the 4th

The fact that fireworks were banned from Big Sur did nothing to damper the spirits of our fellow travelers. The windy roads and picturesque landscape did not disappoint. Big Sur was alive with all night concerts, 1am clothing optional hot spring dipping, and lots and lots of tourists. I was simply amazed how many people came out to the great outdoors, but never wandered more than 200 yards from their cars. Campsites were packed, hotels filled, river trails saturated with bikini clad bathers, but the longer trails were,...well, empty. It made for a wonderful escape. But alas I am getting ahead of myself.




Mom, her friend Dianna, and I headed out to Big Sur for the long weekend. Dianna grew up in the area and knew all the best hikes/events. She spoke of all the childhood routes that now, due to age, was beyond her grasp.




She was much more a high-roller than the Hobsons were used to. First stop was Carmel where her and mom went shopping. I wandered about during.[ ****edited for adult content*****] ...Anyhow, I digress. Big Sur...4th of july weekend.... We made camp at some old hotel that was built by hand and had communal bathrooms and 6 foot ceilings. It reminded me of a hostel, but at 10x the price. All you do is nail some antiques to a wall and a grungy hostel is now some swanky "rustic" villa for people like .....well.....us. But I didn't feel too bad as they had complimentary tea and I managed to drink my weight of it over the course of the 2 nights we were there (as I woke up hours before the girls did....oh yeah, did I mention I slept on the floor). Since I was crashing the girl's weekend extravaganva with short notice, there wasn't enough beds and I slept on a foam pad Ma brought from home. Its quite comfy. But I always wake up early when I sleep on it.

The first day we walked along some beaches and dined on local cheeses and homemade bread. I woke up at 5am the morning of the trip so the bread would pop out the oven the moment we left. It also make a great car air freshener (not that the rainbow Aaron and liz gave me isnt great... which, As you may have noticed from the road trip pictures, is still hanging in my car).



That night was the hot springs which is on the property of some new age school with classes in nothing but hippie and self help crap. (disclaimer, if you enjoy this shit, by "crap" I mean karma enhancing/mind expanding nirvana courses which I am, in no way condemning as a steaming waste of time and money) But again, I digress.

While Ma and Dianna raved about the hot springs that night, getting back at 3am distrupted their sleeping habits, so they slept really late. I spent my mornings throwing back liters of tea, and jogging nearby roads/trails.


I could talk about the food/concerts/hikes, but this blog entry has gone on long enough and I grow wary of writing....plus I seem to be rambling with no coherent thought pattern or theme flow. So....on the last day Mom and Dianna went to a spa for a day of relaxing and massage and mud, n stuff. I, however got mud the old fashioned way. I spent the entire day jogging every trail in the nearby park. The downside was I forgot that I started the run on the crest of the hill, which if you ever have been to big sur, can be quite large elavation difference. This meant, at the end of my loop, the last 3 miles of my 15-16 mile or so meander were straight up hill. Th day before, all the hikes were packed with people, but for some reason, on sunday they all left. I did a 8 mile summit to mount Manuel, and I was the only person on the entire hike. I did not see a single person. I ran up creek beds, "hobson shortcutted" it up hillsides and to valley outlooks. Side note, people were very perturbed to see a jogger coming up or down a trail. Didnt know what quite to make of me.....they'd shoot me odd looks...So I'd yell "bear"....or "Zombies, run for your lives" and the couple would laugh nervously and the man would make a comment to try to sooth the women like "he's just joking....right?" ........Which looking back and writing it now seems like as A**hole-ish thing to do, but believe me it was an incredible source of entertainment for me on the trail. And as we previously established, I'm an insensitive prick, and okay with that.


I had to be back at the spa for 2:30, so I left myself 30 minutes for the 3 miles back up the road. Not cool. Nothing but bloody incline....and I didnt bring water (didnt want to slow myself down), so I stumbled/ran up the last stretch arms flailing, head limp and bobbling, legs occasionally failing, to make it back in time. I imagine I looked fairly undead. All those tourists I yelled "zombie" to and they laughed at me, were probably swallowing back paralyzing fear, as they drove past me zombie-ing up the last 3 mile stretch of road. I collapsed on the wicker furniture of the Spa at 2:30 on the dot. I guess the moral of the story is zombies arent funny...(dramatic pause)... they're reality.

Anyho, Ma has more pix, enough talk from me. Guida is loving california, warm and sunny. I finished a gingered cider which is kegged and quite nice, I spend last weekend cleaning mom's garage which is now immacculate, I found a new contender for favorite Zin in Lodi (it rivals M2), and I just bought a professional massage table so I can get my techniques back before I forget them.....I think thats it. It's going to be a busy month. I dont think I'll have a free weekend before I head out...forever!!!!!