Luckily, one arrived within just a few minutes. I looked at it and the conductor with trepidation. The cable car was about half full of people already, and we had a large group. Would we all fit? I had faith that Dr. Professor could help by leading a second group, but hoped we could stay together as one expedition team. With pleading in my eyes I asked, “How many of us will fit?” The conductor looked at us, at the cable car, and at the gripman and replied, “I think I can fit you all! Let’s give it a try!” Hurray! It was cozy, but spirits were high, and with the ding of the bell we were off on the next leg of our journey.
Arriving at our terminus, we walked a few blocks to transfer to the F Market. After examining the three (THREE!) historic streetcars parked at the stop we had a moment when I thought we might lose an explorer. Three of our intrepid friends were drawn away by an ice cream stand, just as a streetcar operator arrived and began to prepare the front streetcar for service. Fortunately, Dr. Professor was with them and has earned his hoghead badge, so when he heard the ring of the trolley bell he knew to head back with his companions and they made it just in time.
We were on the last leg of our big day, riding a beautiful legacy car along the Embarcadero and to the Transit Museum. As we clickety clacked down the street, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of contentment. Being surrounded by so many fellow transit appreciators mad riding and learning many times more enjoyable than it already was. As we exited in front of the Ferry Building, we even had one more explorer and their kiddo join us (supposedly they had been trying to track us down all day!) There, our rambunctious troupe walked into the San Francisco Railway Museum for one last gem of an experience. Alec, one of the caretakers of the museum, walked us through how the legacy cars operated, and even took the time to answer all our questions (we were transit nerds so of course there were a ton of questions!). Once those had been answered though, I could see our group was indeed done, our Transit Nerd’s Day Out was a success and with that we read the final words of Semper Explorandum and called it a day!
Semper Explorandum Explorers!