Day 88

Stats
Albion, CA→Gualala, CA
Net Elevation gain: -39 ft. (75 ft. to 36 ft.)
Average Speed: 9.0 mph
Top Speed: 44.6 mph
Time spent biking: 5 hours 10 minutes
Total time for the day's travels: 9 hours 45 minutes
Miles biked today: 46.6
Total for trip: 4308.2 miles

The whole world was foggy when we woke up this morning. We were out of the tent by 7:00 and it was chilly! We ate some cereal with coconut milk and peach while we tried to use the Internet to look up phone numbers for bike shops near San Fransisco. We soon decided that we needed more to eat and a place that was warm. We weren't ready to leave yet, wanting to wait until some of the fog cleared, so we decided to have a second breakfast at the little cafe that was part of the campground.

Our first breakfast on this chilly morning.

The food was expensive, but also pretty good. Being inside for a while warmed us up and after we had eaten we felt much more ready to pack up the tent and set out for the day. As we were packing up, a whole family began arriving to the campsite next to ours, and they were excited to hear about our trip, and we had fun talking with them as we readied ourselves for one of our last days of riding.

Even after our second breakfast, the ocean was still fogged in.

By this point in our trip, we're used to “late starts” and they don't bother us too much, but we are a little concerned about making it to San Francisco in time to pack the bike and still have a day to explore the city before flying out super early on the morning of September 7th. Also, we still haven't lined up a store to get bike boxes from and to serve as the pick-up point for shipping our bike home. Since our phones still didn't work where we had camped, we really were eager to get on the road (despite the 14% grade to climb just to get back to it).

View of the bridge we are about to cross after we made it out of the campground and up the steep hill!

It was very slow going even after we got underway. There were some climbs that kept us feeling like we were slogging, and we didn't have the amazing views of the ocean to perk us up because it was still all foggy in that direction. The roads were clear of fog, so there were no safety issues, just aesthetic ones.

Good morning world!

We stopped in the little town of Elk and purchased some more expensive food. These little towns in California seem to be more expensive the closer we get to San Fransisco. Perhaps they simply survive on tourists and inflated prices. The store we shopped in did have freshly baked cookies, still warm from the oven, though! We bought two and ate those right away, while we packed up the other food we had bought and contemplated the rest of the day.

This store had warm cookies.

It was hard for us to get in the mood for biking today. We just didn't feel like it. Also, the unfinished plans for shipping the bike home and finding a place to stay in San Fransisco had us on edge and it was hard to relax and just enjoy where we were in the moment.

Of course, there isn't much else to do but get back on the bike and pedal some more. After our cookies disappeared, we pedaled on. One thing about the biking on the coast line is that the riding is very much up and down. There are hardly ever any flat sections. On one crazy steep hill, it got so steep around a corner that Jenny was worried we were going to flip over backwards. We didn't, but that is an indication that we are climbing some awfully steep hills!

It was hard to get a shot of this switchback that truly shows just how steep it was. We will just say that Jenny does NOT want to bike this part again.

When we arrived in the next town, this one had a decent-sized grocery. We stopped to use their bathroom, to buy supplies for dinner (egg noodles, Brussels sprouts and hot dogs), and of course just to take a break from the biking. It's very frustrating when you know you ought to be enjoying something more than you are, but it's just not being fun.

After shopping for food, we found we were hungry and dug out the calzones we'd bought earlier. Sadly, they weren't very good at all. The fillings were okay, but the crusts were awful: hard, tasteless, and in the way. We sat in the sun in the parking lot on the other side of the road from our bike, but the pavement was too hot. We sat in the shade next to our bike, but it was too cold to be comfortable. Brett went back to the sun, while Jenny preferred the shade. We each called our parents, and Brett spoke with a teacher from school, making plans for next week. So strange that next week we'll be doing something so different, so normal, so stationary.

