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Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Monday, August 4, 2014
Well, it has been a while. So let me catch you all up. After leaving the lovely company of my fellow PCV's in Santee, CA. I rented a car, got some ride share folks to split gas with me and headed for Albuquerque, NM where I dropped off the car at the airport and was picked up by one of my favorite Germans, Sven Vogel. Sven was my boss the last time I was in Los Alamos and was about to become my boss, in a manner of speaking, again. His 8 year old son, Noah, and I were about to be come bosom buddies as Sven was taking me to Germany with him and Noah so that I could look babysit while Sven attended conferences, meetings and other such things. But first, I had to hitch a ride up to Denver where me and my PCV pals were planning to have a fantastic 4th of July celebration and one year reunion.
I found a ride share on craigslist and was able to make my way north without too much trouble. Then, I partied down in a huge cabin out in the mountains about an hour from Denver with my PCV's. Whiskey, beer, brauts, memories, hugs and laughter were had by all, but especially me :) Two excellent days and nights were spend in the woods and then we parted ways. Someone was kind enough to give me a lift to the airport where I hopped on my plane to Deutchland!
I touched down in Frankfurt and immediately got on the train to Frieburg where I was able to finally rejoin Sven and Noah. We spent and few days with Sven's mom and then we were off again. I would have to look again at my notes to see exactly what order we went, but the list includes Berlin, Frankfurt, Roestock (to see some friends I met in Uganda: Peter, Blanca and Lutcia) and a few others. Again, I will have to look back in my notes to see all the places. In each one, Noah and I went to the pool, parks and museums. I especially like the technology museum and Noah really enjoyed the computer and video game museums.
While in Frieburg I also got to see my SLS classmate, Tobias. It turns out he is working on his PhD in history at the university in Frieburg. We had a rather fantastic evening together at his fraternity house. We engaged in several beer battles and while I lost nearly all of them, I still had an excellent time!
My excellent German adventure as an au pair came to a close as did July and I was back on a airplane to ABQ. From there a friend picked me up and took me to Sven's house once more. Not only did Sven pay for all my travel and accommodation in Germany, but he also let me take his "scooter" for a road trip during all of August. Sven is a motorcycle enthusiast and has a behemoth chopper which he enjoys taking on tours around the southwest. He also has a "scooter" for his wife which is a Harley Sportster. This is what I was allowed to borrow for a whole month since his wife doesn't ride anymore.
With a full suite of borrowed gear from a rugby friend in Santa Fe I mounted my steed and headed south just as a tremendous storm opened up on me. I was miserable. It was late and I was freezing. The rain was to torrential that I had to stop somewhere and that somewhere just happened to be ABQ international airport. So I found and empty couch and still in my full gear, streached out and tried to rest and dry while I waited for the rain to subside.
Four hours later, the rain was mostly done and there was only a little lightning so I remounted the bike and began the overnight journey down to El Paso for my first stop. The purpose of the trip was to visit as many of my SLS classmates as possible. The first being Brendan Flanagan. But, in my haste to make up lost time from the storm, I did not plan well and around 8 am as I was just 60 miles from El Paso I ran out of gas. After two hours of pushing someone finally pulled over and let me use their phone. Fortunately Brendan answered and came to rescue me with a few gallons of gas. But this all cost me the night I had hoped to stay with him. So we sat an shot the breeze at his apartment for a while and then I had to once again hit the road.
That was pretty much the theme, though I always carried an extra bottle of gas with me after that, for the rest of the trip. Drive all day, stay with a classmate for a night and hit the road again. My visits were many and my days were few, so I only got to say "howdy" and "adios" for most of the time. From El Paso it was off to San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, New Orleans, then Alabama, VA, Baltimore, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, a small town in Missouri, then all the way back to New Mexico to return the scooter and jump on my flight back to China. I think there were more stops in there, but I can't remember off the top of my head. This really should have been a dozen blog posts, but on account of procrastination they have been condensed down to one.
Oh, and I had a decent layover in San Francisco so I stopped by the Apple campus where I had a beer with a good friend from Rose, Buddy Meyer. He even was kind enough to not only buy me lunch but also give me his old iphone which I am still using now.
Up next, my cycling trips across China.
I found a ride share on craigslist and was able to make my way north without too much trouble. Then, I partied down in a huge cabin out in the mountains about an hour from Denver with my PCV's. Whiskey, beer, brauts, memories, hugs and laughter were had by all, but especially me :) Two excellent days and nights were spend in the woods and then we parted ways. Someone was kind enough to give me a lift to the airport where I hopped on my plane to Deutchland!
I touched down in Frankfurt and immediately got on the train to Frieburg where I was able to finally rejoin Sven and Noah. We spent and few days with Sven's mom and then we were off again. I would have to look again at my notes to see exactly what order we went, but the list includes Berlin, Frankfurt, Roestock (to see some friends I met in Uganda: Peter, Blanca and Lutcia) and a few others. Again, I will have to look back in my notes to see all the places. In each one, Noah and I went to the pool, parks and museums. I especially like the technology museum and Noah really enjoyed the computer and video game museums.
While in Frieburg I also got to see my SLS classmate, Tobias. It turns out he is working on his PhD in history at the university in Frieburg. We had a rather fantastic evening together at his fraternity house. We engaged in several beer battles and while I lost nearly all of them, I still had an excellent time!
My excellent German adventure as an au pair came to a close as did July and I was back on a airplane to ABQ. From there a friend picked me up and took me to Sven's house once more. Not only did Sven pay for all my travel and accommodation in Germany, but he also let me take his "scooter" for a road trip during all of August. Sven is a motorcycle enthusiast and has a behemoth chopper which he enjoys taking on tours around the southwest. He also has a "scooter" for his wife which is a Harley Sportster. This is what I was allowed to borrow for a whole month since his wife doesn't ride anymore.
With a full suite of borrowed gear from a rugby friend in Santa Fe I mounted my steed and headed south just as a tremendous storm opened up on me. I was miserable. It was late and I was freezing. The rain was to torrential that I had to stop somewhere and that somewhere just happened to be ABQ international airport. So I found and empty couch and still in my full gear, streached out and tried to rest and dry while I waited for the rain to subside.
