It’s A Janumas Miracle!

Between my work schedule and geography quite literally getting in the way, my Parental Units and I don’t get together during the holidays anymore. Instead, we go somewhere in January. Last year, it was Hawai’i. This year we spent a couple of days in Cambria, CA. It was low-key, and while we packed a certain amount of stuff-doing into our time, only a couple of things were properly scheduled, which left a great deal of room for just going with the flow.

An organized flow, mind you. We’re not heathens.



The point of Cambria, apart from just being a quaint little coastal town, was twofold; on the one hand, the lodge we stayed at does a deal on rooms where you get a meal and a bottle of wine included--and we really, really like wine--and on the other, there is a parcel of land in nearby Montaña de Oro State Park owned by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) with a tie to one of my very favorite Disney movies.

Since the PG&E trail is only open a few days a week and the rates at the hotel were predictably less on weeknights, the plan was to meet in the hotel parking lot at 10:00 AM Monday morning, leave my car, and go walkies. In an attempt to avoid the Monday morning commute traffic, I stopped over halfway down in Gilroy at a cheap motel on Sunday night and had dinner with a friend.

Can I just stop here for a second and mention that it feels REALLY FUCKING WEIRD checking into a hotel in your home towm? ‘Cause it does. Really, really weird.

Now, this little hike on the coast with the Disney history, yeah? Some of you may be familiar with the film Pete’s Dragon. No, not the ‘live action’ remake they put out a few years ago. The original 1977 version with Helen Reddy and Mickey Rooney. For those of you who aren’t, all you really need to know is that in this film, there was a lighthouse. It so happens that the actual set piece was built at what is now known as Disney Point along this coastal trail, and all the exterior lighthouse footage was shot there. The production had to get special permission from the Coast Guard to light the lamp in the lighthouse because it was situated in a spot where it could easily have confused sailors traveling in the area. The lighthouse itself was supposed to be moved to Disneyland after filming, but unfortunately by that time was too damaged, and was scrapped. BUT, I love Pete’s Dragon, I have seen the spot where the lighthouse was, and I can now cross that off my Bucket List. My parents actually found out about it by mistake about a year ago. At the end of this trail is a nuclear power plant which is in the process of being decommissioned, and they hiked out with some friends to look at that, and BOOM, Disney trivia related to one of their kid’s favorites.





So that was fun. If you haven’t ever seen the original Pete’s Dragon, I recommend you do. It’s a nifty little piece of cinema and it has a delightful soundtrack.

I feel I ought to mention two other things I learned on this trip. One is that there is a little hamlet called Harmony, CA, population EIGHTEEN, that exists. They have a chapel, a pottery studio, a creamery (sadly only open on weekends,) a glassworks, a neat little parklet with plants and garden art, and their own post office. Oh, and a decorated cow called Gladys. The glassworks is particularly entertaining because you can watch the people actually do the forming and glass blowing and whatnot. As someone who is deathly afraid of things that burn, it’s also terrifying, but in a cool ‘I’m learning something’ way. Also, you can buy Harmony Creamery ice cream at certain area grocery stores, but it does lose something when you can’t get it from the cute little bitty truck.

A reason to return, I suppose.



The second thing to which I would like to draw your attention is that ELEPHANT SEALS ARE E-FUCKING-NORMOUS. Scary big. Huge. Twelve out of ten would not want to meet face-to-face. It’s currently pupping season, so the colonies are lounging around on certain beaches, and we popped along to one to have a look, and HOLY WOW. I was prepared for them to be large, but I don’t think Blue Planet or any other well-made documentaries could properly prepare you for the sheer size of those things. The males are staggeringly large, and the females aren’t too far behind them.



Any old way, I just spent two-and-a-half days with my parents, and we didn’t murder each other, so...hooray?