After long conversations we set off again. It was getting to be the time of day that most bikers out touring would start thinking about a place to stop for the night. For us, it was our best biking of the day! Maybe the rest helped. Probably talking to our parents helped. Anyway, we were having fun again!

For the first time today, we can see the ocean!

Two bikers caught up to us from behind and they both turned out to be fellow touring cyclists that we've seen before, but this was the first time we'd seen them riding together. Ken, the fellow biking home to San Francisco, was pedaling together with a young woman we've seen a few times, but never spoken with until now. We saw her first as we entered the redwoods, and then again in Arcata, but only now did we get a chance to chat with her. It's her first tour, and she's not camping, but she's self-supported and going all the way to Los Angeles.

One of our favorite parts of the day was when we saw what we originally thought was a kite, fairly stationary in the sky between the road and the rocky shore. Then we realized it was a bird! (For those birders out there, we're pretty sure it wasn't a kite, as in the bird.) We saw lots of birds of prey in the next few minutes, and many of them were catching the breeze just right to seemingly float in the air! It was one of the neatest things we'd seen in a while. We stopped to ogle some, and then we were on our way again.

Birds floating in the air.

It took us a while to find the campground tonight. After climbing up a decent hill, we found what we thought was the turn and started to go down. We fervently hoped we wouldn't have to come back up tonight. Fortunately, we didn't, and although the campground was all full, they had a hiker/biker area. We had the great pleasure of sharing the area with two other touring cyclists, a couple from Germany. They are also touring the coast by tandem! They were riding a Hase Pino, which we were extremely excited to see in person, because they are only made in Germany, and we had only seen pictures before.

The sunset shortly before we found our campground.

Our evening was topped off with a delicious dinner of noodles, hot dogs, Brussels sprouts and cheese, AND marshmallows for dessert! Nadia had never eaten marshmallows before, and her husband, Dieter, was excited to have them again! Marshmallows aren't something Germans have, and Nadia hadn't necessarily believed the tales she'd heard of Americans roasting them. She also gave him a razzing, because she had no idea he'd eaten them before, on a previous trip to the United States a long time ago.

As we sat talking and roasting marshmallows over the fire, we felt so lucky tonight. Everything worked out today. It was tough at times, yes, but here we are, safe and happy, with friendly people, sharing a campsite and a warm fire. This trip is almost over, and it's been such a great adventure.

Brett was delighted to have a fire. Marshmallows were a real treat, too!

One last bit of excitement before bed, was our second run-in with raccoons on our trip! While we had our backs turned, enjoying the fire, forgetting completely about the bag of marshmallows resting unguarded on the picnic table, Brett once again got to jump up and chase a thieving raccoon who was making off with our treat!

There were at least two raccoons together, probably a mama and a baby. The animals continued to lurk in the darkness, only their eyes glowing from our flashlights, until after we retired to our tent. They could be heard prowling for a while after, climbing back up on the picnic table and pawing our bags. (All our food was safely locked in the boxes provided for the night.) Sorry raccoons, no treats for you tonight! Better luck next time.

Day 87

Stats
Piercy, CA→ Albion, CA
Net Elevation gain: -896 ft. (971 ft. to 75 ft.)
Average Speed: 9.0 mph
Top Speed: 36.2 mph
Time spent biking: 7 hours 20 minutes
Total time for the day's travels: 11 hours 54 minutes
Miles biked today: 66.1
Total for trip: 4261.6 miles

Just after 6 a.m. Brett's alarm went off, but we were tempted to stay in bed. It was just starting to get light outside the parts of us that really wanted to get a nice early start to the day, (knowing that we had some of our last large climbs to conquer) persuaded the other parts of us to get up. With a quick game of “Race you out of the tent!” (which always seems to take longer than it ought to because of the inevitable involvement of tickling, hiding the other's clothes, or covering one person with all of the blankets while trying to dash out of the tent with someone holding tightly to one of your legs) we were fed and on the road by 7:10!