Four hours later, the rain was mostly done and there was only a little lightning so I remounted the bike and began the overnight journey down to El Paso for my first stop. The purpose of the trip was to visit as many of my SLS classmates as possible. The first being Brendan Flanagan. But, in my haste to make up lost time from the storm, I did not plan well and around 8 am as I was just 60 miles from El Paso I ran out of gas. After two hours of pushing someone finally pulled over and let me use their phone. Fortunately Brendan answered and came to rescue me with a few gallons of gas. But this all cost me the night I had hoped to stay with him. So we sat an shot the breeze at his apartment for a while and then I had to once again hit the road.
That was pretty much the theme, though I always carried an extra bottle of gas with me after that, for the rest of the trip. Drive all day, stay with a classmate for a night and hit the road again. My visits were many and my days were few, so I only got to say "howdy" and "adios" for most of the time. From El Paso it was off to San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, New Orleans, then Alabama, VA, Baltimore, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, a small town in Missouri, then all the way back to New Mexico to return the scooter and jump on my flight back to China. I think there were more stops in there, but I can't remember off the top of my head. This really should have been a dozen blog posts, but on account of procrastination they have been condensed down to one.
Oh, and I had a decent layover in San Francisco so I stopped by the Apple campus where I had a beer with a good friend from Rose, Buddy Meyer. He even was kind enough to not only buy me lunch but also give me his old iphone which I am still using now.
Up next, my cycling trips across China.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Sold! Now, on to Santeeeeeeee!
The next day or so was pretty much spent relaxing and catching up with Papp and Grant. Then, while I'm there, I find out that Jake will soon becoming to LA for work. So I try to convince him to talk to his boss and see if he can come to LA a day early. Long story short, he can and he does. Then we pretty much repeat what we've been doing for the last day: beer, pizza, beer, sleep. Its a good recovery routine :)
So, not only did I get to relive a successful college weekend with Jake, but he also offers to buy my hand trike right on the spot. So we spend the better part of Monday morning disassembling it and packing it up. Head down to USPS and off it goes, back to Jake's place in Illinois. We owe a big thanks to Papp for hauling us around from place to place while we get our little ducks in a row. After a long lunch at Pho 21, Jake and I part from Papp's excellent company and head for his hotel room. We get Jake checked in, I look up a few things on the computer and then I'm off to Arcadia!!
Part of my purpose for this long and round about way of traveling is to visit my SLS brethren. Partly because I haven't seen some of them since graduation, and partly because next year will be our 10 year reunion and I wanted to talk to each member of our class individually to see what, when, and how we should make this shindig happen. I was more than a little slow in gathering up all that information for our five year reunion and I definitely don't want to repeat that mistake, so this time around I'm getting a very early start. And in Pasadena there lives a good man by the Name of Chris Cariaga and he graciously invited me to stay with him and his uncle for a night. With a non-trivial miracle and lots of questions, I was able to navigate LA public transit is a mere 3 hours to find myself at Chris' door. There we spent a few hours catching up on what we've been up to, what the immediate future might contain and what the farther future might be. I also got his feedback on what our 10 year reunion ought to be.
With our minds and hearts full from one another's company and conversation, we decided to balance out our bodies by filling our stomachs as well. That is when we went for Pink's. This historic establishment in LA proper is a hotdog stand to compare to no other. The list of nitrated, hand held, chili smothered meat dishes was staggering. Only slightly less staggering than the line we had to wait in to get at one of these cholesterol spiking creations. It was well past midnight, going on 1:00 am and we still had to wait in line for 45 minutes to order. But it was well worth it, because of BACON!!!!!! Yes, dear readers, you are correct, I have missed bacon greatly and now I was about to OD on it. I believe the specific creation I was consuming is called the bacon burrito dog, but do not let the simple name full you. This amalgamation of chili, hotdog, tortilla, cheese, and sour cream was teaming with bacon. I dare say there was the better percentage of a pig wrapped up in that tortilla. It was good. Wow! And when every finger licking morsel was down my gullet, I felt like a pig too.
Chris was kind enough to be driving and it is a good thing too. As soon as we sat down in the car, my eyes started to droop and by the time we got out of the parking lot I was lapsing in and out of consciousness. So pork filled was that stretched wheat tortilla that it was now taking all the energy my body had to just to digest its awesomeness. I fought to keep awake, but it was too much for me. Thanks for driving Chris, and sorry for snoring :)
The next morning I had all my things packed as I was hoping to see Bao Nguyen that day. He had just graduated from undergrad with a bio-chem degree and was now busily applying to pharmacology schools. He and his family live out in Victorville, where I stayed with them one summer several years ago. By luck, Bao was headed into Pamona college, not far from Chris, to wrap up a school project. Chris, once again, extended me a gracious ride out to meet Bao for lunch. Once I was in the capable hands of good Mr. Nguyen, Chris and I hugged and parted ways. Bao and I spent a very good lunch, pho no less :), catching up on his life and his plans for school. I have to say that I really like the California coast, but Bao has grown bored with the constant sunshine and lack of temperature variety. He has his hopes to go back to the midwest for graduate school. Being from Chicago, I reckon I can't blame his for wanting to return to his home and such.
After lunch, Bao took me to his school where I hung out in Starbucks catching up on all my electronic correspondences while Bao worked with his lab partner on their project. After working in the library for a several hours, they had succeeded in completing the team work part of it and decided to do the rest separately from their respective homes. Bao was also kind enough to drop me back in Pasadena.
I had found out through the wonderful social connections device known as Facebook, that my good college colleague, Sam Long, was studying at Cal Tech and working with Jet Propulsion Laboratories. For those of you who are not enginerds, Cal Tech is one of the best math/science/engineering schools in the country and JPL is one of the most highly sought after research institutions in the aerospace world. So, well done Sam! With some quick knocking on the interwebs doors, I was able to arrange to meet up with Sam after work and then head to dinner at the Yardhouse to meet up with my past roommate and good friend David Lui. Not to mention finally meet his fiance. The Yardhouse was a particularly fine establishment and most imporantly the fantastic selection of beers on tap came in half-yard glasses. I don't know how many ounces each glass actually is, but I do know I only remember having two of them. After that, the night gets a little foggy. I'm pretty sure I left under my own power, but I certainly didn't navigate. Lui and his lovely bride to be had a lot more wedding planning to do and so they left a bit early. Sam and I, however, stayed for... Well, I don't remember.
