Monday, May 28, 2018

Bike Tour in the USA (2007), Part 34

Thursday, Sep. 20, 2007
Back to Humans

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park  Monterey
Distance: 97.56 km, Time: 7:11:52 Std., Total: 1.036 km

  I asked an elderly lady walking her dog where I could find the Hostel. She was very kind and showed me with her forefinger the direction. At exactly 4:00 in the afternoon I rang the bell of the closed door, and a sleepy hostel warden opened the door. He explained me that I have to came back at 5:00, they are still closed. I wanted to wait this one hour.
   Through the door I stepped into an oasis of silence, it was very quiet. The lounge looked like a large living room with thick English leather club armchairs and sofas; the many books in the shelves invite the guests to linger longer than intended. The only drops of bitterness came in the form of wooden boxes in which you had to drop coins to connect to the internet. To the defense of the hostel I want to add that I listened to the owner and some employees that they planned to upgrade the equipment.
   Stepping into the room I realized that this was my first bed after my departure from Los Angeles two weeks (!) ago. The room had several bunker beds but as the first in the room I chose a single bed beside the window. It had white bed linen and a white pillow cover with a white blanket and looked very clean to me. I could control the air flow of the window from my bed in case it got to hot. I had my own plug socket where I could load my batteries of the camera.
   But the best of the whole hostel experience was a big lockable bike box behind the building with enough additional space for my bags and my camping gear. I had to put down a deposit of US$ 2.00 which was refunded to me the next morning without problems.


   After I had settled I wanted to wash my clothes. Not far away from the hostel I found a DIY laundry. As one cycle takes 20 minutes I crossed the road and went into a supermarket to buy some supplies. As I returned to the laundry I notice a strong young white man through the glass door who piled up orderly coins on one of the washing mashine. I passed him and had to wait for some minutes until the spin cycle was completes.
   After me a Mexican young man stepped into the laundry. His clothes were washed, with one hand he sorted his clothes, with the other he talked Spanish into the cell phone. Suddenly the young man bad-mouthed him with very dirty words. I immediately noticed that he was mentally disabled and decided to walk with a smile towards the young Mexican  in support. I told him that he should not take this seriously. The Mexican smiled and left the laundry.
   The young white man opened the still running (!) washing machine and took the very wet clothes out of it, changing the floor into a swimming pool. As the only other person in the laundry I had to step in and advised him with a very authoritative voice to “put the wet clothes back in the machine until it is finished!” To my surprise he followed my strong voice, actually bit himself into his forefinger (!), kicked several times (!) against the running washing machine and finally ran out of the laundry with the words “I am in a bad mood, I am in a bad mood!” I was alone now, packed my things and went back to the hostel.
   Back into my room I could observe two police officers arresting three homeless. Behind the hostel there are several empty chairs and tables for tourists but have been seized by the homeless. They have been drunk and bawled so disturbing that one of the neighbors made a report. One cop had leather gloves and asked for their identity, of course they did not have any. The other cop put disposable handcuffs on all three of them while in the police car a German Shepherd barked. Five people, two policemen, three homeless and one barking dog drove away. Tomorrow morning I would run into two of the homeless on my way to the bike box sitting on the same chairs.
   I've met two young British men who rented a car and discovered California with it. We had a lot to exchange...Before I went to sleep a 10:30 I still checked my charger. 
  I had a nice sleep and woke up to open the window in the middle of the night. Maybe I still longed for the lonely nights in Big Sur...Sweet dreams accompanied me thru the night.


(to be continued)

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