The morning was quiet and cool as we set off excitedly. Our breakfast of cereal with coconut milk and peach on top, oatmeal and other snacks put us in a good mood for biking. Also, it's always exciting to get an early start to the day.

Only a few miles (fifteen minutes) into our day, we turned off of Route 101, which we had followed down most of the coast, to pick up “The One”. Around here, they don't call these highways by anything other than “The One,” or “The One-Oh-One.” It took Brett a while to notice, and today we joked around a lot, overusing the names that feel silly to us. Besides getting through the last few miles and over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco, “The One” is pretty much our last road to follow!

About to turn onto The One!

When we turned onto The One, we had a nice little downhill to a river where we started our last big climb. The sun wasn't yet reaching down into the valley, but the climbing warmed us up quickly. The road was quiet, and there were almost no houses anywhere, just lots and lots of trees. Most of the time, we were able to see down into or across the valley we were leaving behind, and they were really neat views.

A different shot, looking back at the bridge we just crossed, at the bottom of the hill.

Now we get to go up!

A lovely view after about a half hour of climbing.

The roads were so quiet this morning.

Brett stretches while Jenny takes pictures.

We climbed for about an hour straight, going 4.5 miles and gaining about a thousand feet of elevation. You do the math: we didn't go fast. We counted how many cars we saw, and it wasn't hard to keep track: one car passed us from behind, and somewhere around a dozen went the opposite way. We were still in good moods, and just after what turned out to be the top, we stopped for a snack. After that break in which we ate a delicious combo of dried salmon and bread and hummus, our moods got even higher. Man! That snack was GOOD.

Of course, after every big climb there is a big descent! This one was REALLY fun, especially for the driver. There were about a million switchbacks on the way down, and it was fun to use the brakes (thank goodness for the drum brake!) just enough to be safe, but to be able to cruise around all the corners (sometimes making “Nnneeeeeowwwhhhh” airplane/racecar noises).

It's like we're flying!

At the bottom of the the mountain, we had a short level stretch before starting to climb again. This accent was about 2 miles up and took us about half an hour to gain about 500 feet of elevation. It wasn't as fun, but we knew it was coming, and it was over before too long.

We came back down the other side of that hill just about all the way to sea level for the first time in a few days. In the first town we came to, Westport, we stopped in a little general store and then ate again. All that climbing takes time and makes you hungry! We used the wifi there to check our email, too.

Cliffs and rocks and water and beautiful blue sky.

It's nice to be riding along the ocean again.

Heading out of Westport, we had some steep little ups and downs, but we won't top 500 feet above sea level more than twice again this trip. Weird to think about it that way, but exciting, too! However, these little hills tired us out and we lost the emotional momentum we had from climbing this morning.

A large patch of the "funny pink flowers" that Jenny had been wanting to get a photo of ever since we started seeing them when we entered California.

The little hills began to mellow, and in Ft. Bragg, a medium sized town, we stopped for some ice cream. Just as we were sitting down to eat our banana split, a man walked into the shop, headed straight for us and said, “Hey! Do you want some?” He looked happy and excited, but we were confused as to what he wanted. “Want what?” we said, in response. “Do you want some pot? Aren't you from Maine? I saw your bike outside and, weren't you the ones I passed back there who asked if I had some pot?” All we could do was shake our heads.

One! Two! Three! Ice cream!

Also in Ft. Bragg, we stopped at a grocery store and procured replacement stores of food: hummus, carrots, avocado, broccoli, and a peach. Sadly, not far out of town, we suffered a flat tire. It took a little while to change: unload the bike, take the rear wheel off, etc., etc. That cost us both some time and some more emotional momentum, but we did okay with it, trying to cheer ourselves back up.

Boo!

So much for that tire. Good thing we have another!

