The wide open night time skies were magical, pitch black- no light pollution. The milky way streaked across the centre surrounded by hordes of stars. The days were hot; averaging around 105 and the dry climate seemed to pull moisture right out of our bodies. The focus of the trip was rock climbing, and I didn't envy the guys who'd be in the direct sun on rock all day.
Wild turkeys and deer came through camp daily, I'm pretty sure I saw feral pigs on the road at night time and a few rattlesnakes and bobcats were spotted. A few California Condor, among the last 300 currently living, circled above us in the daytime awing us with with their impressive 9 foot wing span.
Woke up on Friday around 5:30 in the AM, got to making coffee and breakfast for the camp. Within a few hours, the work week was winding down, the kids packed up and left the site and we went about cleaning up our gear and getting our final bits of paperwork filed.
As the gig was over, our crew packed the work stuff into a Cube Truck to be driven back to headquarters, had a beer to commemorate the week's end and split ways. I headed for San Francisco to meet up with friends I haven't seen in some time.
The afternoon drive put me in San Jose in the middle of rush hour. My favourite. I sat in bumper to bumper traffic, sweltering in the sun and listening to cranked up punk rock.
Finally I made it to the Bay Area, and more traffic. I had some friends in town for the weekend from Eugene as well as friends from previous lives, a slew of coworkers, and a couple of other nomads who were congregating in the area for the weekend. As soon as I sent out a message declaring I'd made it to SF, my phone started ringing off the hook.
I took some of time to myself in the East Bay, just a few minutes, smattered with calls and offers of things to do for the weekend. I made my way across the Bay Bridge to SF and dropped in on a friend who I used to work with. We caught up for a while, he showed me his place and offered it to me for the night, then he vanished, off with a girl he had plans with. His house mates came home and we spent a bit of time getting to know each other, then I went to meet up with the Eugene Crew.
The Oregonians were confused by the big city and we had a hard time actually finding a meeting spot. After cruising to every corner of the peninsula, we finally found a parking lot that we could all identify and were quickly reunited.
One of the travellers jumped in my car, the others headed to the East Bay for sleep. It was my plan as well, but after crossing the bridge, I realized: I'll get plenty of sleep when I'm dead, now is the time to party!!
So Abbey the Oregonian and I made our way to a house party I'd been invited to. The central theme of the night was "Simpler Times", both the idea, and the beer (6.2% $2.99/sixpack).
We drank and met the friends of my old comrade Jake. Drank free booze and listened to a few live bands before finding a place on the floor to crash out... it was after 3am, I'd been up for close to 23 hours.
Around 7 the next morning I came too, trained to wakeup with the sun after the prior two weeks of camping out. I dug out some coffee that I travel with and found a coffee machine in the kitchen of the strange house I'd passed out in. Only one problem... no coffee pot.
I brewed the lifeblood directly into mugs for Abbey and myself. Microwaved some stale croissants, which didn't help at all, cleaned up our gear and left to find fresh fruit for breakfast.
A quick stop by a Berkeley Hippie Commune to pick up another Eugenian, and a run to Whole Foods, Then we metup with an old comrade who took us to explore the East Bay.
First Stop: Trash Island.
A post apocalyptic wonderland. A dump site for industrial building materials that people had reclaimed and been building into an art community and squatted living space. Laws dont apply and the creative folks of the area had turned slabs of concrete and bent arms of rebar into castles, fortresses and sculptures, turning waste into beauty, giving a new life to the discarded remains of a disposable culture.
Next Stop: Sake Factory.
California's premier Sake company, we toured the Museum and watched a quick video about the production of the booze then drank samples and bought a bottle for the road.
Third Up: Rope Swing Mountain.
A huge park in Albany, A hilltop covered in Eucalyptus with a few solid rope swings. We had a picnic and setup a hammock, enjoying the shade. From the swing, you could see out into the SF Bay, all the way across to Golden Gate Bridge. Flying free amongst the tall trees, the distinctive smell invaded our nostrils. Truly absorbed in the moment.
From here: Bay overlook.
Up to the Berkley hills to a spot overlooking the whole bay, quite a sight. Not too long to stop, though, we just caught a glimpse then went to drop of one of the nomads.
A drive to Redwood City turned out to be pointless and we came back to East Bay, dropped off another companion, and Abbey and I went into San Francisco to check out a party. It was a fundraiser for a local human circus trying to go to Peru to perform. DJ's and a bar, a few Burlesque troupes: SF's anarchist, punk, and free living party scene packed a small warehouse space and got the nighttime roaring. A few Aussies that I had loose connections with showed up and we got a bit of dancing in, as much as the hot, cramped space allowed.
Made it back to Berkeley around 3:30 and climbed into a 15'x15' tree house that sits a few floors up in a Redwood, rolled out my sleeping gear and was caught some Zs.
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