The Big Sur Experience

Big Sur was incredible. Both Torn and Em have written about this trip. It was everything they said and photographed and much more. My kids both enjoyed this trip as well.

Son isn't wild about camping. After the Monache Meadows trip, which he described as "O.K.," "sometimes boring," but "really great occasionally," he wasn't exactly looking forward to camping yet again. That is until we looked up the campsite on the web and found out it overlooked the ocean. Now we were talking. Son loves the ocean. As he told Em "It's in my blood." To clarify this a bit he loves being near the ocean not actually in it. He gets chilled easily so he's very content to sit and gaze. On trips to Hawaii and Costa Rica, where the water is warmer, he was in the sea often so it's really just a temperature thing. He really enjoyed our camp spot next to the stream and 30 seconds from the beach.

Daughter likes camping anyway and loves both the beach and the forest so, as she put it, this was perfect because we had both of these at the same place. "This", she proclaimed "is a place I would love to live."

I just love getting away occasionally. Big Sur is a place I have passed through several times and camped there half a day and night about three years ago. I was looking forward to sticking around for a bit. I was also glad to get to spend time with Torn and Spouse and get to know them better.

The extra added bonus for me was the "Gary Adventure." I missed out on the fun on Wednesday but had a great time taking all the kids to Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

I have, since I was about 11 or so, had a facination with the 60's; or to be more precise the counterculture movement. You know "Hippies," "Woodstock," the "back to the land movement" etc. It wasn't the drugs or free love part of it that enticed me, it was that feeling of community, of connecting to people without regard for the whole staus quo thing, of relating on more than just a superficial level and maybe the idea that if everyone come together we can change the world for the better. I have known for a long time that I can be pretty pollyanna about things but it has always felt like I just missed the boat. I was born in 1961 so technically was here during this time but was not at an age when I could really appreciate/participate.

I know it is really just a state of mind and not really related to any particular time. You can find groups and individuals who embrace some of those same qualities. This vibe still exists and we found it or something similar to it while searching for Gary in Big Sur. The freeform way we randomly went up to people asking pretty open ended questions without a bunch of information to go on. That feeling of being driven by intuition and not in some completely rational cerebral way. Stumbing onto really interesting people who seemed to want to share stories with you and are excited about your quest and are really hoping for the best outcome for you. The best part was realizing that the journey was more important than the destination. Yes, I was disappointed that we didn't find Gary, but if we had found him right off the bat we wouldn't have had this wonderful quest.

We laughed so hard at some of these adventures and were charmed to pieces by some of the people that we met. It felt like there was a purpose that we were a part of and didn't quite know how we fit in except in one place when Em was able to give a healing jade stone given to her by the other Gary to a woman who needed healing. This seemed to be just one place and time where we danced this cosmic dance with other human beings enhanced by the magic of Big Sur. We touchd each other lives and felt a connection.

I'd love it if the Gary that was the focus of this quest would get in contact with Em soon. It would also be great if this came as a result of all the time and energy we/she put in while in this incredible place.

I'm gald to have gotten caught up in this experience that made a really great trip even better.