As the afternoon wore on, we made some more progress south, but we were getting tired and figured we would probably stop in Little River at Van Damme Beach State Park. However, after one tough little climb, we realized we had just left Van Damme Beach State Park at the bottom of the hill. We didn't want to have to climb that hill again, and we weren't completely wiped out yet, and it wasn't even dusk yet, so we pushed onwards.

According to our map, the next little town, Albion, has two RV parks. Unfortunately, our phones didn't get any reception to call either one, so we couldn't check prices or availability. We stopped and consulted the map multiple times, but couldn't figure out exactly where one of the RV parks was located, and the other one was located at the bottom of a cliff. We couldn't bring ourselves to just go down the hill to that park, so we crossed the bridge, and hoped there was somewhere to ask on the other side.

An old house and a wind-blown tree.

There were no stores to be seen that would be open after 5pm, and we stopped and talked it over. In the end, as much as we hated it, we decided we were quite tired, and it was the lesser of the evils to go down the cliff that we'd have to climb in the morning.

Back across the bridge we went, and turned into the driveway down. A sign greeted us: 14% grade! Holy smokes! We were a little nervous going down such a steep grade, but the drum brake did its job, and we went down slowly. Sadly, this RV Park wasn't that attractive. It did have a nice view of the bridge, but other than that it held nothing for us. Apparently, if you like to fish, this is a good spot to camp, though. For us, this was just a spot to lay our heads. We paid in an envelope and picked a site. Because we were tired, all this took us longer than usual, but we managed not to get too crabby despite the chill that was now upon us.

An amazing view of the wooden bridge above the campground.

Jenny was the hero of the evening because she got the password for the wifi from a neighboring camper! We cooked a meal first, before setting up our tent for the night. It wasn't much, but the broccoli-cheese-ramen with salt and cayenne did fill us up okay.

Amazingly, by the time we had the tent set up, it was dark, despite arriving while it was still quite light out. We had just enough energy left to crawl int the tent, write a post for the blog, and go to sleep.

Many of our breaks while climbing today were centered around flowers.

Day 86

Stats
Myers Flat, CA → Piercy, CA
Net Elevation gain: 651 ft. (320 ft. to 971 ft.)
Average Speed: 9.5 mph
Top Speed: 45.6 mph
Time spent biking: 5 hours 15 minutes
Total time for the day's travels: 8 hours 4 minutes
Miles biked today: 49.9
Total for trip: 4195.5 miles

Last night, Brett specifically tried to give Jenny the mattress without the small hole in it, so that she might have a full night of sleep, but he failed. In his defense, it is very difficult to tell them apart. The leak is very slight, not even noticeable actually, until you wake up on the ground in the middle of the night.

Despite the rough night for one of us, we both got up feeling pretty good. We had fun taking pictures of each other climbing around on redwood tree stumps next to our campsite. These trees really are amazing, and the stumps left behind are quite something. Ken, a fellow touring cyclist, took a shot or two of us together, for which we are grateful. He's heading home to San Francisco, on almost the same time frame we are, so we may see him again.

A shot of Jenny on the stump in the morning sunlight filtering down through the trees.

Us together.

WOW.

We tried to get going on the earlier side of things this morning, and we succeeded in being out on the road by 9:40. Not too bad! We were still riding in the redwoods, and it was just BEAUTIFUL. It's a little surreal, but mostly just awe-inspiring and serene. The temperature was a bit chilly, but there was no sign of wind, at least not yet.

Out of curiosity and because we could, we paid $3 to be able to ride our bike *through* a redwood tree. It's living, but has some help staying upright. It wasn't the most elegant thing, but it was neat and awe-inspiring in its own way.

The riding seemed to be more down than up for a while. We had two fellow riders in sight this morning: Ken behind us, and an unladen woman from British Columbia (who has done a bunch of touring by bicycle in the past) with whom we played leapfrog. At one small store we all paused together, but Ken didn't need anything and kept on and the woman turned back since she was just out for a day ride. We bought two drinks, a treat, and floss (which we've been meaning to buy since Florence or before).

