The day to start my trip finally arrived. I stopped by the Davis Meditation center on my way out of town to return a book and to say goodbye to some of my friends. Here I am with Bill showing off my “gear”. The wooden “U” shaped thing is my folding bed that folds up to leave the rear passenger seat open, but unfolds to give me a 77″ sleeping area (compared to my 76″ length).
The day started with a rainbow in Zamora and ended with another rainbow in San Juan Batista, where they are having record cold weather for the date. It was a pleasant trip with lots of rain squalls to keep the driving interesting.
I went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, ordering a Chili Verde meal that was far too big – I was uncomfortable all night from eating too much. I need to pay attention and just eat until I have had enough, not until the plate is clean. The guy sitting next to me at the bar having his dinner finished off a similar dinner and then ordered, and ate, a second! Drinks were on the house that night. The bartender lady, who had a ring in her nose and a second in her lip, “accidentally” made three mango drinks instead of the one ordered by a customer. Couldn’t just pour the extra down the drain, so the other guy and myself had to take care of the problem.
I had a nice chat with that guy (we didn’t exchange names so he is now known to me as Guy). He is from Roseville and working in the area with CalTrans trying to clean up the mud slides left over from the winter storms. The three of us (including the bar tender) had a pleasant time together. Afterward I walked around the mission grounds in the hopes of working some of my over-eating discomfort down.
I already changed my planned trip, now heading to Santa Barbara for the next night, instead of Taft. I am going to deviate to have lunch with an old friend from college. The hotel in Santa Barbara will undoubtedly be much nicer than in Taft, but since I had a reservation in Taft, and it is less than 24 hours before my stay, I will have to add the price of the unused Taft hotel to the night’s lodging. I think that gives me an early lesson – don’t make reservations too far in advance when you are just wandering around following your nose. Luckily the Taft hotel was only $77, it was a relatively inexpensive lesson. So much for making advanced plans.
I almost forgot, there was an earthquake last night. Not really strong, but enough to wake me up. Not an angry shaking thing, more like the earth purring – gentle and soft. I found it comforting – perhaps I have lived too many years in “earthquake country”. I consider the two rainbows and a purring earth to be great starts for my new adventure.