As much as I didn't want to be in Buellton anymore, I did have fun. I got a fantastic tour of the Figueroa Mountain Brewery, a righteous place with great beer. So righteous that the owner of the brewery had one of the assistant brewers give me a personal tour of their facility.
I didn't spend all my time stranded in Buellton though. Just a few miles out there is a small Danish tourist trap called Solvang. Ugh... I'm not a big fan of cliche tourists, so the place was about to be a bust until I stumbled upon this lovely antique shop with a bar. I saddled up and ordered a Fig Mountain Pilsner, and chatted with the locals. I met this great woman who handled publicity to bring in tourism as well as numerous other profit making ventures for the town. Long story short, she picked up my tab and told me if I ever wanted to come back she'd help me find a job and lodging.
Well, I had just about as much of the RV park as I could take, so I was determined to leave on Tuesday. It wasn't until afternoon that the parts for the truck came in, and they certainly weren't enough to fix the transmission, but for $225, I wasn't going to argue. Hell, fourth gear is enough to get me where I'm going.
I left around six to avoid any traffic. There wouldn't be much worse than stop and go traffic with only fourth gear. Eventually it happened though, once when I stopped for gas, and again when I finally made it to Venice. By the time I found a parking spot near my buddy's place, the cab was filled with the fumes of burning clutch, and I'm sure I was poisoning myself, but I made it. I was greeted by Marc with a welcoming hug, and he helped me unload the truck into his car, then his house.
Now I'm stuck again, I am unwilling to risk driving 500 miles to Arcosanti with only fourth gear, and to be honest, there isn't a lot of pressure to leave this paradise. The sun is shining, I'm wearing shorts, longboarding and biking the boardwalk, and the company of good friends. I've only been here for a short while, but the adventure has been wild. Most of it isn't something that I want to publicly announce, but I'll share with you this; I got a tattoo in the first 24 hours here.
Now I'm stuck again, I am unwilling to risk driving 500 miles to Arcosanti with only fourth gear, and to be honest, there isn't a lot of pressure to leave this paradise. The sun is shining, I'm wearing shorts, longboarding and biking the boardwalk, and the company of good friends. I've only been here for a short while, but the adventure has been wild. Most of it isn't something that I want to publicly announce, but I'll share with you this; I got a tattoo in the first 24 hours here.
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