Saturday, July 31, 2010

Monterey: Part One

I will be intermixing my recent Peru trip and current California trip on here.

Right now: Monterey, California

I haven't seen Summer, Rich and Lucy in so long: since March to be exact. I was quite excited to get here. Rich is in training at the Defense Language Institute and Summer is working as an administrative assistant. Lucy runs around and cuddles with people. She slept with me the first night. She's the sweetest, cuddliest dog in the history of dogs.



I went for a run on Thursday morning, for the first time in 3 weeks. I thought it would be torture, but my body said "Welcome back, Tiffers. I've been waiting for you." I don't know the area well, so I just started running and hoped I would be able to find my way back. I made it nearly 3 miles and it felt wonderful.

Since both Summer and Rich work full time, I am on my own to explore and have fun during the day. Rich kindly helped me secure a bus pass and though it took me a day or two, I've figured out the transit system here. On Friday, I rode into downtown and had an hour before my transfer, so I walked around for a little while. Monterey is a quaint little town and I was especially delighted to find a used bookstore. I spent most of my time in there and bought an old book on Peru. I will soon be up to date on Peruvian history, at least up to the year 1965. I'm such a sucker for old books with neat covers though.



I also walked along fisherman's wharf for a bit, until it was time to catch my transfer to Big Sur.



I hiked a little around Big Sur, but wasn't really apparel prepared. I plan to go back a few days next week, when I'm better prepared, so I can get in some nice hikes. I walked two miles down to Pfeiffer Beach and sat on the sand for awhile. I don't necessarily like sand, as I have tactile issues with it and I don't like getting into the water, but the sand didn't seem too bad today, so I sat down and relaxed for an hour or so before I needed to get back to the bus stop.





The last thing I'll mention (this blog post doesn't flow very well. I apologize.) is riding motorcycles. Oh dear, it is sure fun. Saturday we took an hour+ ride into San Jose to go to a leather shop. I bought a rad pocket knife with a pearl and dark wood handle. I have been dreaming about this purchase for a year now, and it feels so wonderful to have it sitting in my back pocket right now. I rode on the back of Kevin's bike, a Victory, and it's really nice, but it doesn't have a back rest, so I am pretty sore. This morning, I went to breakfast with Nick, who rides a bullet bike (I don't know what kind) and he got to 115 mph on the freeway and he hit 100 mph going through the tunnel in downtown. It was terrifying and exhilarating and as much as I shouldn't want to... I want to do it again.



3 comments:

Mom at Our House said...

I am glad you are having fun in Cali, but the motorcycle crap scares me. Love ya, be safe.

Shay, Chelsea and Jonas Allen said...

Who took that last picture?! Was it the person driving the motorcycle behind you?!

Tiffany said...

@becca- just wait til I start riding one. I'm a terrible driver. That will be really scary.

@chels- Summer was on the back of Rich's bike and she took the picture.