OC to Monterey, Day 2 (Green)

After a long walk into town from the CalPoly campus, a coffee, and another unsuccessful busking attempt, I walked out to highway 1. This was it, I would cruise along the coast and see the lovely cliffs.

Mirrorvision
The first guy who picked me up was the founder and president of Mirrorvision, a company that will revolutionize the way we view media. He took me to his studio apartment in the little town of Morro Bay where he demonstrated (after another puff of a pipe) his product, four angled mirrors around an 8 inch TV screen from the 70s. He showed me a version of The Empire Strikes Back, specially edited for the Mirrorvision format. I also got to try some special Mirrorvision goggles that act as a kind of kaleidoscope but of course way cooler and more revolutionary. Its only a matter of time before everybody can enjoy this technology, so enjoy the last days of seeing the world straight before Mirrorvision takes over.

Uninhabited
About this point I realized that I had lost my map back in SLO. Oh well, what they hey, I wasn’t going to go back for it. But if I had it, I might have realized that I was about to enter into terrain where nobody really lives. My next lift was three very friendly youngin’s on their way back to Cambria after picking up some groceries in Morro Bay. They left me at the liquor store, opposite a pretty beach, apparently the spot where everybody would stop before attempting to drive on further.

A Surfer and some enormous seals.
Then a guy looking for waves picked me up, and we cruised along. He insisted that we didn’t smoke the joint mr mirrorvision had made for me, and instead we smoked one of his. He had just knocked off work and was relaxing with a beer and a drive. We looked at some enormous seals, elephant seals apparently, as they flopped about on the beach. He very kindly took me to the next stopping point 10 more miles down the road.

Hospitality
We stopped at the start of the amazing cliffs, had a walk around and stood in awe as it got dark. The surfer headed back home, I put my bags and my ‘Monterey’ sign in a prominent position in the outside eating area. I soon realized there wasn’t much point trying to hitch since there were absolutely no cars. Hmm. Interestingly, in this little stretch of California coastline no houses can be built, and the only things that exist are resort like hotels like the one I now found myself in. So the only people moving around were hospitality staff. I met the guy running the convenience store where everything was overpriced, and we became friends over another joint (there were no customers as you can imagine). He really looked after me, finding me some delicious leftover chicken to eat, gave me some free beers, and then when it was revealed that I had launched out into this coastline without a tent or sleeping bag, he offered me a place to sleep. It was his car, much more comfortable I must say than the chilly outdoors, and he even gave me a blanket. I am still so thankful, sir.