I keep re-writing this post. I don’t even know what to say. Do I tell you about the massive elk I ran into last night? Or about trying to learn to drive Cousin Shane’s Euro Van (I don’t know stick shift) on the streets of San Mateo? Or the crazy yoga party he took me to?
Or how about the very interesting guests I get to interact with on a daily basis? Or how the people of Northern California are so awesome?
My first group of favorite guests where these stragglers that came in just before closing. Three men, one old and two in their 20s. I first thought they were homeless as they looked a little weathered. Turns out they were surfers, traveling along the coast in their VW van, looking for waves.
The man, imagine Bill Murray’s personality, when he found out we had no food turns to the boys, “Well, it looks like we are eating MRE again tonight.”
I was intrigued.
He explained that he bought them at a military base and they are what the soldiers eat. The nutritionist in me started plummeting him with questions, “Really? What flavor? How many calories? What’s in them?”
“Since you are so interested. I’ll just open it up here.” He begins to pull out all these little plastic wrapped brown packages. There was soup which if you balanced it on a rock, it would heat up or something clever like that. There was Mesquite flavored “chicken”. All about 2500 calorie meals. There was even dessert–chocolate pudding.
His passport was Swiss. So, I inquired. He worked in banking, hated it, retired at 35 and moved to a village of 300 in the Italian part of Switzerland. He surfs all over Europe and was now taking his son and nephew around California. Soooooo cool.
Every morning, I have breakfast with new people. There was the family from Chicago, where the young man went to the same private school I went to located at the end of my street. There was the acupuncturists who knew my university and talked alternative medicine with me and this morning I had breakfast with this old hippie couple down from Mendocino to look for Warblers.
I hiked almost two hours to be able to blog this. And to look for a car to buy and to correspond with prospective clients (web). I think once I get some wheels, I will have to perfect balance of quiet living and city interaction. And can I tell you? I am so excited to live near my cousin. He is like a brother to me and being so far away from family, it makes me some happy to know we have each other out here.
I have yet to bike or take many pictures, but we will get there, eventually!
xx