Addendum to yesterday’s post of my road travels. You recall my concern about whether the car would make it over some of the steeper hills, the ones with 15mph speed limits and bright yellow truck warning signs. This morning, I headed back to the park of bobcat fright, I mean the open space preserve, meaning I re-tackled about 20 miles of the same road. During that time, 4 cars crossed my path heading downhill, but there were 57 bikers! Mostly men, but a few women, and one kid who looked to be about 10. It was my own miniature version of the Tour de France. Also, wasps don’t make pleasant passengers, but luckily the one that flew in seemed just as happy to fly out the passenger side a few minutes later. Sorry you weren’t so lucky on your trip to the field, Dave.
Onwards to Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Point Lobos, Carmel, and Marina, my final destination for the evening.
For my final night on the road, I’m staying with a Navel Postgraduate Institute Chinese professor. I had planned to stay in a hotel or hostel, but the weekend’s rodeo and grand prix motorcycle races drew thousands of extra tourists to town, so rooms were either unavailable or out of my price range. As a solo female traveler, I was wary about couch surfing, but willing to try the next step up. Based on location, reviews, photos, gender of host, and general feeling about the profile, I found a match on airbnb. The way it works is that I request to stay at someone’s house (without knowing the exact house number) in her spare room, and that person accepts or rejects me. Then I pay the site and receive the host’s direct email (not through airbnb) and address. If you arrive and feel that the house doesn’t match the description, you can call airbnb support and receive a refund. The woman’s house is decorated with all sorts of Chinese handicrafts, and it’s spotless. I’m worried that I offended her because it’s a shoe-free house. When she saw my feet (after wandering towns and beaches in flipflops most of the day), she asked me to shower immediately. I can’t deny that I was a little dirty, but it’s not the best introduction. Oh well---she knew my plans for the day, and I didn’t mind showering. I don’t have any idea whether most people spend their time talking with the host or staying in their room. Being that all of the reviews of this woman’s place said that she was quiet (and clean), I chose to catch up on reading and postcard writing in my room.
More Steinbeck in the morning.
2 comments:
What a great weekend. And now you get more Steinbeck.
And how! When they turned on the lights at the end of the movie tonight we were all slouched in our seats. Susan said we could table discussion until the morning, but we still talked for another 20 minutes.
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