I am scowering James West Hollywood one-bedroom-apartment for a bottle of water. My mouth is dry and head feels like its been in a vice. His stray kitten Fern has been shedding fur in my face all night. I am hacking an empty cough with a side of blood-shot-eyes. The frenzied water search has just become a hunt. I find a cup of water. Spitting it out I realize its vodka, vomiting bile in the sink. Checking the drawers at the bottom of the fridge I find the last bottle of water. I chug every ounce and falling into the suede olive green monster of a couch, I chilllax. James staggers out of his room laughing.
“Bro, what great night”
“What happened?”
“We started with an 18 pack then went to the comedy club, and had Pabst. You don’t remember?”
“Sort of, I am just out of it. You brought home a chick, right?”
“Ya, things got free-kay.”
“ Nice.”
My cell phone sounds off, its violent alarm burning in my pocket. I see Fritz’s name flashing in the phone.
“Hey Bro.”
“Hey come down to Venice lets roll.”
“Alright, be there soon.”
James and I hit up “Jack in the Box,” for tacos, juice, and coffee. Its gross but the tacos soak up the hell brewing in my stomach. The drive-thru quick fix adds to the aroma. I can smell the ocean with the top down in James mustang convertible. We pass the Merrill Lynch building and I see a man in a suit walking up the steps toward the front doors. He steps over a homeless man sleeping on the stairs.
I think back on when I decided to go on the trip. A broken record of sentences from my friends and family start creeping there way through my head. While seeing the image of the homeless man getting stepped over.
“Why would you quit your job in this economy?”
“Grow up, you’re an adult.”
“Do you think you are being responsible traveling around like a hippie?”
“Don’t you think your money would be better spent on a car down payment?”
“Why would you leave Reno? Don’t you love it here?”
“This is not the time to quit your job. This is the time to hang-on to it.”
“What are you going to do when you run out of money?
“What job are you going to work when you get home?
“Don’t you want to do something that makes mom proud?”
I don’t want to become a homeless. I don’t want to be broke. I don’t want to be a burden on society. I don’t want to leave Reno. I don’t want to let down my mom.
However, I don’t want to stay miserable at a thankless job where I work weekends. My bosses try to get me to quit by negative progress reports and lowering my monthly bonuses. Changing my hours every week so I am working when I’d be sleeping. My job description changed so drastically. I was driving trucks through the desserts of Northern Nevada throughout the night dropping off papers. So instead of being depressed and angry about my situation, I changed it by quitting. The company was happy because they didn’t have to pay my unemployment. That same week my boss ended up stealing coins from the newspaper-racks and saying they were from his kid’s piggybanks. He is the type of guy that “eats his feelings,” as well as lying his way into a position with underlings. I feel sick that I was there for so long working for such a pig. I am not going to be the man sleeping on the streets or the man working at a job he hates. When am I going to get to travel around North America in an RV with someone like Fritz ever again?
People often ask how Fritz and I became friends. I tell them what story do you want the long or short version? Normally, they say the short but in those rare cases I get to tell the true version.
Three lifetimes ago in another dimension I was living on a planet that was in constant twilight. I was one of a rare species of creatures that lived in acid oceans. We are known as Prongs. The name comes from our pitched forked shaped bodies. Fritz was a giant mammalian type creature that was bipedal and resembled a wooly-mammoth covered in bright pink and green fur. His race was known as Twinkers.
One day I was hunting for food in a lagoon and forgot it was the time of year that the moons rotations play tricks with the tides. It was difficult to predict when the flow would suck-out and leave a barren beach where there used to be a body of acid. I got caught up in the hunt and before I knew it I am beached. Luckily, Fritz had been foraging for fire-snails and saw me. Both of our species knew of each other but never had any interaction before this moment. He asked me if I needed help in his booming voice that sounded similar to a quartet of trumpets. I hissed and bubbled back at him in a tone that was painful to hear. He could see I needed to get back into the acid before I dried off. Picking me up he carried me for what would be the equivalent of 3 miles back to sea. When I was dropped back in, the acid exterior of my body had burned an imprint into his furry circular torso. From that moment on the Prongs and Twinkers were interconnected. Even though he didn’t have to save my life he did. My peoples warned them of encroaching dangers from the oceans in the future and his taught us about the moons. The impression burned into his body became a symbol that represented friendship. Despite our differences the ability to show compassion and respect has kept us friends through the ages, and that is how Fritz and I met.
wake up...
