"you will never forget this." -rick
we met rick while pedaling to heaven. he was driving his westfalia up there and i put out my thumb for the first time on this trip. i was DESPERATE for some help on this two mile vertical climb up to the new camaldoli hermitage where we would be resting for the night. rick took all of our bags up the last mile so we could ride free of all our weight.
we rode 62 miles today over some of the most exquisite landscape i've witnessed on this trip (the last two being the hardest ever. we walked most of it.) big sur makes her presence known in this world and she made sure to let me know again.
the ocean infused me with the energy i needed to climb up and down all day. and once i noticed the whisper of a tailwind, it was hard not to be grateful for such a gift. you can see why for yourself.
we ended the day meeting rick, who lives at the hermitage. he helped us find our rooms and get oriented to the space. and what a space. it was quiet and peaceful and had a certain calm about it. we got two separate rooms, gifted to us by steph and daniel. samuel stayed in a monk's cell and i stayed in a retreat room. the gift of silence was welcome and the simplicity of it all was exactly what we needed to get restored for our last stretch of our journey. (all the prepared food helped too!)
gosh, after a mostly silent dinner on a picnic bench overlooking the pacific ocean, samuel and i parted ways for the evening. we agreed to meet at 9:30am ready to go, but everything else was on our own. after he left my room, i fell asleep immediately. it was barely 8pm. then woke up for an hour to blog around 10:30 to 11:30pm, and fell back into a deep slumber. it was wonderful to be on my own schedule and do whatever i pleased without having to confer with anyone else. it was like i was single for one evening. haha.
(view fromy room)
tonight, i'm grateful for solitude and extraordinary beauty (and the help of a monk who carried our weight for us).
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