An early start to the day today, as we silently cleaned Elliott’s friend, Michelle’s Santa Cruz beach house, being particularly careful not to wake her or the many other housemates who had so generously welcomed not only our monstrous green school bus in front of their home, but also its 12 inhabitants.
As we jolted sleepily down the highway, we were unsure of what the day would have in store. The day was wide open logistically, so we embarked on new waters and set off to make an event in Monterey, CA by parking in front of the town’s popular Monterey Bay Aquarium. It being a Sunday, we hoped for the best. Our early departure prompted an early arrival, successful in attaining a prominent parking space, but failing to attract the crowds of die-hard aquarium goers, hurriedly rushing past us, focused on avoiding eye contact. Alas, as the morning fog swept off the nearby shore, a burst of light shone upon the Big Green Bus initiating a long, wonderfully exciting day of talking to hundreds of people about alternative energy sources and our own environmental voyage.
The day’s favorite encounters included a discussion with the primary recruiter from BitTorrent, the countless, captivatingly harmonious renditions of “Wild Thing” by Mike the guitar tuning man and his questionable back-up vocalist, as well as throngs of waving hands from our many fans and passersby. Working in shifts, we also had the opportunity to explore Monterey itself. For instance, Mikey, Crank, Steph, Viv, and Mitch spent a good deal of time watching shark videos at the aquarium and trying to pronounce the disturbingly difficult scientific names of fish. Meanwhile, and speaking of sub aquatic life, Brian and Lissa ate some delectable yet oddly spicy calamari. Myself, I got suckered into a used record store. Despite having resolved not to purchase anything, I emerge with a wonderful, used Tears for Fears DVD collection. Alas.
We departed the bay late in the afternoon, exhaustedly smiling after a very successful day of outreach. From there, the bus opted to bomb down the narrow, life threatening cliffs of Highway 1 (hi Mitch, never felt an ounce of fear…) on our way to a comfy Big Sur campground. Emerging from the low clouds, we were suddenly faced with the threat of impending death and relished in the beautiful rocky shores below (See photos for more). Not even the highway from Hanover to Burlington can top the treacherous beauty of Highway 1.
After practically fording a river, like our pals Jeb and Nazareth from the Oregon Trail computer game, we arrived safely at our campsite, tucked neatly into the river’s edge. Tent setting-up and soccer ball juggling ensued, leading up to a delicious spaghetti dinner and s’more eating session, headlined by Sunshine’s miraculous digestion of an ignited ricecake/s'more sando. You're killin' me, Smalls. Finally our long day ended appropriately enough with a viewing of the exemplar of teenage angst: 10 Things I Hate About You. Goodnight and good morrow. Off to Santa Barbara in the morning!
- Elliott |
