Chinese vegetarian buffet

Day 35, May 6, 1997

Arroyo Grande & vicinity

247 km in three days

We were lazy and slow this morning, and we were late meeting Tanya at the factory. We drove the few miles into town and headed for an all-you-can-eat vegetarian Chinese buffet. There we met one of Tanya's good friends, Carrie. The five of us hunkered down and ate and ate. It was good food: boring Japanese food (sushi and tempura), but scrumptious Chinese dishes. We had bean curd, gluten kebabs, stir fried veggies, sweet and sour deep-fried mushrooms, salad bar, and more dishes I cannot remember. This was the only meal we had all day.

Then we headed for the beach! We picked up Carrie's boyfriend Kevin on the way. While he surfed, the rest of us alternated between lying in the warm sun and walking along the water's edge to cool off. Twenty feet made all the difference between being hot and being cool! (Carrie called the next day to tell us it was 97°F at the beach). After an hour we had to take Tanya back to work.

That evening was a quiet one; Tanya, Erica, and I went to a cheap movie theater to see Slingblade, Ralph played with the computer, and Gregorio vegged after a long day of teaching.

Ralph in California