Even an hour off the ferry, it seemed unreal, like our own little Brigadoon. By the time we'd reached Atascadero, we agreed that it must have been in the distant past, far away from anything else. That's always how it feels– we just got here, now suddenly we're packing up to catch the morning boat, and now we're driving north in a way that seems utterly disconnected from the past several days.
I had back and leg trouble through most of this vacation, alas, so I only snorkeled once or twice, but hey, being out on a boat in the sun with an amateur comedy team ^H^H^H a bunch of diver friends is WAY better than being at work any day! We had a big enough group this time (11) to get the Steamer Room at Antonio's for the traditional last night beer and peanut fest and swapping of tall tales and stories. The best one was about a couple of folks in the dive club who do search-n-rescue, who were called in to assist when a small plane crashed in Lexington Reservoir a while back. They ended up penetrating the wreck via opposite sides of the cabin, and while exploring through the no-visibility silt, grabbed each others' hand. Freeeeeek out! Fortunately no one was injured in the resulting adrenalin-fueled emergency ascent.
Got home a little before 10pm last night, easy drive home with a stop at Avila Hot Springs for a soak. Avila is conveniently at almost the exact midpoint between Long Beach and San Jose.
Came home to happy puffs, a clean house, and some kind of Garden Explosion. Apparently mulching with compost plus a week of rainy weather equals GROW GROW GROW. I almost didn't recognize some of the plants. I am aghast, but in a good way. Very, very glad to have carefully caged and staked all the tomato plants before we left, else I'd have a real mess on my hands right now.
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