Tales from the Road

My flight was scheduled at 6:30 a.m on Thursday. I decided I wouldn't sleep so I stayed up drinking most of the night. My dad was going to drive me to the airport but he stayed up drinking too, so his girlfriend ended up driving me. The thing is, she was getting tired and said if she went to bed she wouldn't wake back up so we left at 1:00 a.m and got there at 1:30 a.m. I said my goodbyes and headed into the airport. It was dead, no one in sight, I hit the head.

I was somewhat drunk, definitely tired, a little scared, nervous, and bored. I sat in a chair next to a power outlet and plugged in my laptop. I tried watching some X-Men cartoons but couldn't really get into them so I got on facebook and did nothing for 3 hours. Workers started showing up, construction crews working on the security gates, baggage handlers passing through the terminal, most of them looked like the walking dead, complete with torn clothing and rotting flesh. I was hungry, nothing was open save for a couple of really bad vending machines stocked with stale cheese danishes and outdated packs of cookies. At 6:00 I was getting anxious so I relocated to the Frontier ticket counter and waited, I was the first in line.

Everyone opened up, Alaska Air, American Airlines, Continental, all but Frontier, they were 20 minutes late. Got my ticket, went through security, put my shoes back on, sat and waited. I was going to get some breakfast at this point but was afraid I would miss my flight so I decided to get something in Denver, my layover city. I slept on the flight. In Denver I went to one of those Pizza Hut/KFC places. It was awful, I got a cheese pizza/breadsticks/soft drink combos for like five bucks. First of all they just throw pounds and pounds of cheese on those little things and the bread sticks are always ALWAYS stale. The soda was the best thing by far and it was flat Dr. Pepper. I ate one bread stick and one slice of pizza and put the rest in my bag (only to throw it away later). Flight was delayed, sat around, got gas, couldn't piss, couldn't get online, view sucked. Finally got on the plane and flew on.

Over the Rockies was amazing, most beautiful sight I have ever seen. Landing in San Francisco was terrifying. The fog was like a mile thick, I couldn't see the wing of the plane out of my window. We landed. I was finally in California.

At the airport San Francisco looks dreary. I was afraid I made a terrible decision. I took a weird rail car around the airport to the b.a.r.t station and then took the b.a.r.t to downtown. When I submerged from underground I knew I had made the right decision. This place was amazing.

People everywhere, sun shining, bikes zipping through traffic. I jumped into the first starbucks I could find to use some free wifi. Originally I was going to go straight to the Greyhound station and get to Santa Rosa but immediately decided to stay in San Francisco one night. I looked up hostels online and found the Green Tortoise, called, booked room, walked, found, checked-in.

I left the hostel and walked around chinatown. This place is great, crowded, and smells wonderful. I was hungry so I stepped into this place called Enjoy and did I ever. I had the General Tsao's Chicken and it was amazing. The meal, which was only $8 came with large plate of food, rice, soup, tea, and a spring roll. Best thing I've ever had, and it was all vegetarian.

Back at the hostel I showered and used up some free wifi chatting with some friends and looking at some things to do. It was Wednesday and every Wednesday the Green Tortoise has free dinner for everyone. I decided to help cook and made some guacamole. It was Mexican night and we made tacos. I bought a bottle of wine and sat at the table of cooks, 14 in all. Everyone enjoyed the food and booze and soon enough we were all lizards rolling around in the muck. Most of the hostel went out to the bar but I stayed behind smoking some grass with these french fellows. We were in the middle of chatting when I heard someone start to play music on the bandstand, I jumped up and grabbed the acoustic guitar and stated strumming away. So I was on guitar, some french guy was playing a floor drum and this girl from Chicago started singing. It was a great time, I bought more wine. We stayed up too late and made fools of ourselves so when I got up in the morning I made a hasty retreat. I went to the Greyhound station and ate my leftovers whilst awaiting my bus. Goodbye San Francisco... for now.

I made it to Santa Rosa after a 3 hour Greyhound up the 101. Some dad picked me up and dropped me at the Rincon Valley library where I met Linda McDonald for the first time. Rode shotgun to the ranch, cleaned up, unpacked, picked a bed and took off for some Italian. I had ravioli and a beer. I don't know what the other guys had but they're names are: Dan, Toby, and Emillian, from Spain, England, and France respectively. Went to the grocery store afterwards and picked up some food and more beer and when we got back to the ranch me and the guys stayed up bit chatting and drinking. I called it a night soon enough, I was tired and had to get up at 6:30 a.m to start work.

