California is still a haven of van culture. Julie and I continue to explore ourselves in the comfortable confines of our orange chariot. Last week after having 6 days off from our own vagrancy on Arcata’s streets, we were again dreaming peacefully under a humming yellow mercury street lamp, cozy and respectfully keeping to ourselves when a loud voice and knocking of the police roused us into our clothes. At 4:30 am we were calmly interrogated and then informed that it is indeed illegal to sleep in one’s vehicle, a tent, or the underbrush within the city limit. Sense we were not flagrantly disturbing the public peace and this being our first offense as Vermonters we were given a verbal warning and told to leave the city limits for further vehicular snoozing. So now we have steered clear of putting our bedroom on the street and accepted the invite of some new friends to park and sleep in their driveway. The amount of sleeping vagrants in Arcata must be well over a thousand. The fall rains are starting, which washes out many of the less hardy (those without a van,) and a little harassment from the authorities sends more of us down the road. By the new year Arcata will be a little less ragged than it is now but Julie and I will be long gone by then.

We are heading out from behind the redwood curtain after halloween. We'll parking Delores de Glorious at my friend Orion's place outside Ukiah and then be ready to fly out to India for 5 weeks. We are traveling through out the south and east, with Jamie and Sharmista's wedding in the middle of our trip. We hope to end our trip with a week in Katmandu. More on this later. Love and light Zach.