Highs and Lows
Day 64
On adventures like the one we're on we experience everything in a very raw and experiential way. When living like this our highs are very high and our lows are incredibly low.
That being said today was all over the place. We started out in Chowchilla and quickly got a ride to the highway. From there the magnificent Mr. & Mrs. Corona picked us up on their way home from visiting their daughter at UCLA. They got us out of the hot valley and within fifteen miles of Santa Cruz! So far, so good.
After grabbing some pizza we quickly got a hitch from a really nice guy named Orlando, who was originally from Santa Cruz. He gave us a mini tour up the coast, all the way to Davenport and we stopped for coffee. After a great conversation he took us right to the craziness that is downtown Santa Cruz. Excited we quickly walked around and enjoyed the beach till the sun began to fade... This is where our day began to dip into a low.
We got food at a taco bell and immediately started to feel like we were being grouped with all the drug addicts, hobos and wynos because of our backpacks. We looked for an affordable hotel room, but found none because of the holiday and started to hike away from the drunken madness that surrounded the boardwalk area. Thinking we were away from it all a drunk, townie started to harass us with his friends which led to shouting and fists before getting broken up. we continue to walk north out of town to get out of this very strange, at first welcoming, but overall not so fun place.
So, when we boil it down was our fourth of July a success? Yes. You win some, you lose some. Sure the night didn't go well and we'll probably wind up sleeping on some benches like the one I'm typing this post on- but we had an experience, we went through more highs and lows, went off the beaten path for an improvised adventure and met some truly awesome people along the way.
Now we continue away from Santa Cruz, into the foggy night looking for a dark spot to get some sleep before tomorrow's adventure.
- Andy
