21 October, 2003

This is still the same writing session, but it's after midnight now...

So after the party Sawyer, Nanka and I went up to Humboldt again. We left Nanka off on the highway to hitch the rest of the way from Redwood to Arcata and set off to Petrolia.

So we took care of some house business, I got my therm-a-rest back, we mixed some dextrose into the 200-gallon basin of wine. Then Sawyer tells me we need to go run a 7-mile race together - the 20th annual Petrolia Rye and Tide. I say "no" - I am wearing flip-flops, silk boxers and a button down shirt with no good alternatives to change into. But, I go down to spectate. Once there, I am convinced to borrow a pair of Tevas and participate. The race is interesting - two runners share a bike, which they ride ahead and then ditch for the other runner to pick up once they catch up to it. Another interesting bit is that the "rye" in the title is because you drink a shot of whiskey before starting. Good 52 minute workout.

Then we went back and piddled around at Sawyer's place again, putting more dextrose in the wine, talking to friends that would drop by and so on. Then we went to hook up with a bunch of other people for some late night hot-tubbin'. 7 of us ended up squeezing, totally nekked, into one of those hippie-style wood-fired cedar hot tubs down by the river under a starry sky. Not a bad way to avoid cramping up.

Before the whole Santa Cruz trip, we also tooled around in the woods. We also tooled around in the woods looking for Sawyer's altimeter. We had to go covert to avoid capture by a security guard.

I am leaving the country for Hong Kong on 1 November. I got my tickets confirmed this past morning at a stationary store with a fax machine in Garberville, CA. Holy Crap!