What I do remember, is that the next morning found me in pretty atrocious shape in Sam's dorm room. Sam had already went into work, so I took my time resting up and organizing my next mode of transportation. Several glasses of water later and I was on my way once again. This time to sunny and beautiful San Diego!
Greyhound was only $12 and I was really happy to see my friends from Peace Corps who have collected in a hippy commune of sorts in Santee, a suburb of San Diego. The proprietor of this fine little gathering place is Elizabeth Vaughn and she is sharing her childhood home with the excellent company of Jake Larson, Brian Stock (thanks for letting me crash in your bed by the way), Natalie Peters and a friend of Jake's names Nate (I think).
The bus got me in with just enough time to catch the public transit up to the beach where I was to meet my PC pals for a little bonfire on the beach. It was awesome! So nice to see everyone, enjoy the breeze off the ocean, eat some brats, watch the fire dance around our fire pit. Unfortunately, Brian was away for work, so I never did get to see him. After a few hours, Jake and Elizabeth called it a night. Jake works as an EMT and had a 24 hour shift coming up. So Natalie and I stayed with Rob, her beau, and the lovely couple Lauren and Simon (I think that was their names). After discussing this, that and the other for several hour we finally called it a night around 12:00 or so which was just about the time my hangover released me from its mind slowing grip. So back up to Santee where I borrowed Brian's bed and was immediately dead to the world.
The next day I had planned on taking the Greyhound to Phoenix and then a shuttle up to Prescott where I would meet up with another SLS graduate, Cher Vang. But after looking at all the options available to me, it was clear that public transit was not the cheapest way to go. I could rent a car for 24 hours, put gas in it, and still be slightly cheaper than Greyhound and the shuttles together. Mostly because I wasn't stopping until I reached Albuquerque. This, combined with CraigsList classifieds of people looking for a lift, made the total price less than $100. Not too shabby. So I spent most of the day with Natalie, jut relaxing. We went out to the beach, then a long bike ride with Rob, got some delicious carne asada and then beer at a local watering hole. It was a good day.
The next morning was a slow start for me. I was in no hurry as my car rental was scheduled for 12:00. Jake had come back from his shift and wasn't too exhausted, so he and I headed out to breakfast. We discussed his job and his eventual goal of being a fire fighter. Apparently, this is the way you work your way up to becoming a good candidate for fire fighting school. First be an EMT, then work your way up to being a paramedic. After a few years as a paramedic, then you are ready to begin learning about fires. According to Jake, most of a fire fighter's job is medical, not pyrotechnic. Good to know. I don't want to work as a paramedic, but I've always thought of that as a very good skill to know.
Well, this is kind of abrupt, but I have to sign off here. More to come though :)
So, not only did I get to relive a successful college weekend with Jake, but he also offers to buy my hand trike right on the spot. So we spend the better part of Monday morning disassembling it and packing it up. Head down to USPS and off it goes, back to Jake's place in Illinois. We owe a big thanks to Papp for hauling us around from place to place while we get our little ducks in a row. After a long lunch at Pho 21, Jake and I part from Papp's excellent company and head for his hotel room. We get Jake checked in, I look up a few things on the computer and then I'm off to Arcadia!!
Part of my purpose for this long and round about way of traveling is to visit my SLS brethren. Partly because I haven't seen some of them since graduation, and partly because next year will be our 10 year reunion and I wanted to talk to each member of our class individually to see what, when, and how we should make this shindig happen. I was more than a little slow in gathering up all that information for our five year reunion and I definitely don't want to repeat that mistake, so this time around I'm getting a very early start. And in Pasadena there lives a good man by the Name of Chris Cariaga and he graciously invited me to stay with him and his uncle for a night. With a non-trivial miracle and lots of questions, I was able to navigate LA public transit is a mere 3 hours to find myself at Chris' door. There we spent a few hours catching up on what we've been up to, what the immediate future might contain and what the farther future might be. I also got his feedback on what our 10 year reunion ought to be.
With our minds and hearts full from one another's company and conversation, we decided to balance out our bodies by filling our stomachs as well. That is when we went for Pink's. This historic establishment in LA proper is a hotdog stand to compare to no other. The list of nitrated, hand held, chili smothered meat dishes was staggering. Only slightly less staggering than the line we had to wait in to get at one of these cholesterol spiking creations. It was well past midnight, going on 1:00 am and we still had to wait in line for 45 minutes to order. But it was well worth it, because of BACON!!!!!! Yes, dear readers, you are correct, I have missed bacon greatly and now I was about to OD on it. I believe the specific creation I was consuming is called the bacon burrito dog, but do not let the simple name full you. This amalgamation of chili, hotdog, tortilla, cheese, and sour cream was teaming with bacon. I dare say there was the better percentage of a pig wrapped up in that tortilla. It was good. Wow! And when every finger licking morsel was down my gullet, I felt like a pig too.
Chris was kind enough to be driving and it is a good thing too. As soon as we sat down in the car, my eyes started to droop and by the time we got out of the parking lot I was lapsing in and out of consciousness. So pork filled was that stretched wheat tortilla that it was now taking all the energy my body had to just to digest its awesomeness. I fought to keep awake, but it was too much for me. Thanks for driving Chris, and sorry for snoring :)
The next morning I had all my things packed as I was hoping to see Bao Nguyen that day. He had just graduated from undergrad with a bio-chem degree and was now busily applying to pharmacology schools. He and his family live out in Victorville, where I stayed with them one summer several years ago. By luck, Bao was headed into Pamona college, not far from Chris, to wrap up a school project. Chris, once again, extended me a gracious ride out to meet Bao for lunch. Once I was in the capable hands of good Mr. Nguyen, Chris and I hugged and parted ways. Bao and I spent a very good lunch, pho no less :), catching up on his life and his plans for school. I have to say that I really like the California coast, but Bao has grown bored with the constant sunshine and lack of temperature variety. He has his hopes to go back to the midwest for graduate school. Being from Chicago, I reckon I can't blame his for wanting to return to his home and such.