Wake up, eat fast, walk a mile up the mountain, quick muck stalls, set feed for horses, feed ponies and goats, clean pony area, let ponies and goats out, let horses in to eat, clean perimeter, let horses out, thorough muck of horse stalls, muck pony stalls, set evening feed for horses and ponies, fill water, dump waste, walk down mountian, lunch for 3 hours, let in horses, let in ponies, close doors to chicken coops, close doors to duck house, feed lower goats, walk a mile up the mountain, let horses out, avoid mountain lion, walk down the mountain, diner, read, sleep... 4 days in a row, in the pouring rain.

Now it's my 3 day weekend and I'm going back to San Francisco.

I decided to spend my 3 day holiday back in San Francisco so I bought a $10 bus ticket and took off. I left at night and the ride was lame. It got better when we hit Sausalito, the lights from this city screaming across the bay inviting everyone on the bus to come in and play. Pulling through downtown on Halloween night was intense, gypsies, doctors, plumbers, zombies, vampires, french maids, buildings, tables, lumberjacks, sports stars, rock stars, werewolves, and mummies filled the streets, everyone completely drunk and stoned stumbling along looking for THE NEXT GREAT PARTY OF THIS ALL HALLOWS EVE. I got off on the wrong damn street and had to walk 9 blocks through crack city. I made it, checked in and was ready to hit the town but had to sort out some issue with my roommate. She didn't like the fact that a man was staying in her room, tough, mixed dorm, get it? Her english was bad so I promised not to get her pregnant and left. I didn't know left from right so I followed Mario and Luigi and found a place called Cat Club.

$10 with costume, $13 without. I told her I was Jack Kerouac and she told me it was weak but let me in for $10. I bought a beer and sat back watching all the lizards roll around. Found the smoking alley, smoked a cig, bought another beer, sat next to a naked guy, gave a girl a cig, bought another beer, smoked a cig, stumbled back to room, passed out, woke up alone.

Pretty hung over in the morning but I managed to make my way to an old greasy diner where I had a coffee and a veggie burger. Wanted to get a haircut but it was Sunday and nothing was open so I sat around the hostel eating up some bandwidth with downloads. Around 6:00 p.m I found a dive bar and sat around drinking $3 pabst while watching the Giants play. They won, I did a shot, played some pool, won, ate some pizza, won a shot, bought a beer, smoked a cig, started talking to Sam the bartender and she invited me to another bar a bit down the way. So I go, even though I should have just went back to my room.

So Sam and I get to this little hipster joint and get a pabst. 5 minutes in and she say's she's got to go, I start to walk her to the bus stop but she tells me to go back to the bar or someone will throw out my beer, I oblige. On the way back I stop and start talking to these 2 older guys on the side of the road for reasons I don't know, they start smoking some grass, I join, next thing I know I'm at this guy's place drinking some beers and playing guitar while he smashes the Djembe. We smoke some more grass, drink another beer, I strum a song, he digs it, I stumble back to my room, check out's at eleven in the morning.

Back to the ranch life.

so I've got 4 more days of work ahead of me. I've some new company now, no more sleeping all day. Dan is here from Germany and Sam from the UK. They're both really cool cats and I dig them. With more help though means more work, it's getting to a point to where I'm wondering how long I can stick it out here at this ranch. It's not bad per se but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and getting more and more anxious to move on and hit the road again. I've received 4 new job offers in the past few days and I'm trying to figure it all out logistically. I'm looking south and seeing San Diego, Ca, Sedona, AZ, Michoacan, Mexico, and Cotapec, Mexico. Hopefully I'll meet up with Blind Corn-dog. He's in Mexico City now.

Work, work, work, 4 days down, went to a high school football game, off today, took a hike with Sam, saw some views, ate a peanut butter and boysenberry sandwich, hiked back, made some fried zucchini, ate, watched Harry and the Hendersons, cried a bit at end, surfed this web, wrote this blog, tired now, looking forward to another day off tomorrow with blueberry pancakes, boysenberry syrup, walk into town, thirft store, hitch back, next weekend is Redwood National Park.

Good night.