Leaving the store we noticed how hot it was. We realized we aren't right along the ocean anymore, with its chilly breezes to cool us down. In some ways we welcomed the break, but it was pretty hot and we miss the ocean views. Thankfully, we're often along a river so there's water to gaze at.

Lunch today was a feast of our own supplies. We stopped in Garberville and got a few things from Chitaqua Natural Foods, but mostly we sat in the park/square across the street at a table with a sunshade and munched on things like the free tomato from yesterday, good bread (made in Arcata), a delicious lemon poppyseed muffin, salami, ham, lettuce, hummus, carrot, and avocado. When we'd eaten to our heart's content, we packed up and reluctantly made our way back onto the highway in the hot sun.

Our food supply laid out for the feast!

We considered taking a break in a cool place like a library, but we wanted to keep going. We paused at the on ramp to apply sunscreen for the open road, and then on we went. Actually, there was a nice breeze helping us along, and after a bit we got off at the next exit. Following the smaller road in the same direction at the highway, we were right alongside the river, and we came upon a good spot to go swimming!

A view over Brett's shoulder of the river valley we followed much of today. Along the road were lots of what looked, and smelled like huge fennel plants!

The cool to cold water was really nice, but the algae was less so. We swam a bit, and lingered a bit, but we cooled off quickly, and still wanted to make some distance today. Carefully avoiding the poison oak that abounds here, we made our way back up the steep incline to our waiting bike.

A barefoot Brett ready to climb down to the river for a swim.

After that, we were biking for a while. Of course, we warmed back up again quickly, but we were on and off the highway a bunch this afternoon, so the riding was interesting enough to keep our minds occupied. We did more climbing this afternoon, gaining a few hundred feet of elevation, something we haven't done in a while. Looking ahead, we know we'll have a difficult day of climbing tomorrow (our last big hillclimb/mountain), and we're really excited for it!

We passed a few logging trucks today, or rather, they passed us.

Our supply of water ran low this afternoon. We were drinking lots to keep up with the heat, and there aren't so many stores (or houses) in this region, so we actually ran out for one of the few times all trip. Just as we ran out though, we came upon a campground/resort/camp store where we bought a treat, and refilled our water bottles with nice cool water.

From there, we only had 5.2 miles to go for the day to Standish-Hickey State Park. It was eerily quiet, with an otherwise empty hiker-biker area, and only one other couple in the section of the campground we were in. We self-registered, and Jenny cooked us up a huge meal of rice, beans, apple sausage, cheese, green beans (from the farm stand!), while Brett set up the tent for the night. Brett also made sure to charge the laptop and camera from the outlets on the bathroom building.

Since we finished our day of riding early enough, we even had some time and energy to work on the blog a bit. Brett wrote some, but we're so far behind it's hard to remember details from the day. The pictures we took help set the story straight, plus Jenny remembered more of the day, and we pieced it all together.

After that, we set an alarm for an early start, and got some well-earned sleep.

Day 85

Stats
Arcata, CA → Myers Flat, CA
Net Elevation gain: about 143 ft. (177 ft. to about 320 ft.)
Average Speed: 12.0 mph
Top Speed: 42.4 mph
Time spent biking: 4 hours 47 minutes
Total time for the day's travels: 8 hours 40 minutes
Miles biked today: 57.4
Total for trip: 4145.6 miles

It was a novelty to cook breakfast on a real stove this morning. Jenny made a scrumptious omelet with goat cheese sprinkled on top, while Brett put the laundry in to wash and did some writing. We hung out with Rebecca for the morning, and were off to a somewhat early start, by 10:00.

Cooking breakfast.

Rebecca, Brett and Jenny. Thanks for having us visit!

Only a few miles down the road we stopped to buy some food at the Wildberries marketplace before leaving town. Wildberries is one of those amazingly overwhelming, huge, local health food stores, where you just want to buy everything because it looks so delicious.

