08-11-09

There’s so much to explore here and my bike is the ideal way to get around. I went for a ride in the morning fog. I rode around town trying to get the lay of the land. I learn a little more each ride; two places sell propane, there’s a car parts store, “Fish Tacos $7”.
While stopped, standing on a sidewalk watching traffic meander by on the 101 I noticed two cars slowing to a stop right in the middle of the block. They were stopping to let me cross. I shook my head, laughing and waved them by. They seemed to laugh too and drove off. “It’s so bike friendly here”, I thought. I’ve wanted to live in a bike friendly community. I always note when a town has bike lanes.
I rode back towards home, south on the 101. I felt more comfortable on the highway after my nice traffic incident, plus long distance bikers are constantly passing by. I talked to two guys who were riding from Vancouver to San Francisco.
I rode to the beach and walked around for a few hours. The sun slowly cut through the fog and eventually it was a bright sunny day.
At first I was the only one on the beach, then a woman came by. She had a big zip top bag and was bent over searching the ground. “What are you looking for”, I asked. “Agates“, she replied. I asked all about them. She told me how to look for them, which ones are good, what people do with them, etc. I started looking and continued walking. Soon I came across a man, presumably her husband, who too was looking. I showed him my first agate, but he said, “That’s not even one”. “Really!” I said and threw it on the ground. He gave me a tip; look for the sparkle from the sun. I continued walking and looking. There was a sparkle in the sand. I picked it up and it looked like the ones the woman had, kind of clear with streaks like a marble. I shouted back to the man, “I found my first agate!” He gave me a thumbs up.
I walked to the rocky part of the coast. The rocks are hard to climb around on barefoot. They are covered with sharp muscles. I saw some orange star fish way out on the rocks. I wanted to take some pictures of them, but the waves were crashing in. I carefully maneuvered over the rocks, doing my best to avoid the muscles and waves. Occasionally a wave would get my feet, but I would just hang on and wait. Once I got close there were many more starfish that I hadn’t seen. They were dark and purple and blended in to the rocks.
Back home I cleaned another trailer. I thought this one would take half the time of the one from the day before, because it didn’t have much needed. Just scrub the walls and floors. It wound up taking twice as long as the other one. Everything was coated with a brown cigarette smoke film. The ceiling, walls, appliances, everything. The stuff wipes off pretty easily, but it smears and almost makes a mud. Don’t smoke cigarettes.
That evening I relaxed in my small yard and tuned up Corey’s bike. His Fred Meyers Special needed some tweakin‘.