Down The Coast

The winding road of Hwy 1 is jam-packed with views like this.

The meat of the day was taking up on the windy distance of Hwy 1, all those 25-mph turns down through Carmel and Big Sur until you can rejoin the 101 at San Louis Obispo. It's 80 miles that takes three hours, but if you've got the time the sights are well worth it. We wound around and let the ocean air work on us for a few hours, and that was good.

It's dusk and we're late by the time we roll past Vandenberg Air Force Base and in to Lompoc to visit with Mark's grandfather, aunt and uncle, but they're happy to see us all the same. They greet us with cold beer and promises of hot chicken and a united front urging us to stay overnight rather than continuing the night drive to LA.

Frank is Mark's Grandfather, an old Naval captain and an inspiration to any of us who hope to be full of piss and vinegar at the age of 90.

Mark and Uncle Neil, the builder from Brooklyn with wild U-haul tales and an indominable can-do energy.

The lure of hospitality wins out rather quickly and we settle in for an evening together, eating and drinking and carrying on. Mark's grandfather, Captain Frank is a true chip of the American rock, with a shock of thick white hair and black horn rimmed glasses. He reminds me of Buckminster Fuller. He's just about 90 and undergoing radiation treatment but he's full of piss and vinegar, telling old stories about the Navy and early loves and the great questions of life. He's also a diehard conservative, old school, and he gets in a few political ribs which we take with a laugh. I don't rise to the bait here, though I think it would have been interesting since he seemed like the kind who'd be philosophical about his politics.

Uncle Neil and Aunt Tina are good solid people. Neil's a builder from Brooklyn with the kind of deep ruddy tan that comes from a lifetime of working outdoors, evened out and baked in by several months of coastal living in Lompoc, CA. We had a great time with them. Must have been different for Mark with it being family and all, but for me it was the first social moment that really felt like The Trip; encountering different people on a real level. Real Americans, real lives, real stories... new angles on everything.

Neil has a hard luck story about getting together a whole building crew to go to Florida last year to do post-hurricane building, having it all blow up. Local regulators and their favoritism. Price-gouging insurance companies. Scammers and nut-busters and hasslers and death by a thousand cuts. It sounded like a real downer. So after that he and Tina went to stay with Frank, fixing up his place to sell -- and doing a bang-up job -- while they were there. It's what families do, help one another out, offer food and drink and a warm place to stay. Good to remember that.

With a hot dinner, a fresh breakfast and a good nights sleep, we were ready to take on the world. Things were settling. The old life was falling away. That morning we drove South, singing along with The Animals -- Well I'm gone/Gone for the summer/Won't be back/Back till the fall -- and it really felt like it was coming together. We were ready for Los Angeles.

Location

Lompoc, CA

See map: Yahoo! Maps