DAY TRIP
		DATE: SATURDAY, 7/15/06 DESTINATION: SAN FRANCISCO

Driving from the Tri-Valley area, where I live, to San Francisco can take anywhere from forty minutes to a grueling hour and a half. Today, however, it's hotter than the devil's pie-hole in the valley. That means every soccer mom from Pleasanton to Walnut Creek is loading up the mini-van with ice chests full of Otter Pops and crusty-nosed, chapped lipped little indians armed with Bull Frog....and they're all heading to the beach.

So, there I sit, at the Bay Bridge toll plaza with the other 270,000 cars that travel the span every day. I finally get to the toll booth where I am greeted by a jovial toll taker (obviously high from exhaust fumes) who snatches up my $3 quicker than you can say, "Calgon, take me away!" To my delight, the metering lights are off and I blaze through the wretched construction detours along the bridge that drive weekday computers to madness. cont'd.