Another daytrip to Pinnacles National Monument. The heat was reaching 35 celcius, and the climb up with Carl on the back made me stop 300 feet from the top. But still, the view, the grandeur, the soaring turkeyvultures, pfffffffff. 23 million year old rocks still moving north. Alive but the stillness.

Decline, the parkinglot. I drink a lot of water, have a smoke in the shade of my newly fixed jeep, joy and pain. Conversation with an elderly french couple, visiting The States for the last time. The man, though the lousy toupe, had worked for 20 years in the filmindustry in LA, I could see him boogie in a red verve vapor room, with go go girls and free lovedrugs. But the town grew too hectic so they had retired to live their senior years in Paris, but...wanted to see the scenes the moviebusiness kept them to busy to see.

Adieu, we said and drove off. July 1 2005.

the bird
http://www.birdwatching.com/birdgalleries/firstpictures/pages/turkey_vulture.htm