Mechanical Marvels - Nov 2018

There was an uncertainty around the weather for this expedition. Early predictions indicated that the inclement weather of the night before would subside by our rendezvous time, but one can never be too careful with strong storm systems. As Explorers rounded up, patches of rain were hitting hard across the Bay Area. I pressed the team on, insisting that the weather would indeed get better. Some took shelter in a nearby coffee shop, while others waited it out at the cable car pick up. Right as the time struck 10am (our official start time) the skies parted and blue sky presented itself ahead of us.

We quickly gathered and crossed our Line in the Sand via the cable car itself. We settled in and were promptly taken away off into the hills! As we chatted we realized that so many of us have lived in the Bay Area yet have never ridden the cable cars, they always seemed like a "tourists only" form of entertainment. It was a beautiful way to see the San Francisco hills, and as individuals walked the streets looking at us we assured everyone we were locals and equally accepted on the cable cars too.

We got off the cable car near Grace Cathedral and then walked down to the Cable Car Museum. This gave us an opportunity to work on our pigeon calling abilities, which we were finding useful to identify if any of the local specimens were actually pigeolopes. The Cable Car Museum itself was a neat stopover. The giant mechanisms were actively running, and it was full of history that many of us didn't know. What was even better was that we got a closer look at exactly how the machines ran.

Full of new knowledge, we excitedly went to the cable car pick up so we could make our way down to Fisherman's Wharf. As a cable car rolled by it was full of people. I let out a: "HO! Is there any more room for 11 Explorers to join you?" In return, they gave me a hearty laugh and told us there just wasn't room for us all. With a ring of a bell, the cable car picked up and left us on the street corner.

Not to be too distraught from one encounter, Belle Cunningham and Panopticon invigorated the group by suggesting if we went up the hill next to us it would then be all downhill to the Musée Mécanique. We tally ho'd on up and over towards Fisherman's Wharf, with brief stopovers to appreciate the views and the treasure-filled path of Macondray Lane. By the time we made it to Fisherman's Wharf, we took in the cable car explorb (perhaps it was best we didn't ride it all the way down) and stopped for a brief lunch.

When we finally made it to the Musée Mécanique we were ready for all the joy and wonder it contained. Time stood still as we perused all the various machines the space made available. Our pockets jangled with quarters only to have one or two drop into the machines so we could unleash the magic inside. We howled and laughed in delight and all of us picked out our favorites. The few standouts were: The Whirly Bird, which involved us piloting a helicopter to various checkpoints. Also the gum ball claw machine was a favorite for many of us though only Sindra was successful in claiming a prize. The most intriguing though was a button with a simple label saying: "Do not push this button." Explorers spent what seemed like an hour going over the potential pros, cons and what it could possibly trigger. After discourse completed, everyone made a person choice on pushing it or not. We're still hopeful that something didn't break somewhere in the world when it was pushed.

Lastly, we convened around an old photo booth hoping to take a group photo. With 11 of us and 4 pictures per strip, we divided up into 4 groups. As we'd have limited time to get in and adjust we then rehearsed the actions we'd need to complete in order to accomplish the task. Seeing all of us move in a coordinated effort was the most fun moment of the expedition, and our effort paid off.

With that we said goodbye to Laughing Sal and said our final Semper Explorandums. As we all went off into the wind, we kept the memories of the day close by.