041209
I woke up April 12th, 2009 with a burning desire to leave Los Angeles. Soon the 27 foot long beast named Hoe-Nay would be entered and taken on an arduous journey across the nation and back. But the trip could not begin without my old Prong friend whose life I had saved by placing him in an acid ocean a few lifetimes ago. I anxiously awaited for Giggles because his arrival meant our departure.
I had just finished enjoying a scrumdilliyumptous breakfast of eggs, hash browns, sausage, and bacon in the home of my LA LA Land Family. I looked across the kitchen table to see a lovely couple who always go out of their way to make their guests happy. They are two of the most hospitable people on the planet! Plus, they have been together 21 years and just so happen to jointly own and operate the most well known sex shop in the greater Venice area. I love my friends!
With a belly fully of contentment I followed Ian outside for my briefing on the 27 foot RV that he refers to as “Hoe-Nay”. This name is derived from “Honey” being written in multiple strategic spots like stripes and stars on a fighter jet. On the front end there is even a cool looking bee decal representing its ferocity. Calling it “Hoe-Nay” adds a little spice to a vehicle that was made in 1985. Luxury is what you make it.
It was just before high noon when my bare feet met the concrete of the stoop on my way to the front yard. And there Giggles was! He was standing in the grass, accompanied by his good ole pal James.
“What’s upppppppp!” I said as I lunged forward to give him one of my best bear hugs. The weary look on his faced instantly changed as he returned the energy 110% full. We unlocked for a moment, and then hit round two of love. It was at that moment that I knew we were starting one of the most epic voyages of this lifetime...
We next entered the confines of Hoe-Nay and tried to start her up for the very first time. A few short lived tries and nothing. Then after the longest amount of time I have every turned a key she started and was coughing to a purr. “About five minutes are needed to warm her up,” Ian advised us from outside the passenger’s window. She sounded like a humongous motor boat peeling through gasoline. The feeling inside while she is running is unexplainable.
When we were ready to set sail, something unexpected happened. We were challenged by none other than our friends. “I don’t think there is any way you can make it a few feet before stalling. Good luck!” Ian taunted. What? I couldn’t believe he would put this pressure on us! I was already nervous about driving a 27 foot rectangular home anywhere, but now this. It was as if he was setting us up for disaster.
I swallowed as the nervousness seeped in, put my foot on the gas pedal, and felt the hesitation in the engine. I looked up to see if Ian had noticed how close we already were to fueling his failure drama. Nothing, no difference in facial expression! If he didn’t know how close we had come, then why was I so nervous? The morale was instantly back in tact because I realized he had no affect on the outcome, and that I was in control. We were safe to set sail with no fear. I released the pedal, and immediately pressed on it again, but this time with more confidence. We were off! It felt like Hoe-Nay lunged forward five feet, but it could have been only inches. “There you go!” Ian now encouraged. Yes, we’ve got it! A few more pumps and some heavy shakes of the ship in the unmoving sea of concrete, and we were completely pulled away, moseying towards the main street. Our top speed was probably 10 MPH before i had to start slowing us down for the stop sign that was a good fifty feet away.
We were officially on our journey, alone without supervision. I felt like a child who somehow accidentally ended up behind the wheel for their first time and didn’t know what did what. I was waiting for someone to catch us and spoil our fun. When we made that first right onto Venice BLVD, I knew that nothing could stop this train. Nobody could take away what was ahead of us, nor would they ever be able to at any other bridge I crossed in my life.
I had built up some more confidence as we pulled into traffic, but not a whole bunch. The house of a machine accelerated slow and maneuvered like an offensive lineman. We slowly made our wide turn and got up to about 25 MPH in 30 seconds, watching all vehicles zipping by us. I don’t think we ever made it up to the speed limit before we hit the freeway. But that is ok because I was still getting a feel for Hoe-Nay. In five minutes we were on the 405 heading south towards someplace in SD.
We drifted down the multilane freeway with absolutely no immediacy. The cars zoomed by us as I pushed down on the heavy pedal with mite in an attempt to get the speedometer up to smooth cruisin speed of 55. The race of the world was on for everyone on that publicly paid spanse of concrete connecting homes to work places, except for us two freed souls. We were just trucking along, enjoying the ride with no real destination and definitely no immediate time frame. This is how life is supposed to be lived. Sadly we have forgotten much over time due to the advent of a monetary system which has bred greed. Greed drove by us on all sides and with no compassion or acknowledgement.
