The Warriors winning the championship was a dream come true to me and naturally I had to find a way to the parade. I knew that it was going to be hard to get up to the Bay from LA but I figured it out. I would take a midnight bus from LA up to Oakland. I arrived at the West Oakland BART station at 6:20 in the morning and took a one station stop to Lake Merritt.

Walking to the rally location was quite an adventure. There were people camping their spots at least a few hours before I even got there and trying to find my friends was really difficult. But once I got to a nice spot on the grass with the lake right behind me, it was a great view of the stage.

The waiting was the hardest part. Just trying to stand and wait for the parade to end and the rally begin was tough. Fortunately, the fans were cheering throughout moments of boredom. Some people in Lakers gear were getting booed and some people brought some really cool signs.

There was even a person climbing a light post to get a good view. One of the nice things about having the parade end at Lake Merritt was the view it gave of the city. There were people riding bicycles blasting some E-40 music as they awaited the parade to conclude. Fortunately there were screens so we could watch CSN’s broadcast of the parade.

As you can see above, that was the first part of the parade. Below, after all the blue carpet interviews, the Warriors made their way to the stage.

And as the players gathered, it was just excitement. The crowd was in a frenzy, clapping and cheering everything that was going on. But the excitement was uncontainable. The Warriors are champions and the town was just in euphoria.

Waking up super early in the morning after sleeping on the bus. I didn’t even get a chance to brush my teeth. I was in the sun and I was tired and hungry. But the Warriors are champs and I’d do it all over again to celebrate them.

I was part of it. I was there. Proud to be a Warriors fan!