After lunch, Bao took me to his school where I hung out in Starbucks catching up on all my electronic correspondences while Bao worked with his lab partner on their project. After working in the library for a several hours, they had succeeded in completing the team work part of it and decided to do the rest separately from their respective homes. Bao was also kind enough to drop me back in Pasadena.
I had found out through the wonderful social connections device known as Facebook, that my good college colleague, Sam Long, was studying at Cal Tech and working with Jet Propulsion Laboratories. For those of you who are not enginerds, Cal Tech is one of the best math/science/engineering schools in the country and JPL is one of the most highly sought after research institutions in the aerospace world. So, well done Sam! With some quick knocking on the interwebs doors, I was able to arrange to meet up with Sam after work and then head to dinner at the Yardhouse to meet up with my past roommate and good friend David Lui. Not to mention finally meet his fiance. The Yardhouse was a particularly fine establishment and most imporantly the fantastic selection of beers on tap came in half-yard glasses. I don't know how many ounces each glass actually is, but I do know I only remember having two of them. After that, the night gets a little foggy. I'm pretty sure I left under my own power, but I certainly didn't navigate. Lui and his lovely bride to be had a lot more wedding planning to do and so they left a bit early. Sam and I, however, stayed for... Well, I don't remember.
What I do remember, is that the next morning found me in pretty atrocious shape in Sam's dorm room. Sam had already went into work, so I took my time resting up and organizing my next mode of transportation. Several glasses of water later and I was on my way once again. This time to sunny and beautiful San Diego!
Greyhound was only $12 and I was really happy to see my friends from Peace Corps who have collected in a hippy commune of sorts in Santee, a suburb of San Diego. The proprietor of this fine little gathering place is Elizabeth Vaughn and she is sharing her childhood home with the excellent company of Jake Larson, Brian Stock (thanks for letting me crash in your bed by the way), Natalie Peters and a friend of Jake's names Nate (I think).
The bus got me in with just enough time to catch the public transit up to the beach where I was to meet my PC pals for a little bonfire on the beach. It was awesome! So nice to see everyone, enjoy the breeze off the ocean, eat some brats, watch the fire dance around our fire pit. Unfortunately, Brian was away for work, so I never did get to see him. After a few hours, Jake and Elizabeth called it a night. Jake works as an EMT and had a 24 hour shift coming up. So Natalie and I stayed with Rob, her beau, and the lovely couple Lauren and Simon (I think that was their names). After discussing this, that and the other for several hour we finally called it a night around 12:00 or so which was just about the time my hangover released me from its mind slowing grip. So back up to Santee where I borrowed Brian's bed and was immediately dead to the world.
The next day I had planned on taking the Greyhound to Phoenix and then a shuttle up to Prescott where I would meet up with another SLS graduate, Cher Vang. But after looking at all the options available to me, it was clear that public transit was not the cheapest way to go. I could rent a car for 24 hours, put gas in it, and still be slightly cheaper than Greyhound and the shuttles together. Mostly because I wasn't stopping until I reached Albuquerque. This, combined with CraigsList classifieds of people looking for a lift, made the total price less than $100. Not too shabby. So I spent most of the day with Natalie, jut relaxing. We went out to the beach, then a long bike ride with Rob, got some delicious carne asada and then beer at a local watering hole. It was a good day.
The next morning was a slow start for me. I was in no hurry as my car rental was scheduled for 12:00. Jake had come back from his shift and wasn't too exhausted, so he and I headed out to breakfast. We discussed his job and his eventual goal of being a fire fighter. Apparently, this is the way you work your way up to becoming a good candidate for fire fighting school. First be an EMT, then work your way up to being a paramedic. After a few years as a paramedic, then you are ready to begin learning about fires. According to Jake, most of a fire fighter's job is medical, not pyrotechnic. Good to know. I don't want to work as a paramedic, but I've always thought of that as a very good skill to know.
Well, this is kind of abrupt, but I have to sign off here. More to come though :)
Monday, July 1, 2013
The Map
For those of you interested, here was my entire trip according to Google Maps. I left out the specific address, but you will get the idea.
The whole trip
The whole trip
Map of travels
After a breakfast of leftovers, (I was told to make myself at home and at home I eat leftovers often) Mrs. McDermut joined me for a bit, in between her miriad phone calls. She is a very busy woman, but still made time to force some dried blueberries on me (well she didn't have to force too hard) and wish me on my way. After careening down the hill and scaring an morning motorist I was back on the road for a nice, short leisurely ride to Ventura, my last coastal town before I climbed up the hills in to the beating heart of LA.
And that is pretty much all there is to tell. I didn't have any problems, the ride was quick and easy, the only hard part was climbing the last little hill to my hosts' place. Now this is the interesting part. My host, a couch surfer named Joy, is the mother of two and just recently migrated her family onto to terre ferma. A week prior to my visit, she was living with her teenage son and daughter on a sailing boat in the harbor. She is an avid sailor, rides horses, and currently has seen pretty reasonable success in her online business. She is an RN and (here is the part that I really want to try now) was recently a crew member on a replica of a 16th century galleon! Apparently, San Diego has a tall ship festival every year. Joy wanted to take her kids to it as well as a few of their friends, so with her small gaggle of adolescents, they begin touring around these giant wooden vessels. Being the avid sailor and skipper that she is, she began asking lots of questions from the crew. So detailed and relentless were her questions about the fine points of rigging and sailing a ship of this size that eventually she was speaking with a captain of one of the three mast giants. By the time the conversation had concluded, the dialog had turned more into an interview and the captain offered her a position with the crew for the trip from San Diego to New Zealand! As she was accepting the offer, she suddenly realized that she was supposed to be chaperoning the kids, then she further realized (now brought out of her dream, almost come true) to the fact that she could not take her kids on this three month voyage.
So in a matter of days, she put her work on hold, arranged for the father of her kids to take them, and then headed of into the pacific on a relic of the Armada! What an awesome story, she was even paid enough to afford the ticket back to the US after arriving. She said that sometimes they will even take green horns like me to be a night watchman, basically sit up all night and make sure we don't hit anything. This has me extremely enticed. She even offered to borrow a boat (she sold hers when she became a terrestrial once again) and take me sailing for a day. If I had more time I certainly would have, however the offer still stands and so I just might take a crack at this sailing thing next summer and see if I have sea legs or not. If I do, then there is also a shorter voyage that usually takes on rookies from Baja California up to San Diego. I haven't investigated this for myself, but Joy seemed to be well versed on the sailing world.