We met an enemy named physics almost as soon as we embraced enjoyment. The vortices of wind from the semis(and any decent sized vehicle) moved us half way across the lane like a flower from an exhale of the Earth. I had my hands at 10 and 2(just as they teach in driver’s ed) and was moving the wheel to the right and left in controlled movements. Have you seen the old movies with the backdrop projection behind the stationary car on the movie set? That was us! The differences was that I was doing it to stay in the lane! Even with my best efforts we were still invading three lanes as we traveled on.
To make matters worse, each time I tried to change lanes it was a huge ordeal. There would be plenty of room for the move, but as soon as we signaled, the other guy found pleasure in speeding up towards us. We apparently were in their way. Maybe all the drivers just didn’t see our blinker? No kidding, nobody seemed to care if they rammed a vehicle six times the size of theirs. We were baffled at the logic behind some folks. Illogical I tell ya. Illogical...
To escape the death drivers and brighten things up, we made it to the Pacific Coast Highway. Basking in the sun with the ocean ripping to our right was such an improvement. As I was sharing my view between the road and the rays of sun dancing in the water I received a phone call from Flip. “Partna! Where you guys at?” I had no clue. We weren’t paying as much attention to our whereabouts as we were to the beach, people, plants, trees, and extravagant homes. “Um, we are in...” I said as I looked around for a building or a sign to tell me where we were. I saw Carlsbad written in the name of a business we had just passed. “Carlsbad. We’re in Carlsbad. Carlsbad? Oh shit! Naz! Hey Flip, I gotta run!” I quickly hung up the phone after realizing that one of the coolest girls I have ever met, Naz, lived in Carlsbad. What was I thinking? I had (until that moment) forgotten about her. What kind of friend am I?
I searched for her number as I let Giggles know that “she only has about a twenty percentage chance of answering the phone”. We kept Hoe-Nay moving southward. Ring, ring ring. “Yeah, I think she lives somewhere around here. Maybe over there in those apartments that are pastel green. I don’t really know though” as I anxiously waited a response on the other end of the phone. Ring, ring ring. “I know she lives close to the beach, and this feels right”
“Hello Fritz” a female voice said from the earpiece in my phone to my ear. No way...
“Naz!”
“Fritz! Where are you?”
“I’m in Carlsbad on the road trip”
“Oh wow! Do you have a bike on the back of the RV?”
I was puzzled, but still answered the question. “Yeah”
“I see you!”
“Shut the fuck outta here!” “She’s driving behind us” I turned to my right and said with excitement to Giggles. “No way!” he responded.
“I’m not in a car behind you Fritz. I’m on my patio looking at you.” This couldn’t be possible, could it?
I had to test her, “If you can see us, then which blinker did I just put on?” I asked as I click the lever down.
“Your left” she said.
“Holy shit!” I said with enthusiasm. “Where do I go?”
“Well, flip a bitch first.”
“This baby doesn’t flip bitches!” We all laughed as I prepared to turn the hull of the ship left, fully knowing that the turning radius was not small enough to turn completely around. 27 feet is 27 feet. We made a quick left to enter a residential area as all the cabinets behind us rattled open and random things went flying inside of Hoe-Nay.
I was so amped that I made a three point(ok five point) turn in the middle of a four way stop just to get back to her. I couldn’t think rationally because what had just happened was not rational. We were only about ten feet away from each other as we made contact passing her place during that phone call. Who does that happen to? Us, I thought. It happens to us because things work out if you will them to. We looked at each other with wow eyes. “This is how I roll” I told Giggles as I felt my heart racing, fully knowing that this would not be the last time the perfection of happenstance would visit us. How crazy, right? No no no...How perfect! There are no coincidences in life. Ha ha!
After quality beers, conversation, and a session at the beach with Naz and her hubby, Casey(they live two minutes away by foot), we drove back down the PCH again. We only made it about five minutes before pulling off on the side of the road, parallel to the ocean to catch the setting of the sun. This would come to be a sacred time for us. We grabbed one of our freshly chilled beers and made it to the conference room on the roof of the RV. Nothing outside of this moment was important to us because we were appreciating life and enjoying every drop it had to offer. We had found happiness in simplicity and knew it. The buzz from the first few sips seeped into our energetic souls, matching the vibration from the setting sun.
