His response that befuddled me before is now painfully clear. It is official. I am "yuppie camping."
The camping part is easy enough. Costanoa consists of a lodge...
Cabins...
...and various tent encampments that expose you to the wonderful outdoors.
Trees, birds, rolling hills.
Views of the Pacfic Ocean.
Hiking paths. Horseback riding.
Fresh air. Peace and quiet.
A wonderfully rejuvenating experience... if you like that sort of thing.
I have six children and live in Las Vegas.
I miss my noise and neon.
The irony is that this place is so far from real camping that it's funny.
First, consider that the same people who come here to commune with nature arrive in vehicles like this...
Yep, a humoungous SUV that gets a whopping 8 miles per gallon. Even as we arrived yesterday afternoon, we passed a stretch limo that had just dropped some people off.
The grandest irony is that nobody around here seems to see the irony in all of this.
To encourage our communing with nature Costanoa doesn't allow television sets in any of the bedrooms or on their property, but of course one cannot head off to bed after a long day of hugging trees without having a late night snack...
...so we have gourmet Lavosh (fresh from Hawaii, I might add).
And after hours upon hours of singing Kumbaya, one needs to clean up...
...so we're sure to have the newest Aveda hair and body care products.
But I find this perhaps the funniest of all. At the entrance to the property is the main sign of Costanoa with a clear mention of what everyone yuppie cannot live without...
Goodness knows we can't camp without a cafe and fresh espresso on hand.
At least I can partake of this refreshment confident in the knowledge that I'm doing good for the environment. After all, this is no regular espresso. This is...
I'm not sure what exactly what my cup of "Coffee with Conscience" is -- but I feel much better about drinking it now.
Of course, this bastion of nature cannot be that isolated if I'm posting all of these comments in the world of cyberspace. Look closely at my cup of mocha cappucino vente with non fat milk...
On the cup is a picture of a women in a field using a laptop. Yes, the entire property -- from the stables to the walking trails -- is covered by one giant wireless network.
So here I sit, outside in a field, passing time between my meetings, typing my inane thoughts into my laptop while peering off at the lush green hills around me. But suddenly this field reminds me of the following sign and I quickly recall why I live in the city...
Yes, we're under a "tick alert" -- we have to regularly check our clothes and legs for any of those nasty blood sucking creatures that lurk throughout them there woods!
But then again, I am and always will be a Hawaii boy at heart. So there is nothing that inspires me quite like the Pacific Ocean...
That's Jessica, Karen, Stacey and I all standing at the coast.
Then I was just paralyzed by this remarkable view...
..and maybe this place is worth a visit after all.
(Tomorrow, Santa Cruz, hopefully!)
Posts
