We arrived in Arroyo Grande and spent 4 days with our old Alaskan friends, Kit Roberts & John Pope who have recently left Anchorage for warmer climes. It’s a beautiful community where life is a beach! They have just begun eating “raw”, which is all uncooked whole foods, which I must say, even for the short time that Kent & I participated, was absolutely delicious. We are committed to adding more fresh fruits and vegetables in our diet and bought a juicer, which we had been thinking about for a long time prior. This was the little nudge we needed. We drove up the California coast to a beach and watched wind and rain pound waves into the rocks as we combed the beach for jade stone. Lunch: vegetable cakes and carob brownies. Yum.
Breakfast: Mango banana smoothies. Yum. Turns out Kit plays ukele and sings so we jammed old Hawaiian tunes, some upbeat and fun, while others were gorgeous as a Hawaiian waterfall. I love traditional music and the Hawaiian language is purely magical. I accompanied Kit to a “jam night” with other ukele players in town and we rocked the house, so to speak. I was the only guitar player, but no matter......"I'm with the band" (I've always wanted to say that) Dinner: zucchini fetticini and lemon-date parfait. Yum.
Departure: Up the coast we went again, slowly and sure footed. Camper packed to the gills, with enchanting music Kit prepared for us that matched the breathtaking landscape of the Pacific’s steep cliffs and pounding sea. Camped at Plaskett State Park, right across Hwy. 1 from Jade Cove, where Kent spent the morning rock-hounding the precious stones. That evening, whilst starting a fire with damp wood, Kent was eating his sandwich, with his back turned to the picnic table. It was a dark night. He picked up his sandwich & noticed the top bread was missing. He asked me..."did you eat part of my sandwich?" Suddenly, I turned and saw a huge coon sitting on the table, munching on Kent's bread. I could have sworn it had a grin on its face...stealthily he carried out his task, right under our noses! The bandit stuck around. We felt like we were being keenly watched. He came back 3 more times, but now we were vigilant, and he, unsuccessful. Are we not easily entertained??
To top that off, the next morning hiking back from the beach, we followed a bobcat mozying down the road. Bingo.
Off again. Whoa, the farther north we go, the steeper the cliffs, and the more beautiful it gets. Spent an evening at Esalen, getting massages and soaking in the mineral baths 300 feet above the ocean at sunset. Livin'.