And the end of that first night we finally made it to our coastal home which Flip had recommended, sliding Hoe-Nay right up in front of some million dollar residence. To our left was a two lane parking lot, and then a cliff that dropped off about 100 feet to the beach below. What a spot!
We hopped out to show our enthusiasm to Flip, thanking him and let him know how much we loved him. As we said departing words, he asked us, “Parnta! did you know that you are leaking oil?”
“Bro, what great night”
“What happened?”
“We started with an 18 pack then went to the comedy club, and had Pabst. You don’t remember?”
“Sort of, I am just out of it. You brought home a chick, right?”
“Ya, things got free-kay.”
“ Nice.”
My cell phone sounds off, its violent alarm burning in my pocket. I see Fritz’s name flashing in the phone.
“Hey Bro.”
“Hey come down to Venice lets roll.”
“Alright, be there soon.”
James and I hit up “Jack in the Box,” for tacos, juice, and coffee. Its gross but the tacos soak up the hell brewing in my stomach. The drive-thru quick fix adds to the aroma. I can smell the ocean with the top down in James mustang convertible. We pass the Merrill Lynch building and I see a man in a suit walking up the steps toward the front doors. He steps over a homeless man sleeping on the stairs.
I think back on when I decided to go on the trip. A broken record of sentences from my friends and family start creeping there way through my head. While seeing the image of the homeless man getting stepped over.
“Why would you quit your job in this economy?”
“Grow up, you’re an adult.”
“Do you think you are being responsible traveling around like a hippie?”
“Don’t you think your money would be better spent on a car down payment?”
“Why would you leave Reno? Don’t you love it here?”
“This is not the time to quit your job. This is the time to hang-on to it.”
“What are you going to do when you run out of money?
“What job are you going to work when you get home?
“Don’t you want to do something that makes mom proud?”
I don’t want to become a homeless. I don’t want to be broke. I don’t want to be a burden on society. I don’t want to leave Reno. I don’t want to let down my mom.
However, I don’t want to stay miserable at a thankless job where I work weekends. My bosses try to get me to quit by negative progress reports and lowering my monthly bonuses. Changing my hours every week so I am working when I’d be sleeping. My job description changed so drastically. I was driving trucks through the desserts of Northern Nevada throughout the night dropping off papers. So instead of being depressed and angry about my situation, I changed it by quitting. The company was happy because they didn’t have to pay my unemployment. That same week my boss ended up stealing coins from the newspaper-racks and saying they were from his kid’s piggybanks. He is the type of guy that “eats his feelings,” as well as lying his way into a position with underlings. I feel sick that I was there for so long working for such a pig. I am not going to be the man sleeping on the streets or the man working at a job he hates. When am I going to get to travel around North America in an RV with someone like Fritz ever again?
People often ask how Fritz and I became friends. I tell them what story do you want the long or short version? Normally, they say the short but in those rare cases I get to tell the true version.
Three lifetimes ago in another dimension I was living on a planet that was in constant twilight. I was one of a rare species of creatures that lived in acid oceans. We are known as Prongs. The name comes from our pitched forked shaped bodies. Fritz was a giant mammalian type creature that was bipedal and resembled a wooly-mammoth covered in bright pink and green fur. His race was known as Twinkers.
One day I was hunting for food in a lagoon and forgot it was the time of year that the moons rotations play tricks with the tides. It was difficult to predict when the flow would suck-out and leave a barren beach where there used to be a body of acid. I got caught up in the hunt and before I knew it I am beached. Luckily, Fritz had been foraging for fire-snails and saw me. Both of our species knew of each other but never had any interaction before this moment. He asked me if I needed help in his booming voice that sounded similar to a quartet of trumpets. I hissed and bubbled back at him in a tone that was painful to hear. He could see I needed to get back into the acid before I dried off. Picking me up he carried me for what would be the equivalent of 3 miles back to sea. When I was dropped back in, the acid exterior of my body had burned an imprint into his furry circular torso. From that moment on the Prongs and Twinkers were interconnected. Even though he didn’t have to save my life he did. My peoples warned them of encroaching dangers from the oceans in the future and his taught us about the moons. The impression burned into his body became a symbol that represented friendship. Despite our differences the ability to show compassion and respect has kept us friends through the ages, and that is how Fritz and I met.
wake up...
