Quest

We caught the train headed from Sacramento to San Luis Obispo. According to our understanding, there was room for all three of us to wwoof at Bill's hostel operation near there. I was tired, for some reason, and ready to sleep a bit on the train. While I was resting, a call came in on Derrick's cell phone: there was trouble at the hostel -- the plumbing was out. He could not take all three but he could take one. David was frantically looking through the wwoofing catalogue on the train to find a new place! The notion of three people was not going to work -- the responses he had gotten so far made that plain. So, we would split up, as we were before we met. It was sad, but, necessary. I got up from my nap to hear all this news and find that David had made a connection with an organic farm near Carmel Valley where they grow organic produce for a nearby monastery, and they could use our help. I was quite delighted -- the connection inspired me with wonderful visions. We quickly got our bearings and realized that we would have to get off the train at Salinas. Important to let the conductor know (in theory). The people in the Salinas train depot were great! The next thing we knew, we were on a bus heading from Salinas to Monterey. The lady who drove it was a native to the area, and gave us a whole tour... It was going to be a nice stay. For all the phone calls that we made from the Monterey Hostel, nothing would actually become a wwoofing engagement, per se. We did learn more about the farms in the area, and they about us. The lead we had fell apart as the weather there grew too cold (they are at a high altitude) to accomplish much -- that was fine with us as we were not keen on working in cooler temperatures, and found that even some of the work we had done in Victoria in November had been a bit on the cool side for our fingers. However, they thought we sounded like a really nice couple, and suggested that we could come the next year. We started learning more about the seasonal changes of the neighbouring areas, and found that most of Arizona was pretty cold by then, as was Northern California as well as steeper climes in Southern California. We HAD gotten off to a late start because it had taken a while to get our house just the way we wanted to have it before putting it up for sale. No regrets -- but, it did have a definite impact on the wwoofability of the season. We were running away from approaching cold for the first part of our travels.

Monterey, in general, has a very pleasant climate, with plenty of blue skies and sunshine, though we did use our jackets much of the time. For us Winnipegers, it was terrific weather, and, if we did have to wear our jackets, it was a fresh air experience. People from Monterey, on the other hand, took their small 'bandwith' of climactic change and spread it out over the same yardstick that we do up north. For them, there could be huge changes within a day, and the weather went from 'good' to 'bad' regularly. It was amusing to hear their concerns with the weather. For us, though, it was ideal hiking weather, and we did plenty of hiking around Monterey. Starting with, the very first day of our arrival.

Upon our arrival around noon sometime at the Monterey Hostel, we found that they (like many smaller hostels) were closed during the middle of the day. We would not be able to register and get in with our luggage until 5! We were directed to some lockers outside, but they weren't working properly. So, we took all of our things and started, literally, wheeling around town. We took a fabulously long walk, including a steep uphill gradient in its final portion, and felt as if we had completed a marathon as we reached the final stretch, at the end of a steep climb, with our backpacks in tow, and the Del Monte Shopping Center, where the Whole Foods is located, in sight. We munched on raw organic power bars when we arrived, and because we were in California close to where they were made, the price was right. We also loaded up on the organic salad bar and had ourselves a little feast. By the time we arrived back at the hostel, it was well after 5, and we were very satisfied with ourselves, and loaded up with groceries.

Monterey by the sea

Much is made of the fact that Steinbeck wrote “Cannery Row”, set in Cannery Row, Monterey. There are quotes from his novel on banners along Cannery Row, and namesakes all over the place. The canning process was so aggressively exploitive of the seas reserves that it devastated the fish stock, and Monterey’s days as a fishing town have long been gone. Tourism is huge, on the other hand. And, there are many beautiful hotels and plazas. Monterey is adjacent to Pacific Grove, where we visited a Monarch butterfly sanctuary -- not the same monarchs that come through Winnipeg, but rather the ones that migrate from points west of the Rockies. It was a favourite walk of ours to walk down from the hostel to Cannery Row by the sea, and then take the sea walk all the way towards Alvarado Street where we would hike up towards the library and the Whole Foods store. We continued to meet and chat with many people while staying at the hostel. Notably, Richard (his anglo name) from China who promotes Taoist tours of China, including feng shui, meditation, and Xi Gong. We share much about Taoism, etc. together, and it is a joyful meeting of minds.  Later on in our stay, after Richard has moved on from the hostel to stay with friends, we meet him for a memorable walk by the beach. When we come to a nice clearing, he offers to show us his Tai chi form, and it is like nothing we have ever seen before; we are transformed by its fluidity and use of breath. I feel lighter for having watched it. We’d love to study in China, and feel honoured for the invitation that is extended, but question our ability to deal with the pollution there. Later on, we hear tell that 25% of the pollution in L.A. actually originated in China.

One night, we enjoy the fabulous farmer’s market. It’s actually an evening event.

More often, we enjoy the San Carlos beach area which features a little homage to William Packard (of Packard Hewlett).  Packard had a vision of the importance of the ocean to the earth and humanity. He built the incredible aquarium at Monterey which, besides Cannery Row, is Monterey‘s claim to fame. At one point during our stay at the hostel in Monterey, a whole group of Waldorf Grade 4 students came out for a couple of nights. All the way from the Sonoran desert. They were a nice group -- kids, teachers, all. They were the people whose midst we were in as we made our meals in the kitchen and ate them in the dining room, and made our countless calls to wwoofing possibilities. Another  night there were high school students. These groups are a real boon to the hostels that have to find a way to pay the bills by keeping their beds as filled as possible.

Monterey has a water shortage and is, therefor, in a 'no growth' scenario. In order to be permitted to open the hostel, arrangements had to be made for water rationing. They came up with a scheme whereby the showers run on tokens. We are given two tokens (3 ½ minutes per token) each for a total of 7 minutes of showering per day per paying guest.

We chat a lot with another guest. Diane, from Phoenix, who is an avid imbiber of knowledge, including such exhibits as acquariums, museums, and the like. We learn something of the weather patterns in Arizona. We learn that some of the locations of potential wwoofing engagements such as the Santa Fe, Albequerque and Grand Canyon area are rather cool at this time of year. On the other hand, Tucson, which neighbours Patagonia where we would like to go to see the Tree of Life, is fairly warm at this time.

Adyashanti (google for interesting website complete with sound and video bites), we discover, is giving a retreat in Pacific Grove. And then, we meet Segal, who checks into the hostel to spend the night before going to the retreat. We learn that she is someone who has done many, many retreats, and for some reason that I am not sure of, this is to be her last. It’s interesting to talk to her and she tells us about a place in Costa Rica that she thinks would be a nice organic farm to work on.  Segal lives in Washington state and her husband is a real hermit. Apparently, the two of them went down to this farm in Costa Rica with the intention of interning there; but, as it turned out, couldn't get comfortable with it. Susannah, who runs the farm, keeps the common areas open and airy and pretty much without walls  and Segal’s partner couldn‘t handle it. Segal really thought Susanna a nice person in that she  released them from their promise to help out and was totally understanding and accepting.

We leave Monterey, finally, after a very long stay by our current standard: 7 nights. That brings us up to another Monday. The first Monday we came in, someone from the Santa Cruz hostel (Santa Cruz is just across the bay from Monterey, and this worker comes down every Monday to hold a film might) was showing a movie called Convenient Truth(s?) and it’s about an exemplary solution to traffic/transit in a South American city, I believe. I’ll have to look it up, but right now am internetless in the air (on our flight to Atlanta which I'll tell you about later).

Next stop: San Luis Obispo. For real.