6/22/08: San Francisco

Sunday

I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again, but we're headed toward San Francisco later this afternoon. My plan is to Couchsurf, but that seems unlikely because of the short notice so I'll probably just try to get across the Golden Gate Bridge toward Marin County/Sausalito and wing it from there continuing up Highway 1.

I'll update when I can, just a reminder that all of last week's stuff has been added to/expanded. Worth re-reading if you haven't yet!


EDIT 11:30 pm: Well, that was quick. Hello from San Francisco!

We all left the KOA at about noon and headed to Rio Del Mar State Beach in Santa Cruz for a day of relaxation before the 90 mile drive to San Francisco. For whatever reason, I chose to simply hang out in the RV for the day out of the sun, and just chill. I wound up checking my email for responses to my Couchsurf requests and talking to Laina at length about possibly cutting this leg of the trip short to return home to work for a few weeks to compensate for the loss of my security deposit money, that was of course unwisely counted on!

We decided that it just doesn't make sense to stop just yet. This has thrown a major kink in the plan, but more by way of removing a nice little safety net for things like purchasing pants when the crotch seam splits in one pair, and the other gets covered in tar...which happened, of course. I guess I'd better learn to sew.

So, I'm pressing onward. I had never even considered heading back before all this came up, but in reality the main problem is that I'm coming in over budget every week. If that weren't the case, this would really make no difference. Obviously I know what to address.

The drive from Santa Cruz to San Francisco was spent repacking the backpack and re-configuring my brain to road-mode after RV surfing for 3 days. I didn't really pay that close attention to the landscape between the repacking and playing with Paul.

 Just before we got into San Francisco I got an email from Couchsurfers Chloe and Greg that I had a place to stay for tonight AND Monday night. Happy times! That would mean no sleeping beneath trees in Sausalito AND I could see a bit of the city AND possibly surf long enough to stick around for THE Gay Pride Parade in San Fran next weekend! I mean, come on...when will I ever get a chance to see THAT again?!?!?

Florian made a stop to finally get his currency exchanged...at a hefty price...and spent another half hour trying to just find a parking place. In the meantime I connected with my surfer hosts and got directions to their place. I disembarked my new favorite RV and my first RV surfing experience came to a close. Florian, Veronika, and Paul were all hungry so Florian invited me in to Mel's Diner for a goodbye meal. I felt bad about taking more from them, but quickly realized how hungry I was and figured it would be too late (and I was too poor) to get anything anywhere else in this expensive city. So I ordered a big ol' burger and prepared to take my leave of my new friends.

We walked up the street a bit further together until he found a Starbucks where he could get Internet to check their plane reservations and that was it. We had exchanged information earlier, so we shook hands, hugged, they invited me to see them in Munich whenever I get there and we parted ways. I'm going to miss them. These are truly the type of people who enhance any experience, and like Pat, I felt lucky to have been able to spend time with them, let alone 3 days and a ride from near Hearst Castle all the way to San Francisco. Hopefully I'll be able to see them again.

I continued walking up Geary street and eventually asked some firemen directions to my surfers street. I crossed Market Street, seeing familiar sights all around from our trip here in 2003. I found 5th St., and eventually their loft with little trouble. Greg had given me solid directions, which always helps!

I am Chloe and Greg's first Couchsurfer although they have another coming in Tuesday from Brazil and staying for a WEEK! They're jumping in head first, eh? Nine straight days of CSers. Wow. We got acquainted over some beers and a fruit/Vodka concoction as I doted on their cats (of course). They are really nice people, with a very comfortable place. They also have a 2 1/2 year-old son. Lotsa cats and kids on this trip!

Tomorrow we may go to Chinatown, then REI right around the corner to see about exchanging my shoes to alleviate the blister problem. No REAL plans though. Also send off a couple CS requests for the rest of the week.

6/21/08: Highway 1-Santa Cruz

A rather lazy day. Not alot done other than laundry, updating & expanding the trip diary, and uploading pictures. It takes a long time! I downloaded the Picasa program onto Florian's laptop and that made all the difference...when I got stable Internet from the KOA laundry room.