So after lots and lots of conversation, we went to an Irish pub nearby, had dinner and beer, then called it a night. I had a long day of hill climbing ahead of me and I needed some sleep.
The next morning Joy was happy to whip me up an awesome breakfast, including some chocolate covered raspberries that she had made herself the day before. Then, I cleaned up my sleeping area, packed my stuff and with a hug from Joy I was out the door and on my way.
The next 11 hours were miserable. From sea level, it was a long slow gradual climb that took me up 1200+ feet to the pass. When I was going to Santa Cruz, I am pretty sure I climbed just as much, but is was a shorter distance and so I got off and pulled a lot more. This time, it wasn't quite steep enough to justify getting off and pulling so I kept plugging away at it until I was right at the foot of the pass. I pulled the trike the next three miles or so up the last 500 feet. I was too pooped to care that it was only 500 feet. It seemed like it was a lot more. Once at the top, I selected a nice stout branch for my ad-hock breaking system and began my very short, fast decent. This is the worst part. I spent nearly 10 hours climbing up the pass, and my decent was just over 30 minutes. There was a highlight though, all along this route were lots and lots of fruit stands and so I stopped in at one for lunch and feasted on fresh cherries, blueberries, and raspberries. I'm pretty sure I ate five pounds of fruit.
So after my quick decent, which turned out to be a good thing because all the fruit for lunch was catching up with me and I need to find a toilet, I found the residence of Mr. John Micheal McGuire Papp and his roommate (who was also his roommate in college coincedently) Mr. Grant "The Gentle Ginger Giant" Walthall. I was greeted with smiles, handshakes and most importantly, beer! These two young IT specialists were gifted with a brand new kegorator! So we settled into some delicious beer, I found the toilet and shower, then more beer. We caught up on all that had been happening in our respective lives and dined on delicious oven pizza. When that wasn't enough, we swilled more beer and ordered Domino's! How I miss college.
The rest of the night, was like so many other college Friday nights and I wound up on the floor.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
The trip to Santa Maria wasn't hard at all. I actually took my time and enjoyed the journey a lot. It was pretty flat, the wind was at my back (oh sweet wind, how you can make such a difference) and I ended up arriving two hours ahead of schedule. One of the reasons I was cruising a long so well is because I had fortunately lined up a place to stay for the night on couchsurfing.org. Ryan Mackereth wasn't around Santa Maria at the moment as he is currently cycling across the US with a friend, but he did give me the phone number of his dad who was kind enough to let me stay with them! And what an awesome host he was.
I arrived early, so I guess I caught Mr. Mackereth off guard but he welcomed me in all the same. After stowing my handcycle in the back yard we proceeded to chat a bit. It turns out that Mr. Mackereth is a retired Lutheran minister who spent four years in Nigeria working on translation and forming a writing system for the local language in one very small area. So we had a fantastic time discussing all the similarities and differences between his mission work and my Peace Corps experience in Uganda. Despite the fact that he was in Africa 25 years before me, our overall experiences were pretty much the same.
So we continued to chat after I had gotten myself cleaned up. He offered to wash my cloths, but I had just done laundry at Akane's house, so I was good. Then his wife, Lynn, came home from work and we set to a delicious pot roast! Oh, it had been so long since I got to enjoy meat and potatoes, with awesome gravy no less! I tried not to be a pig, but it was so good I had to have seconds... then thirds... then fourths! Mr. and Mrs. Mackereth just chuckled and encouraged me. I didn't finish off everything, but I was pretty close. Mr. Mackereth insisted that I have it for breakfast the next day though :) After dinner Mr. Mackereth and I got in his little Suzuki and he insisted on showing me the route I would take out of town the next day. He was going to show me the beach too, but my eyes were drooping and I was fading fast. So he took us home and I went to sleep instantly. The bed was soft and welcoming. I slept like the dead.
The next morning the Mackereths were up at 5:00 am. I didn't even notice. I slept until 7:00, then Mr. Mackereth made me breakfast. Left overs with cantaloupe and toast. A hearty breakfast for my upcoming 40 mile ride. After he snapped a few pictures of me on my handcycle, he insisted on giving me a flag. The kind of flag dune buggies and other such beach roving vehicles have to make them more visible. So with my bright orange flag flapping in the breeze behind me, I was off.
Then next 40 miles were rough. I don't know what happened, but after about 1:00 pm, the wind was against me and I started a series of uphill climbs. It was slow going and painful. Because of the wind, I couldn't get very much momentum on the downhills so I could only coast up the next hill a little bit. Then I would down shift and do a sprint with my arms to try and get as far as I could, but eventually I would slow to a snail's pace at which point I would stop, get off, and start pulling. This was repeated until I finally reached a big uphill climb. About two miles of gradual uphill until I reached the peak where the wind was so gusty that going down it didn't even require a stick! I slowly coasted down the behemoth of a hill and saw that I was getting close to my destination. According to Uncle Google, I needed to go around the bend and cruise along the coast for about four miles to reach Gaviota State Park. Now, as I came to the bottom of the hill I saw a big brown sign for Gaviota State Beach and figured the park entrance must be getting close. The last park I camped at was only a few miles from the state beach as well. Turns out though, that Uncle Google was lying! The state park and state beach are the same damn thing in this case! So I fought and struggled and cussed the wind as I made that four mile journey, only to turn around and come right back.
