San Luis Opisbo

Brian: Fuck it. We are tired of sitting on our hands waiting for this rain to subside. Today is going to be an amazing day. First stop is Border's in order to compile a plan of action. Oh wait, we can barely get in the car because the massive flooding on either side of the street is literally creating white-water around the tires. Hm, should we rethink our plans? Never! We will begin by checking out the largest gum wall this side of the Mississippi. Then we will pee in the fanciest toilet this side of the Mississippi. Finally, we will use the inevitable lull in the storm at midday to hike up to the highest peak in San Luis Obispo.

Nick: Love the determination. Gum wall: yeah, you know, it was OK. It smelled, which wasn't my favorite, though I suppose after riding in a small car for thousands of miles with a couple guys and everything we all own in a perpetual state of wetness, it wasn't all that bad. The fanciest bathroom this side of the Mississippi (what?) was pretty cool. In a rather infamous hotel that some call "The Madonna Inn" dwells a rest room featuring its very own waterfall, which you are invited to contribute to. We did. The hike, which was not rained out by some bizarre miracle of nature, was great. Not too long, but steep enough to get the blood moving around. If you let the fast food settle too long, it solidifies permanently. Then it explodes. Maybe not. Either way, I'm not taking chances. Anyway, the view from the top was beautiful. We stayed until a number of unsettling plaques honoring men who had lost their lives on this very hike reminded us that nature is fickle, and while it wasn't windy and rainy while we were at the top, it soon could be.

Tyler: Yeah, that stuff was cool.

Brian: Thanks for the insight Tyler.

Tyler: I like to contribute...

Brian: I wore really crappy shoes for the hike and almost threw out my back. At least I hope it was my shoes and not the fifteen pound beer belly I brought to the top of the hill. So after our awesome day we headed back to Alyssa's, showered, and generally tried to make ourselves look more presentable for the big night to come. Buy a pint glass for $3 and get $1 Coors Light refills all night long? Dangerous for us but suffice it to say we behaved ourselves and just played Dominoes at the bar with our hosts. Finally that game makes sense to me...

Tyler: To be fair, I did nothing to make myself look presentable. I'm also really bad at Dominoes, I just can't do math in my head fast enough, that's what Brian is here for. I might add that the band was not nearly as good as the previous night. Bad cover bands have never done it for me. But despite the lack of good music there were a ton of people at the place. A lot of them would only have one beer and leave, not realizing that the part of the four dollars they paid for their beer was actually paying for the glass. Our hosts took immediate advantage of this fact by collecting all the soldiers that had been left behind. Oh and guess what, when we left...it was raining. Big change for us. BTN out.