041209
I woke up April 12th, 2009 with a burning desire to leave Los Angeles. Soon the 27 foot long beast named Hoe-Nay would be entered and taken on an arduous journey across the nation and back. But the trip could not begin without my old Prong friend whose life I had saved by placing him in an acid ocean a few lifetimes ago. I anxiously awaited for Giggles because his arrival meant our departure.
I had just finished enjoying a scrumdilliyumptous breakfast of eggs, hash browns, sausage, and bacon in the home of my LA LA Land Family. I looked across the kitchen table to see a lovely couple who always go out of their way to make their guests happy. They are two of the most hospitable people on the planet! Plus, they have been together 21 years and just so happen to jointly own and operate the most well known sex shop in the greater Venice area. I love my friends!
With a belly fully of contentment I followed Ian outside for my briefing on the 27 foot RV that he refers to as “Hoe-Nay”. This name is derived from “Honey” being written in multiple strategic spots like stripes and stars on a fighter jet. On the front end there is even a cool looking bee decal representing its ferocity. Calling it “Hoe-Nay” adds a little spice to a vehicle that was made in 1985. Luxury is what you make it.
It was just before high noon when my bare feet met the concrete of the stoop on my way to the front yard. And there Giggles was! He was standing in the grass, accompanied by his good ole pal James.
“What’s upppppppp!” I said as I lunged forward to give him one of my best bear hugs. The weary look on his faced instantly changed as he returned the energy 110% full. We unlocked for a moment, and then hit round two of love. It was at that moment that I knew we were starting one of the most epic voyages of this lifetime...
We next entered the confines of Hoe-Nay and tried to start her up for the very first time. A few short lived tries and nothing. Then after the longest amount of time I have every turned a key she started and was coughing to a purr. “About five minutes are needed to warm her up,” Ian advised us from outside the passenger’s window. She sounded like a humongous motor boat peeling through gasoline. The feeling inside while she is running is unexplainable.
When we were ready to set sail, something unexpected happened. We were challenged by none other than our friends. “I don’t think there is any way you can make it a few feet before stalling. Good luck!” Ian taunted. What? I couldn’t believe he would put this pressure on us! I was already nervous about driving a 27 foot rectangular home anywhere, but now this. It was as if he was setting us up for disaster.
I swallowed as the nervousness seeped in, put my foot on the gas pedal, and felt the hesitation in the engine. I looked up to see if Ian had noticed how close we already were to fueling his failure drama. Nothing, no difference in facial expression! If he didn’t know how close we had come, then why was I so nervous? The morale was instantly back in tact because I realized he had no affect on the outcome, and that I was in control. We were safe to set sail with no fear. I released the pedal, and immediately pressed on it again, but this time with more confidence. We were off! It felt like Hoe-Nay lunged forward five feet, but it could have been only inches. “There you go!” Ian now encouraged. Yes, we’ve got it! A few more pumps and some heavy shakes of the ship in the unmoving sea of concrete, and we were completely pulled away, moseying towards the main street. Our top speed was probably 10 MPH before i had to start slowing us down for the stop sign that was a good fifty feet away.
We were officially on our journey, alone without supervision. I felt like a child who somehow accidentally ended up behind the wheel for their first time and didn’t know what did what. I was waiting for someone to catch us and spoil our fun. When we made that first right onto Venice BLVD, I knew that nothing could stop this train. Nobody could take away what was ahead of us, nor would they ever be able to at any other bridge I crossed in my life.
I had built up some more confidence as we pulled into traffic, but not a whole bunch. The house of a machine accelerated slow and maneuvered like an offensive lineman. We slowly made our wide turn and got up to about 25 MPH in 30 seconds, watching all vehicles zipping by us. I don’t think we ever made it up to the speed limit before we hit the freeway. But that is ok because I was still getting a feel for Hoe-Nay. In five minutes we were on the 405 heading south towards someplace in SD.
We drifted down the multilane freeway with absolutely no immediacy. The cars zoomed by us as I pushed down on the heavy pedal with mite in an attempt to get the speedometer up to smooth cruisin speed of 55. The race of the world was on for everyone on that publicly paid spanse of concrete connecting homes to work places, except for us two freed souls. We were just trucking along, enjoying the ride with no real destination and definitely no immediate time frame. This is how life is supposed to be lived. Sadly we have forgotten much over time due to the advent of a monetary system which has bred greed. Greed drove by us on all sides and with no compassion or acknowledgement.
