Early this morning we were called forth to greet the predawn by the happy cries of Susanne saluting the lightening sky. Understand this, Susanne is the only morning person in the bunch. I am not enthused by mornings most of the time, Nick and Ellen are emphatically against them, yet we need to get up sometimes, so it is good that Susanne basically never sleeps past dawn, and often wakes up at two or three in the morning. She is also a reliable alarm clock, she will try to be quiet so as not to wake you if you expressed a desire to sleep in, or if she thinks that you have not been getting enough rest, but if you ask her to, she will consientiously and courteously wake you up when you asked.
One of the things I call Susanne is sunshine, both for her smile, and her irrepressible good cheer in the morning. Who else do I know that washes dishes with God every morning...carrying the nights dishes into the ocean to wash them with sand in the waves before the sun has even broken through the morning haze. That is what she is doing right now, at Natural Bridges beach in Santa Cruz, while I sit here at a picknic table drinking hot coffee and writing at eight in the morning.
Rewind: Haven't had a chance to write on computer in the last 48 hours and we have put some miles behind us so let us play catchup. Saturday morning we were all up and moving by seven, but that just meant that we got on the road at (:30 instead of noon. Can you imagine? Not only Nick and Myself who are accustomed to getting up and moving on pretty much first thing upon waking up, but Susanne and Ellen. Susanne is a morning person, and full of energy, but somewhat scattered and has a bunch of loose ends to tie up, and Ellen is NOT a morning person (but at least all her gear was stowed when she gets up) and they are both women which means that their morning ablutions take longer than us guys. I have to finish packing myself, but am ready in plenty of time, Nick was ready to go when he got hold of a cuppa coffee, but that doesn't cover our ride. Enter our ride to the coast Linda and Lindsey (Susanne's Mom and Neice) who are also both women, and who are not as excited as we are to get moving. Furthermore, Lindsey is a nineteen year old woman who is notorious for taking two hour showers. She did well to be ready in two hours including collaring Bella (her 90lb Alastian/sheppard mix monster of a dorky puppy) who had to come on the first part of the trip.
Anyway, out the door at 9:30, pilling into the enormous RAM Hemi truck borrowed for the journey, and we're off to see the Wizard. After much laughter and many adventures we made it to Marina by about noon, did some last minute shopping, and hit Marina Dunes State Beach about 1 or so. Linda and Lindsey walked on the beach with Susanne and Ellen while Nick and I watched the packs. These are serious packs, Miune is the heaviest because I insist on having a full size tent and my computer and such, and it runs close to 70lbs. The other three gotta be fifty each, and weight goes up and down with our food and water supplies.
After hugs and pictures all around, Linda and Lindsey jump back into the Gas Guzzling beast and roar away back to the valley. The four intrepid walkers gather around a picnic table, have some snacks, talk and hold a brief memorial for my mother at around three which is when the memorial for her is going on in Santa Barbara on the bare slab of the house she built and I grew up in. Inspired by Susanne, I sing a few snatches of songs she used to sing to me as a child, Puff the Migic Dragon, lives by the sea and frolics in the autumn mist in a land called Honnalee... And, Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing, where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago...and I told about how it was to ride in the old Volkswagon van we had when I was real young and the house was barely started and the driveway was unpaved and it turned into a mudslide in the rain and mom would ski the van down the driveway and manage not to kill us even though a bulldozer had rolled down that hill and the operator broke his leg or something...then we decided we better get walking and there would be a better place to plant the little succulent Susanne and Ellen had brought to plant in her honor.
I posted to Facebook via my phone that we were in Marina and had no ride out, the walk had begun, then we began walking. Not being real familiar with the area, we followed the bikepath north, till it ran out and we had to turn around, so our first mile and a half of walking was pretty much a wrong turn. Then we stopped at the first gas statiopn and bought Monterey and Santa Cruz county maps. Then we turned north up Del Monte and walked two-three miles to the Salinas River National Wildlife refuge Where we set up camp off behind some high scrub in a field of blooming wild mustard flowers. Dinner was lentils, steak and veggis and I filmed the preperation of that. We ate and had coffee and talked, retreating into our tents and sleepoing bags fairly early because of the cold, but continuing to talk as we could hear each other clearly through the nylon walls. My tent is of course the smoking tent (well, so is Nick's but it is too small for company), so I got periodic visitations, and Susanne told a legend about the rhinocerous people, and the first rhinocerous created himself and watched himself creating himself around the first horn. First there was the horn, alone in the void...
We woke up early yesterday, made coffee, then the computer was dead (because I had used it as a reading light the night before) so I walked down to the beach with Susanne and Ellen to wash dishes and bathe (though I had no intention of getting in that water personally), while Nick gaurded the gear. It was a nice stretching walk and I took pictures of Susanne washing dishes with God and of things I drew in the sand, and a sand angel I made, and Ellen on the beach and such. Then we walked back to camp, packed up and resumed walking. A couple miles along we got to a Produce market specializing in Artichokes and knew we were enterring Castroville. We stopped for beverages, to refill our water bottles, and use the bathroom. Then we continued walking down through town and north on the one again to moss landing.
There is a marina and coffee house and a couple of restaurants there, and we were exhausted, so we stopped for coffee, charged the computer and phones and video camera, got online, emailed myself photos, downloaded video into computer, the coffee shop closed at four and I found plugs outside in a closed section of outdoor vegetable market next to coffee house and continued electronic gypsy work while the others lay on the sidewalk and drankl coffee and talked. Susanne read some Bible verses, then wandered off....and came back saying that some people she met had offerred us a ride to Zudkowski State Beach Campground just up the road.
So we packed things away and waited for them, thanking God that we didn't have to walk anymore for a while. Our saviors were Denyse and Ken and they were kinda old hippie sorts driving an older Chinook motorhome, Denyse chatterred non-stop in a methamphetimine staccato while Ken drove carefully and was very mellow, and we got a ride all the way into Santa Cruz where they dropped us here at the Natural Bridges an hour or so before dark last night.
We smoked and finished our coffee and then trooped off to find a place to sleep. Eventually, we wandered down a long redwood walkway titled the Monarch Walk trying to get away from the everpresent poison oak, crossed a swamp, climbed a hill and found a nice clearing high above a road where we couldn't be seen by anyone close.
We got our tents set up right around dark while Susanne cooked. We were all bushed, Susanne tried to keep conversation going for a while but gave up after a bit and took her hearing aids out. We were all asleep relatively early under a brilliant nearly-full moon. I woke up to eat meat, cheese, and tortillas at about 2am, and to pee, then woke up just after six by Susanne which is where we began this narrative.
After she woke us up, we all broke camp and headed down to the beach where we commandeered the best picnic table. We all used the facilities, then Susanne took the disshes to the ocean, Nick and Ellen headed out to find a store, and I opened up the computer and started typing. I ended up killing battery and painting some on my pack and some on my jacket. Susanne played on beach and turned her pack into a series of murals. Nick and Ellen came back with sugar and sodas and then we all walked into town seeking a coffee shop. We finally setteled for Borders Cafe which is where I am now.
Ellen has decided she cannot take it and is going home, so Nick has walked her to the bus station while Susanne and I hang out in the cafe and drink coffee and so forth....Bye Ellen. Next we will get some munchies, and catch a bus up to the university and sneak on into the national park next door to camp tonight. Now I need to post this and uipload some pictures. Video needs to be edited, and there is other stuff to do, so ta, ta for now...
...and peace y'all.
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