If you're ever in Arcata, CA., be sure to go here.

After walking around the store in a sort of daze, we decided to pick out some foods to eat right away from the prepared section, so that we wouldn't be hungry and would be able to then make better decisions about what to get for future meals. Our food choices after we had eaten ended up being: sausage, olive bread, hummus, carrots, beans, a peach, a large hunk of cheese, smoked salmon, salami, avocado, chocolate trail mix, and coconut dates.

Palm trees in the square in downtown Arcata.

By the time we left Arcata it was nearing noon. We had some good riding along 101, with the wind at our backs and food in our bellies. The scenery was mostly blah highway, but we had some prettier riding when the sun came out and we passed the larger city of Eureka.

More lovely orange poppies.

These trees have very pretty leaves. We think they might be eucalyptus?

We took a break by a marina in the outskirts of the city so that Brett could make a few phone calls for work. Jenny spent that time watching the pelicans. The little marina had a ramp that went out over the water and it was a perfect place to stand and watch the boats and the wildlife. Besides the pelicans and omnipresent seagulls, we also saw two seals! Jenny felt that she could have stayed there all day watching, particularly for the pelicans.

This place was so tranquil in the chilly afternoon.

Jenny could have stayed here all day watching these birds!

For lunch we stopped in the small town of Scotia, where we found a picnic table and snacked on food we already had, even though there was a store right there.

Jenny makes some hummus and salami sandwiches to eat.

On our way out of town we passed many lumber yards. The amount of wood that these places have is hard to comprehend. This picture only shows a small section of the expansive yard.

A more serene shot.

By mid afternoon, we made it to the Avenue of the Giants! This stretch of our trip was truly amazing. Nothing compares to slowly biking along the quiet roads that weave into the forest and around these humongous trees. Although it runs basically parallel to Highway 101, the Avenue of the Giants sees far less traffic, and certainly lower speeds. Ideal conditions for viewing the redwoods while biking.

A little bit of information about the Avenue of the Giants.

So. Tall.

Not long after starting along the Avenue of the Giants, we were passed by an interesting cyclist. He was in all the garb of a fancy biker out for a day ride, but he had a semi-large backpack on. When we talked with him later in the day, we learned that he was a touring cyclist, too, but doing things completely differently. Al got this (crazy, but fascinating) idea in his head to try to make it from Seattle to San Diego in less than two weeks. He is averaging about 130 miles per day. Yes, averaging. He is staying in cabins and motels and his wife is helping to arrange things from back home. He seemed really nice and down-to-earth, but boy is that a different way to do things!

We prefer to do things a little bit slower. With lots of breaks for photos!

A big hug!

A pleasant surprise along the road this afternoon was a farm stand. We pulled over and bought a few delicious tomatoes, some green beans, and a cucumber. The owner was really friendly, and after chatting for a while about her organic produce and our trip, she gave us a free tomato for the road! We love fresh food, and it always feels good to buy it right from the farmers.

Tonight we got to camp right beneath the redwoods! Burlington Campground in Humboldt State Park is a beautiful spot. There were a few other cyclists at the campground as well, but we had our own site because the one that the others were sharing was full. We cooked an incredible multi-course dinner, starting with bacon, which we ate as soon as it was cooked, then soup, made with fresh sausage, beans, potatoes and carrots. For dessert we had coconut covered dates and a peach. This meal made us feel as though we were eating like kings!

Cooking dinner beneath the redwood trees.

Day 84

Stats
Orick, CA → Acata, CA
Net Elevation gain: -10 ft. (187 ft. to 177 ft.)
Average Speed: 9.0 mph
Top Speed: 36.8 mph
Time spent biking: 3 hours 35 minutes
Total time for the day's travels: 6 hours 5 minutes
Miles biked today: 32.3
Total for trip: 4088.2 miles

After a restless night, we got off to a late start. Jenny took a shower while Brett worked on packing up. We ate some blackberries from the patch next to our campsite. We fed a few to the friendly horses on the other side of the fence. Turns out, they love blackberries like we do!