So I finally get to the beach and the wind is ferocious! Huge gusts, up to 40 miles an hour with a pretty steady 20 mile an hour wind speed. This is ridiculous! The only tent I saw standing was the one the park ranger slept in. Everyone else had given up and retired to their campers and RV's. I didn't have a tent, and there was no place to get out of the wind, so I was just going to be cowboy camping in a sleeping bag and hope that none of my stuff would get lifted off to OZ or wherever gusty wind takes things. The only good thing about Gaviota stat beach is that they had a little convenience store. So I walked into the shop and headed straight for the canned beans aisle only to stop dead in my tracks and begin giggling like a little retarded child, for I had spied the refrigerator! And it was full of BEER!! After such a miserable ride and a full eight miles out of my way, nothing could have made me happier than cold beer. So I got a can of beans and a six pack and headed back to my little campsite. I untied most of my stuff and put the heavy things on top the light things and then went to the shower with a beer. The water was even warm! Awesome, beer and showers are made for each other. Then back to my campsite when I polished off my beans and proceeded to drink two more beers. I decided that I didn't want to be hungover in the morning, so I would save the other three for breakfast :) Then I unrolled my sleeping bag as the sun was going down, crawled in and settled down for the worst night's sleep of my entire trip. I had on my T-shirt, then long sleeve shirt, then a fleece jacket, and finally my rain jacket. I was wearing shorts with my pants as well as socks, but the wind kept biting through. The air wasn't that cold, maybe 65 F, but it was just a relentless howling wind that kept me from ever really falling into a sound sleep. Terrible! I HATE YOU, WIND!!
Then next morning I was up at dawn, packed my stuff and headed out. I wasn't to get away from this gusty excuse for a park as soon as I could. And, I had just gotten another possible place to stay in Santa Barbara. So I confirmed with the host, again a very nice parent of someone who is currently on a cycling trip. This time Chris McDermut gave me the number of his mom as he is currently cycling in southeast Asia with ambitions to cycle around the world! His mom was very nice over the phone and told me I would be welcome in there home. So I rode to Santa Barbara as quickly as I could. Once I got about seven miles from Gaviota State Beach, the wind began to die down and the ride became rather pleasant. Lots of clear blue water and I could see the channel islands off the coast. But they were obscured by the marine layer that always hangs just off the coast and settles in every night. The area hardly gets any rain, so this fog/mist is what helps to keep the natural flora alive. People, of course, spend a lot of energy watering all the other green stuffs.
The I made it to Montecito, a part of Santa Barbara, without any problems and as I climbed up the hill to the McDermut residence I heard "David? Are you David?" That wasn't what I was expecting, but sure enough, Mrs. McDermut was on her way to a meeting and spotted me along the road. She told me to go ahead to the house and don't be alarmed when the dog barks its head off. Her daughter, Maggy would be there too and could let me in. So I did just that. The dog started barking just as she had said, but my knock at the door did not bring anyone, so I cracked open my last beer and laid down in the shade to relax. After a while the door opened and sure enough, Maggy was there to let me in. She had been in the shower apparently, and was getting ready to go and house sit for a some friends. She showed me to Chris' room where I sprawled out my stuff and then showered. By the time I was out of the shower, Mrs. McDermut had returned and we began chatting about everything. What I was doing, what her son was doing, Maggy's job as a equestrian instructor and much, much more. However, our conversation wasn't to last as Maggy had to get going and Mrs. McDermut insisted that she and I go out to eat as she just came back from a meeting and didn't feel like cooking. So we enjoyed some more conversation over an amazing dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant. This took us until sunset and then back to the house. I did a little work on the computer before calling it a night.
Wheeew! More to come.
I arrived early, so I guess I caught Mr. Mackereth off guard but he welcomed me in all the same. After stowing my handcycle in the back yard we proceeded to chat a bit. It turns out that Mr. Mackereth is a retired Lutheran minister who spent four years in Nigeria working on translation and forming a writing system for the local language in one very small area. So we had a fantastic time discussing all the similarities and differences between his mission work and my Peace Corps experience in Uganda. Despite the fact that he was in Africa 25 years before me, our overall experiences were pretty much the same.
So we continued to chat after I had gotten myself cleaned up. He offered to wash my cloths, but I had just done laundry at Akane's house, so I was good. Then his wife, Lynn, came home from work and we set to a delicious pot roast! Oh, it had been so long since I got to enjoy meat and potatoes, with awesome gravy no less! I tried not to be a pig, but it was so good I had to have seconds... then thirds... then fourths! Mr. and Mrs. Mackereth just chuckled and encouraged me. I didn't finish off everything, but I was pretty close. Mr. Mackereth insisted that I have it for breakfast the next day though :) After dinner Mr. Mackereth and I got in his little Suzuki and he insisted on showing me the route I would take out of town the next day. He was going to show me the beach too, but my eyes were drooping and I was fading fast. So he took us home and I went to sleep instantly. The bed was soft and welcoming. I slept like the dead.
The next morning the Mackereths were up at 5:00 am. I didn't even notice. I slept until 7:00, then Mr. Mackereth made me breakfast. Left overs with cantaloupe and toast. A hearty breakfast for my upcoming 40 mile ride. After he snapped a few pictures of me on my handcycle, he insisted on giving me a flag. The kind of flag dune buggies and other such beach roving vehicles have to make them more visible. So with my bright orange flag flapping in the breeze behind me, I was off.
Then next 40 miles were rough. I don't know what happened, but after about 1:00 pm, the wind was against me and I started a series of uphill climbs. It was slow going and painful. Because of the wind, I couldn't get very much momentum on the downhills so I could only coast up the next hill a little bit. Then I would down shift and do a sprint with my arms to try and get as far as I could, but eventually I would slow to a snail's pace at which point I would stop, get off, and start pulling. This was repeated until I finally reached a big uphill climb. About two miles of gradual uphill until I reached the peak where the wind was so gusty that going down it didn't even require a stick! I slowly coasted down the behemoth of a hill and saw that I was getting close to my destination. According to Uncle Google, I needed to go around the bend and cruise along the coast for about four miles to reach Gaviota State Park. Now, as I came to the bottom of the hill I saw a big brown sign for Gaviota State Beach and figured the park entrance must be getting close. The last park I camped at was only a few miles from the state beach as well. Turns out though, that Uncle Google was lying! The state park and state beach are the same damn thing in this case! So I fought and struggled and cussed the wind as I made that four mile journey, only to turn around and come right back.