We met an enemy named physics almost as soon as we embraced enjoyment. The vortices of wind from the semis(and any decent sized vehicle) moved us half way across the lane like a flower from an exhale of the Earth. I had my hands at 10 and 2(just as they teach in driver’s ed) and was moving the wheel to the right and left in controlled movements. Have you seen the old movies with the backdrop projection behind the stationary car on the movie set? That was us! The differences was that I was doing it to stay in the lane! Even with my best efforts we were still invading three lanes as we traveled on.
To make matters worse, each time I tried to change lanes it was a huge ordeal. There would be plenty of room for the move, but as soon as we signaled, the other guy found pleasure in speeding up towards us. We apparently were in their way. Maybe all the drivers just didn’t see our blinker? No kidding, nobody seemed to care if they rammed a vehicle six times the size of theirs. We were baffled at the logic behind some folks. Illogical I tell ya. Illogical...
To escape the death drivers and brighten things up, we made it to the Pacific Coast Highway. Basking in the sun with the ocean ripping to our right was such an improvement. As I was sharing my view between the road and the rays of sun dancing in the water I received a phone call from Flip. “Partna! Where you guys at?” I had no clue. We weren’t paying as much attention to our whereabouts as we were to the beach, people, plants, trees, and extravagant homes. “Um, we are in...” I said as I looked around for a building or a sign to tell me where we were. I saw Carlsbad written in the name of a business we had just passed. “Carlsbad. We’re in Carlsbad. Carlsbad? Oh shit! Naz! Hey Flip, I gotta run!” I quickly hung up the phone after realizing that one of the coolest girls I have ever met, Naz, lived in Carlsbad. What was I thinking? I had (until that moment) forgotten about her. What kind of friend am I?
I searched for her number as I let Giggles know that “she only has about a twenty percentage chance of answering the phone”. We kept Hoe-Nay moving southward. Ring, ring ring. “Yeah, I think she lives somewhere around here. Maybe over there in those apartments that are pastel green. I don’t really know though” as I anxiously waited a response on the other end of the phone. Ring, ring ring. “I know she lives close to the beach, and this feels right”
“Hello Fritz” a female voice said from the earpiece in my phone to my ear. No way...
“Naz!”
“Fritz! Where are you?”
“I’m in Carlsbad on the road trip”
“Oh wow! Do you have a bike on the back of the RV?”
I was puzzled, but still answered the question. “Yeah”
“I see you!”
“Shut the fuck outta here!” “She’s driving behind us” I turned to my right and said with excitement to Giggles. “No way!” he responded.
“I’m not in a car behind you Fritz. I’m on my patio looking at you.” This couldn’t be possible, could it?
I had to test her, “If you can see us, then which blinker did I just put on?” I asked as I click the lever down.
“Your left” she said.
“Holy shit!” I said with enthusiasm. “Where do I go?”
“Well, flip a bitch first.”
“This baby doesn’t flip bitches!” We all laughed as I prepared to turn the hull of the ship left, fully knowing that the turning radius was not small enough to turn completely around. 27 feet is 27 feet. We made a quick left to enter a residential area as all the cabinets behind us rattled open and random things went flying inside of Hoe-Nay.
I was so amped that I made a three point(ok five point) turn in the middle of a four way stop just to get back to her. I couldn’t think rationally because what had just happened was not rational. We were only about ten feet away from each other as we made contact passing her place during that phone call. Who does that happen to? Us, I thought. It happens to us because things work out if you will them to. We looked at each other with wow eyes. “This is how I roll” I told Giggles as I felt my heart racing, fully knowing that this would not be the last time the perfection of happenstance would visit us. How crazy, right? No no no...How perfect! There are no coincidences in life. Ha ha!
After quality beers, conversation, and a session at the beach with Naz and her hubby, Casey(they live two minutes away by foot), we drove back down the PCH again. We only made it about five minutes before pulling off on the side of the road, parallel to the ocean to catch the setting of the sun. This would come to be a sacred time for us. We grabbed one of our freshly chilled beers and made it to the conference room on the roof of the RV. Nothing outside of this moment was important to us because we were appreciating life and enjoying every drop it had to offer. We had found happiness in simplicity and knew it. The buzz from the first few sips seeped into our energetic souls, matching the vibration from the setting sun.
