Got to SF on time, went to the N trolley station where it said I had 11 minutes to wait. Went across the street and bought a snack at Safeway, got stuck at an express checkout where the cashier was more interested in chatting with than ringing up the person in front of me. As I got outside the N was pulling out of the stop, and though the sign said it would be 9 minutes till the next one it was actually 25.
I thought I was supposed to change trolleys at the Ferry Terminal, but the N doesn't go there - it heads underground the stop prior, so I had to wait till we got underground to the Embarcadero stop, and wait another 15 minutes for the next trolley out. Got off at the first stop after the tunnel and walked the 4 blocks to the Ferry Terminal stop. Where bus after trolley after trolley went by full, not stopping. Finally got on an F trolley after half an hour, which didn't stop to pick up passengers after we got on. Got off in front of the boat dock, but had to walk 5 blocks to redeem my voucher at a travel agency and then walk back again. It's now 3:30, which is the time I needed to be there to meet my group, but I'd planned on spending an hour being a tourist.
Turns out the 4 o'clock boat was really a 4:15 boat, which actually boarded at 4:25.
Had a pleasant trip, only two other people from the group showed up, the weather was not nice but not too foggy, and we saw some amazing para-surfers and got very close to Alcatraz.
Back at 5:25, I stopped off for a chowder-in-a-bread-bowl, then got to the F line stop just as the bus was pulling out. Another half hour wait, and a totally packed trolley. Got off a block early, so it was a 6-block walk to the N and T lines, caught a T in about 10 minutes and then arrived at CalTrain at 6:35, the next train wasn't till 7:18. Home at 8:45.
And people wonder why more of us don't take mass transit.
