(And I've been REALLY GOOD. I AM RESTING THE HELL OUT OF THIS KNEE. SO THERE TO EVERYONE WHO THINKS I DON'T LOOK AFTER MYSELF- J
Saying nothin'...- C)
This in mind, we breakfasted on Dim Sum (otherwise known as Nom Nom) and went for a slow, leisurely explore of a couple of districts of San Francisco on Tuesday- mainly Mission and Haight. Lots of Spanish to practise in Mission, and Haight was pretty but mostly just a street of shops. If you know the right people, it could well still be the hotbed of alternative culture it was in the 60s, but to walk through it mostly just makes you think of the wisdom of Danny.
Continuing the Withnail and I theme, that night's Couch Surf host's band were named after a famous scene- and are well worth a listen. He also found us some cheap and tasty Thai dinner, and C explored China Town's markets more the next day while J rested her knee and typed bits of novels and emails that might as well have been.
China Towns are interesting. They're so much more samey all over the world than other emigrant-gathered areas. But there must be differences between them. And is there something about East Asian culture that has caused people to so often set up that way? Or is there something about Western Culture that provides the niche? Can someone recommend a book to answer these questions?
That evening we went to a Mission district political resource centre to see a documentary about education in Arizona. It is a very interesting film, inspiring and depressing in equal measure, and well worth a watch even if you never intend to visit Arizona.
On Thursday we went to the Beat Museum, once again getting Student Rate to an attraction because we are young and scruffy and hardly going to refuse it when it's offered. We both enjoyed it a lot, maybe more than we were expecting to- and does everyone know On The Road is a movie now? Everyone who cares anyway? Yep? Just those of us who've been hitching for two months surprised by this? OK. And looks like it might actually be pretty good, judging by the director.
What is also out now in movie format is Dr Seuss' The Lorax. This was not in the Beat museum, however there has been a few Lorax related things on our travels, from people's tattoos, to being in various children's sections of the bookstores we always end up in, to large sand sculptures in the centre of downtown Portland. We cannot vouch for the movie but if you haven't read the book it is really good and has a pretty cool message. Suppose that goes for On The Road as well but you know...
On Thursday evening we moved over to another Couch Surf host in Oakland. We got on really well, and had a couple of lovely evenings with comedy shows, political chats and amazing food (a seemingly never-ending conveyor belt of cookies and cakes and other baked marvels). Also local beers and California's famous $2 "Two Buck Chuck" wine (Not as bad as you might think. Got a real cork and everything.)
We stayed an extra night with our Oakland friends, as we had nowhere else worked out and they are lovely people. But on Saturday, still with nowhere to stay and J's knee still not great, we decided to hit the road sooner than planned*.
That crazy old woman in Aberdeenshire was right, and when you leap into something, things do work out. The first night of our travels on the completely spectacular Route 1,
a friendly local from Half Moon Bay let us camp on his field. The next, we went swimming on a beach south of Santa Cruz, where a boat made of concrete ran aground (perhaps unsurprisingly?) on its maiden voyage
and then later, a hitch drove us to meet a friend of his and we all ended up in a nearby campsite with some traveling surfers watching shooting stars in a bottomless sky and communing with a raccoon family who were deeply irked we'd intruded so near their own personal tree which they use for peaking out of like the adorable cartoon characters they definitely aren't.
We stuck with our companion today, and got breakfast at Denny's, making J ridiculously excited as its not only a very Americana thing to do but a line in a song by her favourite Reggae band (details upon request). We then and returned to our original hitch's house, where this is posted from. It's full of welcome and good conversation, and also a rabbit called Death Ray- look:
We'll camp again tonight and hope for more meteorites, and then carry on the road tomorrow. The guy currently hosting us mentioned at one stage that he was driving us past several towns on our way and we might 'miss them'. We were genuinely a bit confused. We're not here for the towns- it's the highway that's famous right?
*For anyone who does not know, hitch-hiking is a lot easier on a pulled ligament than you might imagine. The 'hiking' part is minimal and the sitting in cars or on bags inventively insulting people who won't pick us up part is quite large.
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