So late night finds me de-training near Anaheim Angel stadium, standing in the dark in a huge parking lot, trying to remember which direction is my cousin’s house. After much fumbling, finding glasses, folding/unfolding maps, hoisting my heavy duffel bag…….and fending off some very scary taxi drivers……

Cousin Dinah lives much much further than I thought.

I hiked a long way with that duffel bag. Well, think of all the beers I’m boiling off. Pant pant. I could do this with a loaded seabag at one time, pant pant. If the cops stop me and ask if I’m crazy, I’ll tell them I’m in training for Iraq, pant pant. Helicopters circled overhead, looking for burglars in the night, and once the Anaheim police sped by me, intent on catching those so spotted, doing naughtiness at midnight. Ouch, pant ouch pant…… as I hiked I again altered plans. This bag has gotta go. Maybe I can send it back to Tacoma ahead of me………

One thirty in the morning I staggered to Dinah’s front lawn and collapsed. Two days without a bath, and now I sleep on the lawn. I was not pleasing company, phew! No lights on inside, so I was very very quiet, and I know they work, can’t wake them up. I imagined hearing rats in the bushes all night, and in the morning it only turned out to be avocados falling from their tree!

I stunk like a horse! Or cat shit…….

August 16: Well I know I have a room reserved tonight in Escondido. I met Dinah as she came out for the paper, and she jumped a mile, I suspect I didn’t look too pretty! Hehe. Had some tea and a banana (I was short on meals, but the train was really horrible food, and ‘way overpriced) and Dinah was nice enough to drop me on the way to work, at the Avis rental near D-land. She wanted me to stay, but I was really wanting to push on, as I had friends to meet and beers to drink! UGH they gave me a maroon Chevy! Oh well it was cheap, like $30/day some really good rate, and better than Hertz (Hertz has dingy customer service too).

Sea weed clings to ruby rings on the fingers of my lady oh! --Donovon

WOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! off to Escondido! Now this is a "karma" story. My best friend Lorna I met in 5th grade, and she is my evil twin you might say, the one who was just a few jumps ahead of me in development, which did not make her too popular with my parents. My parents are real Red-necks in some ways (like, all ways). I had planned this trip to Escondido anyway, being an animal nut; it turned out Lorna had another friend she was visiting the same day. THE FRIEND WORKED AT THE WILD ANIMAL PARK. Boy great minds think alike! We all got together, rented a room, went swimming, hot-tubbed ate Mexican food, went through head shops (The Lung Doctor!) second hand shops, used book stores……… had a ball. Even nicer, my car had air con, and it was beastly hot.

Lorna’s other friend was Cathy, she had met her in college in Santa Barbara, so it turns out Lorna’s path has not been all that dissimilar to mine, through college years. Cathy is a real sweety, I enjoyed being with her too. She is a horse person, and really wants to work with the Preswalski’s horses (primitive steppe horses from Russia) but they start you out at fruit juice stands and shoveling poo before you can be an animal worker.

I haven’t had so much fun since I hung out with Gerry and Leslie in Santa Barbara, back during the Justin solo tours!

Lorna now lives in the South of France, rurally between Andorra and the Riviera, so one day I indeed have to make it over to see her home. From some of the things she told me, it sounds like the French are becoming more American sympathetic, which is nice. Lorna has a son and daughter, and her son sounds about like mine, a handful (it‘s the age). She is one of these people who can speak 5 languages, so she gets along well over there. She is so much happier than she was when I last saw here, she has that bon vivant (I hope that's the right term!) sort of attitude that is probably peculiar to French, and which I’m going to start emulating. Sorta reminded me of Justin Hayward last tour, just a happiness that is a "high on life" attitude. We need more of that. I tried to slip into the European pace too, and sorta succeeded.

Anyway we got some sleep finally (after I swilled more than my share of beers, and Cathy and Lorna enjoyed smoking without husbands nagging them). Get this, Lorna woke me up in the night and made me stop snoring! Hahah! She’s one of the few people who could get away with that. She said she was surrounded! Me and Cathy both snoring away happily on either side of her!

>>>>> go right ahead to the next chapter