Entries this day: AM Bye_Newport_Beach Driving Emma_Wood_State_Beach No_Gas el_Capitan

AM

9:07am PST Monday 16 December 2002

I'm leaving Sally's today. Going to San Francisco to see Wende.

9:57am

Hugs to Sally as she leaves for work; I'll see her again soon.

Tears in the kitchen after she's gone.

- - - -

It seems that I'm learning how to "leave" some place after having been settled there. Basically just get all my shit and leave. Not needing permission from the undefinable, which I've felt I needed in the past. Good to learn and grow.

11:33am

Finished grocery shopping. Restocked her kitchen a bit and got her some new toothpaste. Got the correct kind, all the way down to the choice between "fresh mint" and "fresh mint gel"

To get the grocery discounts, I signed up for a Ralph's card and put my city down as Marfa, Texas. Made up a 77315 zip code.

Time to pack and get the flock outta here.

1:18pm

Packed. Loaded. Bags, bike, skates, suit, everything.

Bye Newport Beach

1:38pm PST Monday 16 December 2002

As I left, I blessed Sally and her apartment, myself and my trek.

I'm at Kinko's now, synchronizing email and journal entries.

Oh - I need to get my oil changed soon.

Driving

3:49pm PST Monday 16 December 2002

2637 miles traveled since Dallas.

I've been on the road for a while and I'm right now passing a sign for El Segundo, with the Tribe Called Quest song going through my head.

I forgot to look at mileage exactly as I left Kinko's but oh well.

I'm a bit tired, but there's not many free rest areas to sleep, plus I want to go more than 1 hour before stopping.

Oh, and it's rain rain raining. Slow LA traffic allows me to type, and use my computer to play the aforementioned song through my cassette tape adapter and headphone port on computer.

6:27pm

2713 miles traveled. Spent a lot of time in LA traffic.

It's dark. I have just exited the 101 to the 1 ("the" instead of "highway" or "interstate" as is the local custom) and find it almost deserted compared to what I had been on. Parked on the side to record the moment. And check the map. And pee.

- - - -

Ooops. I exited way earlier than I thought I had. I'll still scope out this beach and then go back to the 101.

Emma Wood State Beach

7:05pm PST Monday 16 December 2002

WOW. (font as big as The Hollywood Sign)

Holy cow wow. I'm at Emma Wood State Beach in California. Waves come in toward the rocks not like one wave in, one wave out. But like wave in, another wave in, two waves in, then all out. Wave wave wave, out out out. The resulting variance in water depth is enough to make me shout with delicious fear that I'm trapped in a water horror movie where the water will keep piling up until it consumes my body like a bit of fluff.

Wind relentless from the northwest, blowing away all my heat and all my shouts of joy at this incredible sight. And how much more incredible would it be if the sun shone brightly overhead instead of a 3/4 moon worth of light?

- - - -

I'm going to put more than T-shirt and shorts (and no shoes) on and go back for more viewing.

7:10pm

Wow. I got cold pretty quickly, even with hoodie on.

I don't want to leave. Could there possibly be anything more beautiful and awesome in the world?

I'm going to drive up the 1 now for a ways and get back on the 101 when it feels right.

No Gas

7:11pm PST Monday 16 December 2002

This is bizarre.

Second gas station that I've visited where I can't get gas. Okay, actually the first one just had signs saying "this product not available" over both the low and mid grade gasoline. They had the high priced one available and I chose not to get it.

This second station has CAUTION ribbon around their entire gas pump area.

Gasoline conspiracy?

8:06pm

Okay I got gas at the third place, which looked perfectly normal, except for one thing. No Reese's Pieces!!!!

Neither were there Reese's Pieces at Ralph's went I went shopping! What kinda of state is this where I can't get Reese's Pieces?

They got Reese's Cups, but no Reese's Pieces. To punish them, I purchase no candy at all.

el Capitan

8:21pm PST Monday 16 December 2002

I'm at El Capitan, a state park that is almost nothing like Emma Wood beach. But I haven't gone down to the beach yet, so maybe it will be the same.

I don't know if I'll sleep a bit here, but I'm going to go explore some in the dark.

Thank you for light, Three Quarter Moon!

8:33pm

Okay, computer. You're coming with me. I have found a place that I must explore more completely. It's not exactly treacherous, but it's definitely muddy, and two fences are asking me to stay away. Or maybe they are showing me where the real adventure is. Okay, let's go.

8:44pm

Okay. I've made it past three fences (trivial; they are way old and have been breached many times (not over or through, but since they span just 20 feet, the newly beaten trail just goes around them)) and down a nearly forgotten staircase descending a 45 degree slope of slippery leaves and grasses to a wall asking me not to go past. I climbed around the wall, and am not going past that for the remainder of my journey would be a fifty foot step down onto rocks over which tumultuous water crashes and froths like a pancake mixer making merangue.

There is one amazing sound that I'm hearing and can't quite place it. Sounds like stacatto drumbeats, but it's almost certainly the waves, for it's coming from down below. I wonder what it is.

I bet it's waves conking rocks together.

9:12pm

I'm tired. the metronomic crashing of waves and complete white noise expeience soothes my brain. I'd like to sleep here, but it's a bit wet and muddy, and I'm being too prissy to get my sleeping bag all mussed up. And too wussy to sleep without it and freeze my ass off.

9:38pm