a man named tom

thursday. it was my first day in california. i was stoked. but i couldn't have known how great it would be. we started the day off right with a bike ride. 40 mile round trip. lunch at a little place called duarte's in our destination town of pescadero. upon our return we had big plans. horseback riding on the beach. dinner. going to the cowboy surf shop. we had shit to do. well. after the 20 miles to duarte's, big hills, a beer and a shot we weren't pedaling anywhere. after several futile attempts to hitch a ride with another of the bar patrons back to half moon bay the bartender offered to take us at 5 when his shift was over. nevermind that it was noon at this point in the day. a few beers, lots of sourdough bread, and many shots of don julio later it was 5pm and our train left the station. we treated tom to dinner for his kindness. we went to a little chowder house on the ocean. sams chowder house. i had a great steak an dsome asparagus. remember all those big plans we had for our day? drunk in the afternoon and crashing at the hoted by 10 were our reality. just the way i like it.