And the end of that first night we finally made it to our coastal home which Flip had recommended, sliding Hoe-Nay right up in front of some million dollar residence. To our left was a two lane parking lot, and then a cliff that dropped off about 100 feet to the beach below. What a spot!
We hopped out to show our enthusiasm to Flip, thanking him and let him know how much we loved him. As we said departing words, he asked us, “Parnta! did you know that you are leaking oil?”
4/13/09
I can’t sleep the omnipotent roar of the ocean shakes the foundation of my being. Its thunderous breath fogs the outer windows of Hoe-Nay. My hearts rhythm is beating of kilter. It’s a new home. The RV has no distinct smell yet and from where we are parked I can taste the Pacific. The salty air sticks to me as if it were some living thing.
On top of a cliff in Encinitas is where we chose to spend this night. The jetstreams are too low, they miss Hoe-Nay, but every movement can be felt inside of her. Poor, Fritz I can tell he can’t sleep either and me getting up for paper, pen, and a flashlight doesn’t help with the quaking in the RV. Thoughts of the rolling ocean keep me awake. The moonlight reflecting off the sea outlines the landscape. The glinting shadows give me a preview of how it will look in the morning. My throat is parched from the air. It could also be the beer that did it. Either way we need to pick up water at the store.
Being this close to the ocean again makes my childhood unfold like a map used to get to some beach far from the Nevada dessert I call home. My mid-night mind drips with memory. I am full of excitement that can only be quantified by an adolescent Christmas morning.
4/13/09
I just brushed my teeth in a coffee shop bathroom before breakfast. I am drinking a peach and banana smoothie. My first sip is delicious and I start to hear the voices. Fritz gets ups to use the restroom. I am alone without a voice of reason in a yuppie coffee shop full of grown-ups reading newspapers full of world problems and excuses. Their awkward glances speak of disapproval. My head is beginning to spin from voices telling me what to do.
Echoing voices of constructs being passed down through generations. It’s not a voice of reason. It’s a reason that questions all that is different from the social norm. What is responsible? What should we feel guilty about? Ideals help to schedule and play it safe. What is safe? Who did what before us and how can we follow that path? Matching up with past success. What do I consider a success?
Twirl, twirl
Messy minded,
Where’s the point?
Cannot find it.
“Fritz where are you?”
“I am right here.”
He looks at me with intuitive eyes knowing he has left me too long.
“We are cool. Lets get out of here.”
The air outside is fresh and crisp with eucalyptus. Hoe-Nay is starring back at us on the deck of the coffee shop. Her ladder that leads to the roof-top is weathered from “riding the back of the wind.” It’s sturdy enough to hold us but shaky due to lack of density in the metal. The roof is practically bare except for some antennae and wires and an air-conditioning unit that has become a table. We’ve already had several meetings up there. Fritz calls it the “conference room.” We brought Fritz’s buddy Flip up there for asada burritos from Juanitas. It’s one of San Diego’s finest hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints.
4/14/09
I just ate the most delicious breakfast burrito. Tucked among the bars and surf shops of Mission San Diego is Taco Surf. The inside resembles an old fashion surfboard shop. The walls and ceiling are lined with vintage surfboards from every era. This place was the locals stop from the feel if the shop.
My burrito was a giant lightly crisped flour tortilla stuffed with: seasoned asada steak, fresh guacamole, accompanied by 2 scrambled eggs, salsa fresco, and two fistfuls of shredded cheese that seemed to melt into every corner. This was a monster that I devoured in minutes. Fritz ordered his with: hashbrowns, eggs, pickled jalapeños, guacamole, and cheese. They didn’t even need sauce. Each of these bad-dogs was around $6.00 I highly recommend getting down if you are in SD. We weren’t hungover but from past experiences I would say this is the ultimate hangover food.
Fritz! I admire your free spirit and adventurous nature!! Looking forward to future posts about your trip from you and Giggles.
ReplyDelete-Amber Robinson
Fritz, you are the best and I value our friendship more than you will ever know Partna! Stoked you and giggles enjoyed your beach spot and burritos from Jaunitas. Only wish we could have spent more time together that day my friends...
ReplyDelete-Flip
I have to say, I am not sure what I enjoy more hearing these stories in person from you Aaron or reading your amazing writng style...
ReplyDeleteStay tuned I guess?