Incipient Vagabond--Verily

By far, San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara have been the greatest parts of my trip so far; the bike ride to Arroyo Grande through valleys and hills and then back along Pismo/Shell Beach to see the variety of colors, shades, and textures of landscapes--I explained to my host Chris the next day something I hadn't realized until that moment, that I had never seen the weather interact with the landscape the way it did there--clouds casting shadows on proximal hills and running into mounts and changing shape and direction... It really was quite magical.  It´s those types of spaces that remind me why traveling is so great; it´s not necessarily the destination that is worth the trip, but the way you get there--enriching your adventure by NOT spending money on housing and transportation, what an earthshattering idea.  The thing is, when I arrive at places, often in those with lesser quality of living, the people are so preoccupied that they don´t get to explore the spaces relatively close to themselves.  This is something that it takes downtime to do--time where you have no needs and must find your own diversion--the kind of introspection and personal or community development that is a luxury of the wealthy or intellectual, mostly.  One might argue against me that there are plenty of poor people who travel--street kids and rednecks, etc--but these people had to first come from the lap of luxury, ie a country that provides its needs even when they dont provide them for themselves. 

So Santa Barbara... I don´t know if I talked about it before, but damn.  I arrived in the passenger seat of a rad guy from Irvine who had brought some other guys north to los alamos, and this was a perfect introduction to SB: full of people who are interesting and interested and active and generally vivacious--they know they are privileged with opportunity and utilize it to its utmost.  That´s absolutely not a bad thing; I´d rather see people who have power using it well, like royalty it gives hope and enlightenment even to those who don´t have it .  People who go surfing and love learning and practice new skills every chance they get; many who share and few who are lethargic, lots of ideas and creativity.  There were people like Mohammed, who went to school for 5 years and now is planning to go to Brazil, He surfs and looks like Burt Bacharach (and gets just as much play :). 

Perhaps I´ll just write some of the stories I have from Santa Barbara.  Having spent a couple months in such a vibrant and proactive place was really enriching:
I found a campsite as soon as I got to isla vista, an open space preserve right on the outskirts of the square mile town.  There were already three other guys squatting there, and it really was a precious sight, these guys being unpestered by the locals, working together to build a campsite and preparing for the coming rain.  I talked to them, met them all, buddha and crazy and jack, or whatever they were... asked them if theyd been bothered and such.  Nothing, so I felt great.  I hid my stuf in some blackberry thicket and went exploring on my bike.  There´s nothing like traveling a new town or any space, really, on a bicycle.  I was *****

I said this morning I was either going surfing or fishing; I chose fishing and was rewarded with a scorpionfish and a boogie board.

Rode down looking for the beach past the Snowy Plover Protection Area