These horses loved blackberries. There were more berries on our side of the fence, probably because they had already eaten the ones on their side!

Even with our slow start, today was far better than yesterday. We were able to work together nicely, and after some snacking from our food supply and returning the key to the bathrooms at the office, we set out.

Most days we have a decent idea where we might camp for the night by estimating about fifty miles ahead, but we rarely know for sure. But when you are headed to a friend's house, it's different. It's just a matter of what time you'll get there! We knew we'd stay the night with our friend Rebecca, who we know through the UMass Juggling Club, at her apartment in Arcata.

The fog lends its own kind of beauty.

There are thousands of views like this along the coast!

Today wasn't a sunny day. It was bright and dry when we struck out, heading almost due south. The coast was a bit foggy, but the roads weren't, and we took our time pedaling along, knowing we didn't have to push too hard to get to our destination at a reasonable time. We passed by the little town of Trinidad, and were in the woods for a stretch, then after that on really nice roads with little traffic. We noticed that there seemed to be a lot of homes turned into places to rent a room, stay in a motel, or bed and breakfast.

A beautiful lagoon separated from the ocean by a thin strip of land.

When the woods opened up, we were right back on the coastline, along a really pretty bike path. We didn't go down to the water, but it was beautiful and so peaceful to gaze out over the waves and the sand. Today we saw the ocean meet the land at both expansive sandy beaches and rocky cliffs and crags.

Brett's view, including the pretty flower Jenny gave him.

A well-placed bench made for a relaxing break for a few minutes.

The sign describes how sea levels have changed with respect to the land over time. It was an excellent location to use as an example and fascinating to think about.

As we rode into the outskirts of McKinleyville, we were getting really hungry for a real meal. All that was left at the corner store that we came upon was one pre-made wrap that didn't look very appealing. We asked about how far into town we'd have to go to get to a restaurant or some other food store, and were told it wasn't far. We did have to climb a bit of a hill to get up to the center of town, but we were hungry enough that we thought it would be worth it.

When we got to the main stretch of stores and restaurants, we chose a pizza shop, and we made a GREAT choice! The pizza was so good that Brett even went back to order seconds.

We were SO happy with our pizza choice. Yum!

When we got to the main stretch of stores and restaurants, we chose a pizza shop, and we made a GREAT choice! The pizza was so good that Brett even went back to order seconds. While finishing up our meal, we checked the map on line for the best way to get to Rebecca's house from where we were. Since we had deviated from the Adventure Cycling Association route, it ended up looking more efficient to go directly south from where we were, instead of heading back down to the ocean first. We had one small bridge crossing on a busier stretch of highway, but it turned out not to be as bad as it looked on the map.

Jenny LOVES these! She pointed them out anytime we passed some on the side of the road. Sometimes it was just one, and sometimes there are whole patches!

The plants reminded us that we really were in California today. We biked passed palm trees, huge cactus plants, and many tropical flowering trees, some of which Jenny recognized from Florida, and some new to us both.

An example of the exotic-to-us plants we see in this area.

It took us a few tries to find our friend Rebecca's apartment, but once we did, we were greeted with hugs and a comfortable place to rest for the night. We hadn't seen Rebecca in years and it was fun to catch up. Her roommate Kayce was also fun to meet and chat with. Kayce showed us one of her favorite books, which Brett ended up reading the start of out loud to everyone after dinner. There was one especially funny bit when Rebecca was acting out all the crazy lifeforms Brett was reading about.

We didn't bike a ton of miles today, and the sky was overcast, but it felt so good to be in better moods and to be taken in by friends at the end of the day. We didn't have to set up the tent. Rebecca made us salad! We got to sleep on a comfortable futon mattress. We're in California, and we got here by bicycle! Life is good.