March 9, 1997

The government decided to hold a parade on Market Street in San Francisco to celebrate Captain Maggie Beckett, the second slider from this world to return. (Quinn Mallory was the first, his videotaped experience was broadcast on TV a few times.)

I rode in an open-air Cadillac with the other senior researchers behind the Cadillac that transported Captain Beckett. There was ticker tape and crowds were cheering. I made sure to wave, smiling nervously. A high school band was part of the parade, as well as marching bangs from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

After three trips along Market Street, the parade was over. We went to a reception in a classy resrtaurant in a skyscraper high above downtown San Francisco; I could see the Azure Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, and Yerba Buena Island. With us were members of the oversight Commission, Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Hagel.

Beckett spoke about her experiences, including seeing the red version of the Azure Gate Bridge on the other side, and meeting President Clinton while under quarantine, speaking to him through a thick glass window. She also mentioned spending nearly a whole day at the nearest public library after her release, just to make sure she really got home. Reporters asked me some questions as well. I did not tell that that I was really from another dimension.