So I did all my research, bought my tickets, had my plan go haywire due to MPI incompetence before even leaving, got to California, picked up my baby, then lost a mirror in San Francisco and realized I was in the "everyone sues" country.
I immediately parked the van in the free spot where I'd spent the last night and sat with it for another night. By the way, watching the fog roll in in San Francisco is AMAZING. I made a call to the guy that was supposed to be getting the paper Title to see if it had arrived. Despite being express, it hadn't arrived, but he said it would be there the next day. I sat on the side of the beach next to the van with some chicken wings and a beer watching people swim with seals. And threw chicken bones to seagulls.
Even though there had been a bit of a SNAFU, I couldn't help but think that I was in a beautiful place.
The next morning I needed to find Internet to contact family and friends to let them know what was happening. I had to wait until 3PM for the former owner of the van to get home to check his mail. If I left that afternoon it still gave me time to go down the 101, visit the Goonies house, go to the winter job interview in Vancouver, and get back to Winnipeg for my summer job.
But now I had a new problem. I can't drive the van, but it can't sit there all day as it is a free parking spot in a tourist area. I don't want a ticket or to be towed. But I have to leave the van to go to the bathroom, get Internet, get food... I literally had nothing but a bag of clothes.
I wrote signs on the front and back of the van.
After talking to family I walked around the piers, saw the sea lions, browsed some shops - tourist things. At 3:00 I called the guy and asked him if he had the Title that was supposed to have arrived.
It hadn't arrived.
He told me it should arrive by the next day. So I was stuck one more day, so that meant no sight seeing. Skip the Goonies house and make a straight drive to Vancouver for the job interview, then back to Winnipeg.
Since I was stuck for the night I decided to treat myself to a nice dinner. Fresh caught crab!
The streets in the area were very lively; lots of people, street-side bars, bands and entertainment, the fisherman's wharf. I highly recommend going!
That night I went back to the van, enjoyed the view of Alcatraz, then went to bed.
The next day was pretty much the same, staying close to the van. I called the former owner again at 3PM to see if the Title had arrived.
It hadn't.
It was Saturday. No mail on Sunday. Job interview on Monday and no way to get there in time. I lost my chance at a job in Vancouver for the winter.
And now it hits me that I have a 1976 Econoline that I'd purchased off the Internet because of a heart-shaped window. I didn't even know if the engine would make it back to Canada.
It's Saturday night and I was in San Francisco. I was pissed off and depressed. I got a drink.
But I'm in this van that may not even make it to Canada. I had to save money in case of a breakdown; I couldn't afford to just spend money. So I had just the one drink.
But then I ran into two guys from Detroit buying shots for everyone. I introduced myself and told them I was Canadian. They said, "We fucking love Canadians! Get her a drink!"
While having a drink with them I got to meet the other people having drinks with them. One of which was a local homeless man named, "Crack Dealer Tony."
The next morning I got up, walked around... There's Crack Dealer Tony.
And he realized that I lived in the van. He walks around with a suitcase and he thinks that I'm homeless like him with a much larger suitcase on wheels.
We hung out and talked for a while. He's a person like anyone else and was a nice guy. He showed me around the area some more, but then I went back to the van for the night.
After going to sleep I was woken up to banging on my door. It was Crack Dealer Tony.
"Lyndsay! Lyndsay! I'm drunk! Let me get you drunk too so I can rape you!"
To be continued...
It's like reading a fingernail biting novel wondering what is coming next.
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