I did not have high hopes for this weekend. first off, scb and I (especially me) were both so emotional. Secondly, we both didnt get any sleep the night before. Him, b/c he was so smashed, me b/c I couldn’t sleep.
Morning came, and I gave scb a wakeup call. unsurprisingly, he was still drunk. which was kind of disappointing considering this was our day, and a day we had planned to spend together for a long time. When I realized he was still slurring and needed an hr or so to get ready, I got a little pissed. Luckily for him, I started to feel really super-dizzy at this point and couldnt even stand up w/out feeling as if I took a spin on the tilt-a-whirl.
we left almost 2 hours later than planned–which was probably best for both of us. The orignal plan was to drive to Mendocino, walk around, then drive back and have dinner at Masa’s.
our first stop on the drive up the PCH was a fruit stand. scb bought cherries and strawberries for me. the strawberries were amazing–nothing at all like the kind you buy in a store–they were a different texture and taste, and looked different–wider, darker, with smaller seeds. eating the fruit made us both feel better, and for the first time on our journey, i actually felt like I wanted to be there.
we met the pch at jenner and were instantly astounded by the beauty of the coastline. awestruck, scb turned to me and said, “you know what? lets just stay the night somewhere cool, and we’ll go to masa’s sometime next week.” I was shocked by his spontanaeity. And the fact that he would give up a prior commitment on saturday morning to run away with me–unheard of. I looked at him to see if he was joking. He wasn’t. He reaffirmed that he wanted to just be with me and enjoy the weekend, wherever that may take us. We hadn’t packed anything but the clothes on our back, although I did have the foresight to bring tennis shoes and a sweater in case it became cold. Scb brought jeans and a sweater for the same reasons. Everything else we had to wing.
the drive along the northern coast was stunning to say the least. We took our time to stop along the way as we saw fit. However, b/c of our lack of solid plans, we didn’t bring any cash. This proved to be a problem when we tried to get into fort ross. The park ranger–an overly animated jolly lady let us in for free and gave us a pass that would allow us into any other state park until dusk. We explored the park–me climbing over rocky terrain in my heeled coach shoes–and all the houses within the fort. Scb snuck into a park ranger office and made a long distance phone call to Masas to cancel our reservations. I stood outside and kept watch. afterwards, scb and i walked down a long windy path to the edge of a cliff. when the ground became unmanageable in my shoes, scb picked me up and carried me.
Next, we stopped at Sea Ranch. Ever since I was an architecture student, I had admired the work of Charles Moore–and especially Sea Ranch. Whenever I saw the pictures of this place in my architecture books, I always thought it looked stunning–the location, and the way that charles moore created beautiful, unnassuming architecture to fit into a rugged, sometimes brutal, environment. Sea Ranch became the model by which all the other houses and buildings in the area were soon modeled after. I only wanted to stop by and take a look around, but scb was convinced that we should have lunch there.
We ate hamburgers and enjoyed the water crashing against the waves in a beautiful sun room. It was our second encounter with truly outrageous hippie types. Im not talking the hippie yuppies of san francisco. no no. these were hardcore hippies–the kinds who carry crystals in bags and grow their own tea leaves. A hippie couple walked in the sunroom for lunch and they looked as if they had come from outer space. So. Weird.
…to be continued