So I finally get to the beach and the wind is ferocious! Huge gusts, up to 40 miles an hour with a pretty steady 20 mile an hour wind speed. This is ridiculous! The only tent I saw standing was the one the park ranger slept in. Everyone else had given up and retired to their campers and RV's. I didn't have a tent, and there was no place to get out of the wind, so I was just going to be cowboy camping in a sleeping bag and hope that none of my stuff would get lifted off to OZ or wherever gusty wind takes things. The only good thing about Gaviota stat beach is that they had a little convenience store. So I walked into the shop and headed straight for the canned beans aisle only to stop dead in my tracks and begin giggling like a little retarded child, for I had spied the refrigerator! And it was full of BEER!! After such a miserable ride and a full eight miles out of my way, nothing could have made me happier than cold beer. So I got a can of beans and a six pack and headed back to my little campsite. I untied most of my stuff and put the heavy things on top the light things and then went to the shower with a beer. The water was even warm! Awesome, beer and showers are made for each other. Then back to my campsite when I polished off my beans and proceeded to drink two more beers. I decided that I didn't want to be hungover in the morning, so I would save the other three for breakfast :) Then I unrolled my sleeping bag as the sun was going down, crawled in and settled down for the worst night's sleep of my entire trip. I had on my T-shirt, then long sleeve shirt, then a fleece jacket, and finally my rain jacket. I was wearing shorts with my pants as well as socks, but the wind kept biting through. The air wasn't that cold, maybe 65 F, but it was just a relentless howling wind that kept me from ever really falling into a sound sleep. Terrible! I HATE YOU, WIND!!
Then next morning I was up at dawn, packed my stuff and headed out. I wasn't to get away from this gusty excuse for a park as soon as I could. And, I had just gotten another possible place to stay in Santa Barbara. So I confirmed with the host, again a very nice parent of someone who is currently on a cycling trip. This time Chris McDermut gave me the number of his mom as he is currently cycling in southeast Asia with ambitions to cycle around the world! His mom was very nice over the phone and told me I would be welcome in there home. So I rode to Santa Barbara as quickly as I could. Once I got about seven miles from Gaviota State Beach, the wind began to die down and the ride became rather pleasant. Lots of clear blue water and I could see the channel islands off the coast. But they were obscured by the marine layer that always hangs just off the coast and settles in every night. The area hardly gets any rain, so this fog/mist is what helps to keep the natural flora alive. People, of course, spend a lot of energy watering all the other green stuffs.
The I made it to Montecito, a part of Santa Barbara, without any problems and as I climbed up the hill to the McDermut residence I heard "David? Are you David?" That wasn't what I was expecting, but sure enough, Mrs. McDermut was on her way to a meeting and spotted me along the road. She told me to go ahead to the house and don't be alarmed when the dog barks its head off. Her daughter, Maggy would be there too and could let me in. So I did just that. The dog started barking just as she had said, but my knock at the door did not bring anyone, so I cracked open my last beer and laid down in the shade to relax. After a while the door opened and sure enough, Maggy was there to let me in. She had been in the shower apparently, and was getting ready to go and house sit for a some friends. She showed me to Chris' room where I sprawled out my stuff and then showered. By the time I was out of the shower, Mrs. McDermut had returned and we began chatting about everything. What I was doing, what her son was doing, Maggy's job as a equestrian instructor and much, much more. However, our conversation wasn't to last as Maggy had to get going and Mrs. McDermut insisted that she and I go out to eat as she just came back from a meeting and didn't feel like cooking. So we enjoyed some more conversation over an amazing dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant. This took us until sunset and then back to the house. I did a little work on the computer before calling it a night.
Wheeew! More to come.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Ok, so after Abby rescued me from dragging my cart up her giant mountain, she let me shower, rehydrate and then we headed over to her neighbor's house for dinner. Her neighbor is a nice guy named Kareem, from France. He cooked a fantastic dinner, then we had cheese! Oh how I have missed CHEESE!! Good cheese too! It was so good, I ate so much. Beer was flowing throughout dinner, then we had an after dinner cocktail and headed for the HOT TUB!!! What an awesome way to recover from a horrific day of cranking on that trike.
We stayed out in the hot tub joking and laughing until about 1 am, then my eyes started to fade and Abby was kind enough to excuse us so I could pass out. And pass out I did. I slept in a fantastically soft bed. A tornado could not have woke me up.
In the morning my alarm clock forced me to move muscles that ached so badly I could have cried. But, I was rewarded with my heroic awakening efforts with a fantastic huevos rancheros breakfast. Soooo good. I miss American food more than I thought. After a hearty breakfast, Abby took me to my next starting point and from there it was nothing but grueling work. For the next 10 hours I battled wind and sun at about 5 miles an hour. All this time I am getting nervous because I don't have a place to stay. I had sent out some couchsurfing requests to people in Marina, but no responses.
So as I made my way down the beaches and fields, I contemplated my options. Sleeping out along the road didn't seem so bad, but it would be nice to have a shower. Then I remember Hal, my old roommate from Los Alamos, suggested I contact a good man by the name of Andrew Stoker as he is from this area. So I did just that, and not a moment too soon. After some initial confusion he was able to put me in contact with his folks who were more than happy to help me out. The problem is they live 10 miles south of Marina. I did not want to go that far. My arms were killing me, but I did want a place to stay, so I bowed into the wind and continued to grunt and pant all the way to Monterey. My handy dandy smart phone, in combination with a mobile hotspot that was lent to me by a friend, made it possible to do all this contacting of people.
It took me nearly 3.5 hours to reach Monterey, but it was well worth it. Mr. Stoker showed me to the guest house, that's right a whole freaking house for me to use for the night. Along with this guest house came to wonderful things, a cold beer and a hot tub! Oh man, two days in a row! With hospitality like this, I could definitely get used to the painful days of riding. So I showered, had a beer and soaked until dark. It was glorious! Again, a soft bed to rest my weary body and I was out like a light.
The next day found me bright and early at 7:30 am. I gathered my things and headed out by 8:00. My hosts had just come back from long trip of there own so I didn't wake them to say goodbye, but man did I appreciate the generous help on such short notice.