I tried to let them have as much space as I could, feeling a little guilty that I've been tagging along with them so long. The all took the RV to have dinner at a seafood place in town and I was glad when they came back and said they had a great time.

Florian and Veronika also gave me one last piece of great news. They said they'd not only take me to San Francisco tomorrow, but across the Golden Gate Bridge if I couldn't find a Couchsurfer to stay with in the city. This was my biggest concern about this trip: dealing with the Bay Area Sprawl. San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco... no avoiding it except by means of public transportation...the BART. I sent off 10 Couchsurf requests but I'm not optimistic because of the short notice. Either way I'm covered, but it seems like a waste to just jet through San Francisco. I've been there before, but only as a tourist. It would be nice to see it through the eyes of someone living there.

Mentally I was a bit agitated today, mostly from the landlord folly, watching this particular KOA extort money from the guests in every way they can, and updating the story about Pat from last week.

On TOP of charging $90+ dollars a night for an RV hook up, and the tiny cabins running something like $100, this KOA has this little train that drives me batshit every time I see it because they charge $1 for every passenger. I believe it runs on electricity and holds 20 people, and is full of kids most of the time. Pure profit, and you KNOW that the kids go bananas when they see it! Reminds me of this sign near Canon City, CO for this little out-of-the-way fun park that puts up signs about a mile apart saying: 'Scream 'till Daddy Stops!' The signs are funny though!

I spent alot of the day thinking about the economic predators, and those that use law and policy as weapons to separate you from your money. I thought alot about Pat. And the Parking Lot Nazi...I'm really disgusted with this culture and it's definitions of worth and success. More so now. We're all defined on a scale and it's called the dollar. 'The Landlord' is a very successful, sold-out, bourgeois liberal, 60's hippie who told me once that he believes strongly in changing things, but only within the system. Thus the sold-out part, eh? It occurred to me that he told me this inside of his very opulent home, and perhaps he was so beholden to the system because it's rewarded HIM handsomely. His 'system' bought and paid for him.

It goes back to Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent. Stay within the boundaries and don't upset the establishment and you'll prosper. But look too deeply beneath the surface and question the tilted game, and you'll be punished.

Rush's 'Subdivisions': '... In the high school halls; in the shopping malls...conform or be cast out'

I prefer Thoreau's idea that the only place for an honorable man within corrupted society is 'cast out'. When that system provides the powerful with the means to use the law as a bludgeon to extort from the poor, that system is illegitimate and as Thoreau said '... but I will still make what use of her I can...'

The good part of all of this is that it was a stark reminder of why I set out in the first place. The honeymoon period is ending and I believe now I'm starting to focus more on the bigger picture; playing the part of the observer rather than adapting survivor.

6/20/08: Highway 1-Big Sur to Santa Cruz

We all got up at about the same time and just relaxed, taking it easy. I was feeling like a lame horse because of my feet as was beyond grateful that I was with these folks and not walking today! We eventually got on the road and headed toward Monterey and Santa Cruz where Florian had made a reservation at the KOA for the weekend. After Big Sur and Carmel, the landscape gets drastically worse. Urban. Rather ugly, but of course after seeing the mountains falling into the sea the night before, it may have been relative.

It had occurred to me along the way how lucky I had been in getting this ride. The elevation gains, winding roads with no shoulders to speak of, and traffic would have made that a treacherous walk! Better for the many bike tourists I'd seen. I saw a couple of hikers from the comfort of the RV, but none seemed to be going as long as me. Small packs. I now understand why.

After Monterey we were driving toward Santa Cruz when suddenly I noticed smoke off in the distance. The closer we got the more apparent it was that it was a wildfire. Turns out, it was right off of Hwy 1; literally right next to it...and rather large and threatening some homes. Florian had lived in Greece for a time during some of their fires and noticed that it had three distinct burning points that were far enough apart that it appeared obvious it had been intentionally set.

