Park Blvd and Hollywood Ave ~ Oakland

Park Blvd & Hollywood

With steady acceleration, coasting Westward along the Park Blvd downhill  grade, cars briskly approach the lengthening line of potential riders at the newstand in front of  this typical home in the area.  Site of the story ‘Misque’,  this location presents pedestrians with a challenge walking across the wide boulevard.  There is ample street parking, and an up-hill aerobic walk.  Nice to meet a former co-worker, but thrilled that I took an early retirement!  Just two hours ‘work’ from 7:30AM to 9:30AM; we handed out 255 flyers, then down Park to Montclair Village for breakfast at the Egg Shop, near Great Good Place for Books.

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Eastshore Carpool ~ El Cerrito

Eastshore Carpool, El Cerrito

‘Queing Up’ takes on a new meaning here. Some cars pull up between the carpool signs, while others lay back at the second sign. Some riders  make the long, long walk down Eastshore in front of the Del Norte Marketplace; other folks  cherry-pick the car they want to ride in.  Cars at the back of the line ‘beep-beep’ or try to attract the attention of arriving riders so they can cut out of line toward  the 80West on-ramp. The sun broke early through light morning fog and did a slow bake on the ‘marketeers’.  Thank you, Carolyn for taking flyers to share at my ol’ stomping ground! Hope all is well.  From 7:30-9:45AM we hand out 360 flyers, and then buy a leaf blower at OSH.

North Berkeley BART

N. Berkeley BART Casual Carpool Stop

At the intersection of Sacramento and Francisco, there is a curious  twist on the usual method of  matching up cars and people: cars headed for the Financial District stop at the North side of the newspaper stands. Cars headed for Civic Center pull past the newstands to the South side, and if there is a line, back up to the newstands.  Passengers load up from the middle at a quick, rhythmic  pace, prompted in part by the arrival of passengers from BART.  One fellow held up a brightly colored sign to start a line of his own – guess  he got where he was going.  From 7:30AM to 9:40AM, we handed out 500 flyers!