Tuesday, November 07, 2006

So pretty


We had two glorious days in Big Sur. Yes, I made the drive and didn't totally break down or kill us (obviously). Driving down to the Big Sur Lodge was pretty difficult for me. When we got to the room, I had to lay down for an hour even though it was only the middle of the afternoon. That night, I crashed at about 8 PM and slept straight through until 7 AM the next morning. All that anxiety around the drive really sucked up a lot of my energy.

But, I did get used to the drive and get a bit better. On our return drive back up north, I barely had a twinge as we approached Bixby Bridge, whereas on the drive down I nearly hyperventilated when I saw it.

Mark took many photos with his much better camera, but I have to wait until we get home to upload them since he forgot to bring his transfer cable.

We went to Esalen on Sunday for massages and a dip in the baths. The natural hot-spring baths are right on the edge of the cliffs, and the view is truly stunning. Massages are given in the same place, and it was an incredible experience to be listening to the surf below you, feel the sea winds, and have such incredible body work at the same time. It also leads to a bit of interesting mind tricks to get totally naked with a bunch of strangers and share a hot tub. But that's another story...Will I sound like a total granola crunching idiot if I say that Esalen was a spiritual experience for me?

Today is our last full day, and we're going off to the Monterey Bay Acquarium and Cannery Row.

2 comments:

Valerie said...

No, you won't sound like a granola crunching idiot (besides which I think a lot of the granola crunchers are quite smart)...but anyways...I think most people feel something bigger than themselves when they get to really experience big, beautiful nature first hand and are immersed in the experience.

Anonymous said...

Hats off to you for handling the drive up US 1! It can be a bear, what with the winding road combined with the ups and downs. The last time I did it, the sun was setting and so every time I rounded a curve the sun was in my eyes, then not. The strobe effect made me physically ill. When we arrived at our destination, I threw up into my hiking boot!