We were one of the last cars to get through before they shut the highway down and it was VERY close to the exit to get to the KOA. As we were driving by, Veronika and I were both snapping pictures and as we drove down San Andreas Rd., we realized that the fire was VERY close to the campground! Right over a rather large ridge as a matter of fact, so we had a great view of all the smoke. The wind was blowing off the ocean pushing it away from us, so we were obviously in no danger but people were thrown into a frenzy by all the news coverage from San Francisco. In addition to the many water planes, there were news helicopters hovering overhead.

Florian and I decided to try to climb the ridge to see if we could get a better view, but didn't find a way. Shortly thereafter the winds died and they got the fire put out remarkably fast.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, although I did have another clairvoyant experience. I had a dream that the landlord whose house we had just vacated was going to try to screw us out of our security deposit. Sure enough, I get a call saying exactly that. Ever hear of charging someone $350 for HALF of a paint job? Are you KIDDING me? A $700 paint job??? When the place wasn't painted, or CLEANED before WE moved it? It's pretty obvious they're not renting the place and using our money to compensate for the fact they need to cover the second half of June's rent, since we moved out on the 15th.

I wouldn't mention it, but it's something I was planning on having, since we took VERY good care of that place. Losing that money could threaten the rest the trip if things don't go VERY well from here on out. Just another example of people taking advantage of others, figuring out a way to separate you from the money that's rightfully yours, all while hiding beneath a faux ideological umbrella and fake ethics & morality. Horseshit. These are the people to watch out for.

There's a phrase that says the dishonest man who wraps himself in the cloak of morality does more harm than the one who's naked in his immorality. Amen.

We pretty much just relaxed all day, and I spent much of the evening on the phone and unsuccessfully trying to upload a ton of pictures to my Picasa page. Hopefully soon!

We got to bed around 1am after chatting over a few more beers.

6/19/08: San Simeon-Big Sur, CA: Florian

A day of contradictions. Maybe the most intense day of the trip as far as the extremes go.

I was up and sadly leaving my little piece of $2 camping Nirvana at about 11:30, loaded up with water and tea and back on Hwy. 1. I had learned from my neighbors the night before there would be a place in the next town, San Simeon, to get water etc., so I didn't fully top off and felt remarkably light as I left.

What a great walk the first few miles were! I stopped off at a Vista Point to rest my feet, and tend to the re-developing blisters. Such a beautiful place! The squirrels and birds are quite bold here. They'll literally climb on top of you to get peanuts. I got a picture of a squirrel doing exactly that, and actually reaching his front paws up to take the nut from my fingers. I dig squirrels. Sue me.

 I sat there for a good hour (not in a hurry, remember?) and got back at it. William Randolph Hearst's Castle was a few more miles further up the road, and is right across from W.R. Hearst State Beach, complete with a sign proclaiming him a 'Great Patriot'. I plopped down in the shade up against a fence, smoked, chugged water, and gazed from a distance upon the most extreme, blatant, and disgustingly obvious self-congratulatory display of Capitalism and the pursuit of wealth I could ever imagine. Hearst Castle. I really loved the irony of looking at this thing while sitting in the dirt beneath a tree next to my backpack, and called Karim to let him know.

For those that don't know, Citizen Kane was based not-so-loosely on WR Hearst. He was a newspaper giant in the early 20th Century. I couln't help but think how this man had built this Tribute to Greed by collecting five or ten cents at a time, mostly from working class people. I could envision someone locking themselves up in this cage and while dying crying 'Rosebud'...to no one.

I sat there for 45-minutes or so, then went inside the park and filled my water. Everything this time. I knew I was heading into the middle of nothingness, this would be my last chance to fill up and it was obvious that eventually the thumb would need to come out.

Onward I went, my feet feeling worse by the step under the increased weight of another full boca bottle combined with the heat of the asphalt beneath the afternoon sun. I went another couple of miles and began fizzling out. I plopped down on the side of the road in a section that was coming out of a curve. I quickly realized the ignorance of this and moved on. Shortly thereafter I felt something in my left foot...the same place I was feeling discomfort earlier in the week before I had removed the inserts. I had re-inserted them before I'd left but this was different. It felt like something was stinging or biting me inside the boot! I stopped, found nothing and realized the tendinitis had returned. Grrr!!!

