I have an anxiety attack issue with certain situations which include very steep places where I feel trapped like along these two sections of Highway One.
I got up and got going this morning and headed on up to the show with much dread in my heart.
I understood I was obligated to go because I had committed to do this show both in word and deed as Mike was already up there waiting for me and much of my property was sitting up there.
I was committed and I just had to suck it up like a man.
When I got to Ragged Point I realized I could not go forward so I pulled off at a small turn-out just past Ragged Point and just looked down at the crashing waves below and prayed to God for help. For what seemed like a long time I alternated between standing and pacing atop the bluffs there with nary a soul driving by me.
Finally one car followed by a small pickup passed me northbound and I realized this was my opportunity as following other cars would be easier than driving alone for reasons I can't really explain. I shot on through and made it by both spots on Highway One high on the mountainside just south and north of Salmon Creek and on through to the 17th Annual Big Sur Jade Festival.
Needless to say, I was overjoyed and incredibly thankful to God for making that work out okay for me. I now felt empowered about driving back that way headed home tomorrow evening after the show and it was nice to not have to think about it again until then as I was not driving home at the end of this day.
One other thing that disturbed me this morning was my truck's recent trend of difficulty starting significantly escalated and really worries me.
It's so bad now that with the worsening aspect of it I fear it will soon not start which couldn't come at a worse time than this weekend.
Anywho, once at the show we got the tarps we had clamped to the sides of the Easy-Up for overnight protection down and folded and our merchandise that had to put away for the night put back in place and we were ready to roll.
My friend Erin visited our booth at one point today with her cute little new pooch that she is currently calling Leonidas but she's still not sure on that.
She was visiting with friends who all toured the show and took in the music for a few hours.
They are all camping up the coast but wanted to check out the Jade Festival.
They did not appear as prepared for camping as they needed to be as Erin had to borrow my flashlight not to mention some extra linens I brought in case I needed them.
It was good to see Erin but I wished she could have stayed for tonight's concert but alas she was hitching a ride with her friends and they wanted to go.
Other friends and acquintances came by our booth yesterday and today as well such as Bob and Sandi Hurless of the San Luis Obispo Gem & Mineral Club as well as other members of that group like club secretary Lynette Bayless who even spent a night up here in her car in order to spend two days at the festival.
We also received a visit from Gene and Barbara Bilyeu of the Santa Lucia Rockhounds.
We were also visited by Wayne Mills and Debbie Hood of the Orcutt Mineral Society as well as Central Coast rockhounding legend Ralph Bishop also of the OMS.
I got him to agree in principle to take me out to a locale on the southern margin of the Cuyama Valley that has petrified drift wood with barnacles on it.
We also got a visit from Matt Biewer and his lovely wife from the Carmel Valley Gem & Mineral Society.
We also received many other visitors not affiliated with any clubs including repeat customers who sought us out which was nice as they are the people who keep us in business.
There is no shortage of aging hippies here.
Inside-out view of our booth.
Our booth and the one next to it as viewed from the northeast.
Some of Mike Berklio's material.
There was good foot traffic today and folks enthusiastically enjoyed stopping at our booth but not as many of them spent money or as much money as last year or the year before which was true for the entire weekend for me as it has been most of my shows this year with a few exceptions.
We were prepared for the show more so this year than in previous years and I had good stuff and there was good foot traffic but like so many shows this year folks just aren't spending money like they were in 2006 and 2007 when the economy was better than it is this year.
The belly dancers performed again this year.
The only solace I take in this is that it is something that is not due to any failure on my part and that we are in good company as most dealers are seeing significant drops in sales this year.
Needless to say, the say ended with sales being disappointingly low on a day that was supposed to be the biggest day of the show as Saturdays usually are at most shows.
All there was for me to do now was work with Mike to close up our shop for the night by putting certain things away and clamp our tarps to the sides of the Easy-Up and then pull my pickup next to our booth and sleep in it tonight.
After Mike headed home for his first shower in two days I facing no shower tonight snagged dinner from one of the few remaining food vendors still open after the show had technically had ended for the day.
I got dessert from the local food concessioner that was basically the locals banded together selling homemade deserts and snacks which was tasty and fun.
At one point I doffed my hiking sandles in favor of shoes and socks as well as my flight jacket and my beloved rabbit fur-ushanka which show organizer Kirk Brock really seemed to think was funny and I suppose he was right.
At one point during the party I left and walked south down the highway a short distance in the dark to a place where there is a residual wood stair structure on the southbound side of the road that used to allow folks to step over the fence that rings the highway and into the field on the other side.
From there they would cross the field down to the ocean bluffs and the jade-studded coves below.
Now the fence was gone but the 8-foot tall wood structure remained and for some strange reason it is the only place along that section of coast where I can pick up my Verizon Wireless signal.
At one point somebody else was next to the highway behind me trying to get a cell phone signal which was tantalizing close to being sufficient and I invited them to take my place on the wood structure to which they accepted and were successful.
Upon getting back to the party I was taken aback by how much pot smoke was hanging in the air in cloud over the crowd undulating to the music, some with glow-in-the-dark loops of plastic and other items that they twisted and spun about in a psychedelic-looking fashion.
The scene was very funny but also very real and genuine and I treasure the experience although I doubt I was able to pass a drug test after this night due to my exposure to second-hand pot smoke. After the concert ended I turned in for the night and quite a night it turned out to be.
I intentionally deprived myself of fluids throughout the evening in an attempt to keep myself from having to pee in the night so I went to bed dehydrated which it turned out later would be to no real benefit.
Kimmer
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