I began looking for places to bed down for the night, found a good spot that seemingly had been used before for either sleeping or hiking and resolved to keep trying to catch a ride until dark. If I got nothing, I'd sleep there.

I sat down back on the road, put on my Mp3 player, and sat in virtual isolation. Highway 1 traffic is pretty steady early in the day, but I'd noticed that it quickly and steadily fades around 6 or 7 pm;  trickling down to next to nothing on the northbound side... since most people (except for me) travel it going south. Oddly enough though, with my feet blazing with blisters and other various pains and next to no hope of a ride, I felt oddly at ease. An intense calm came over me. I realized that I'd seen and expected this simple vision for a few years. Here it was. I had plenty of water and food, and was learning to just 'trust it'. Things work out. A nice moment of clarity.

After an hour or so with no ride, I decided to walk a bit further to see if there were better spots to camp, ignoring the lesson I thought I'd learned in Cambria. I was just compelled to keep going. The sun was much lower, so the heat from the road had diminished making things a bit easier. I got back into a nice rhythm, and spied a lone pine tree wayyyy up the road where the coast cut north. I thought that would be a wonderful place to catch the sunset so I thought I'd do my best to get there racing the sun.

Walking was notably easier at this point than I expected it to be, and made pretty good time. I got to my lone pine tree which turned out to be another Vista Point and, since I had gotten no rides with my thumb out the whole way there, I resigned myself to crawling beneath this lone pine and sleeping, despite the 'no camping' signs that were posted all over the place.

I wasn't 'camping' I told myself; I was 'resting'. Prophetic and a bit of unknown foreshadowing for later in the trip!

Turns out it didn't matter.

I had walked 30 ft. into the Vista when I spied an RV on the horizon. Against all logic, I had a split second vision of this being significant. No one ever believes me when I talk about these things, but they're real! I told myself, I'll try ONE MORE time to get a ride, and if it doesn't work, screw it. I'll sleep beneath the tree.

Yep.

They stopped.

Inside was a German couple from Munich along with their 4 year- old son. Florian asked me where I was going, and I said as far north as I could. He said they were just going to the next campground, but I could ride if I wanted to. I figured at worst I'd have a decent place to sleep, so I eagerly took it.

His wife, Veronika, let me in and we headed up the coast as the sun was dropping beneath the Pacific horizon. Their son, Paul, just stared at what he must have thought was a strange road-creature that just climbed aboard! He was funny.

Florian offered me a Miller, which may have been the best tasting beer I've ever had after being in the unusually hot sun all day! We continued on, enjoyed the increasingly intense landscape, and got to know each other.

What a nice family. So happy and they just seem to enjoy each other! They had rented the RV in San Francisco and driven down to Death Valley and were now heading up Hwy 1 back to San Francisco to catch a flight to Seattle on Tuesday.

It turned out that, fortunately (for me anyhow), all the campgrounds were full. Florian kept driving and driving until he finally found Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park. It said the only openings were for 'self contained' campers and he needed to 'dump' the RV.

That was one of the funniest things ever, especially if you've seen the movie RV! They had used the wrong paper in the toilet and he had to unclog the septic system. When he did, all hell broke loose! He was doused in the chemical that disintegrates the...'waste'. I speak a little German, and caught him saying 'I have shit on my face!' I hated to laugh at him. I couldn't help it! He was good natured about the whole thing and able to see the humor in wearing 'liquid shit'! I'll never forget that!

He found an open campsite, pulled in and settled down for the night. Veronika and Paul went to bed rather quickly, and he offered me the RV's couch to sleep on. Florian and I sat by the fire talking while he tried to BBQ chicken and a pepper steak for me to eat. He's not the most experienced of BBQers so it took forever, and in the meantime he put 'Snatch' on his laptop for us to watch while I fought to stay awake. Funny little movie, and when the food finally finished I gorged myself!

Warm food: Gooooood!

We had a few more beers a a couple glasses of champagne, and I went to sleep contemplating how things just seem to work themselves out. They invited me along to ride toward Santa Cruz on Friday, and, since my feet were shredded, I gladly accepted. Quite an eventful day, and I had made some new friends.