From this point on it was hills and hills along the coast. Absolutely beautiful views, but I spent so much effort and time being exhausted that I could only glance over the edge as I trudged along the way. I did spend a few breaks sitting at the edge and looking out into the incredibly blue ocean below equally blue skies. And, because these big hills were so steep and tall, I also spent a lot of time pulling my contraption up the hills. I had a general rule that if riding it was slower than getting off and pulling it, then I would pull it as I didn't want to be cycling at night. So for the next 9 hours or so I worked and trudged and worked and on the down hills I need another stick to slow me down and finally I made it to the town of Big Sur. Not much to say about this town, a few over priced restaurants and shops and a few over priced parks for camping and I decided I would move on. Again I had no couchsurfing responses so I settled on going about 10 miles south and camping among a clump of trees. I had trailmix that Chadwick had given me for dinner and watched the sunset over the ocean from my perch among the trees on a cliff. The guard rail on the road kept me reasonably hidden and the barking of seal with the crash of waves lulled me to sleep. What a day. No hot tub, but this little 20' by 20' patch of pine needles was all I needed for a very restful night's sleep. That and I had the great satisfaction that I didn't have to pay $35 for it either, as that was apparently the going price for the other campgrounds I passed along the way. Wheeeew.
The next morning I was up and moving by 7:45. I did the exact same as the day before. I stopped at the "villages" of Lucia, Gorda, and Ragged Point along the way, but only to find more overpriced restaurants, shops, hotels, resorts, and parks. So on I trudged. They wouldn't even let me use wifi, which I needed because my mobile hotspot could not get a signal. So, like a rejected puppy, I hung my head and moved on. Then, at the last shop, where I stopped to get canned beans (4 time the price the should be, but the cheapest sustenance I could find) I saw a fellow cyclist who had passed me a while back as I pulled my contraption up yet another ungodly steep incline. He informed me that all the state parks have $5 camping for cyclists and hikers. Whoooo hoooo!!! I am saved! Not only that, but the park he was heading to was only another 15 miles or sow down the road. Despite my exhaustion and aching grip, I found a new burst of energy (the honey I bought and chugged probably helped). I headed south and found Johnny, the cyclist who clued me in, along with a gaggle of other human powered enthusiasts at the park. It was 8:25 when I pulled in, so 12 hours and 40 minutes from my departure time and approximately 55 miles from my departure location, I was able to rest. The park even had showers!! So I cleaned up, laid out the sleeping bag and then stood around the campfire with everyone else answering questions about my stupidity and bravery for taking on Big Sur on a hand trike, while I wolfed down three cans of beans and a can of beef stew. Wheeew, what a day.
Then next morning I was heading to San Luis Obispo which was a mere 35 miles away, so after the ridiculous day I had previously, I took the morning slow. I allowed the other cyclists to give my trike a try. They then applauded my lunacy as I finally climbed on for my departure. I stopped in the town of Cambria and treated myself to breakfast while I checked my emails and such. My good friend Haluna had told me she had a sister in San Luis Obispo who would probably let me stay on her couch and sure enough she had arranged just that. So for the next 25 miles I took it slow and easy. Taking time to check out the elephant seals, and enjoy the nice small rolling hills. So nice. Not only that, but the wind was with me!! Oh thank you wind. The sky was overcast and the wind from the ocean was cold so I kept my long sleeve shirt on and didn't put on any sunscreen. That was a mistake. In the afternoon the sun came out and it got hotter so I took off my long sleeves and put on sunscreen, but as I got to SLO I realized it was a serious mistake. I should have put on sunscreen at the very beginning. My face was cooked. I had a fantastic tan line where my bandanna covered my forehead. Dang me and my dumb self.
That brings me to the awesome and welcoming hospitality of Akane Gunterman, the boisterous biologist in SLO. She left a key for me and told me to help myself to the refrigerator. So I did just that. I showered and ate and then slept. It was awesome! Akane got home about 8:00 and then we went for a bite, watched "Man of Steel" and then it was to sleep for me. Again, and amazing soft bed for my weary bones and now I feel so much better. Today I am taking a rest day because it marks the middle of my journey, both time and miles wise. Tomorrow I head for Santa Maria and will be away from the cool breeze of the Ocean for a bit. I need rest and make ready for the next 230 miles of my journey.
More to come as the party has just begun!
We stayed out in the hot tub joking and laughing until about 1 am, then my eyes started to fade and Abby was kind enough to excuse us so I could pass out. And pass out I did. I slept in a fantastically soft bed. A tornado could not have woke me up.
In the morning my alarm clock forced me to move muscles that ached so badly I could have cried. But, I was rewarded with my heroic awakening efforts with a fantastic huevos rancheros breakfast. Soooo good. I miss American food more than I thought. After a hearty breakfast, Abby took me to my next starting point and from there it was nothing but grueling work. For the next 10 hours I battled wind and sun at about 5 miles an hour. All this time I am getting nervous because I don't have a place to stay. I had sent out some couchsurfing requests to people in Marina, but no responses.
So as I made my way down the beaches and fields, I contemplated my options. Sleeping out along the road didn't seem so bad, but it would be nice to have a shower. Then I remember Hal, my old roommate from Los Alamos, suggested I contact a good man by the name of Andrew Stoker as he is from this area. So I did just that, and not a moment too soon. After some initial confusion he was able to put me in contact with his folks who were more than happy to help me out. The problem is they live 10 miles south of Marina. I did not want to go that far. My arms were killing me, but I did want a place to stay, so I bowed into the wind and continued to grunt and pant all the way to Monterey. My handy dandy smart phone, in combination with a mobile hotspot that was lent to me by a friend, made it possible to do all this contacting of people.
It took me nearly 3.5 hours to reach Monterey, but it was well worth it. Mr. Stoker showed me to the guest house, that's right a whole freaking house for me to use for the night. Along with this guest house came to wonderful things, a cold beer and a hot tub! Oh man, two days in a row! With hospitality like this, I could definitely get used to the painful days of riding. So I showered, had a beer and soaked until dark. It was glorious! Again, a soft bed to rest my weary body and I was out like a light.
The next day found me bright and early at 7:30 am. I gathered my things and headed out by 8:00. My hosts had just come back from long trip of there own so I didn't wake them to say goodbye, but man did I appreciate the generous help on such short notice.
From this point on it was hills and hills along the coast. Absolutely beautiful views, but I spent so much effort and time being exhausted that I could only glance over the edge as I trudged along the way. I did spend a few breaks sitting at the edge and looking out into the incredibly blue ocean below equally blue skies. And, because these big hills were so steep and tall, I also spent a lot of time pulling my contraption up the hills. I had a general rule that if riding it was slower than getting off and pulling it, then I would pull it as I didn't want to be cycling at night. So for the next 9 hours or so I worked and trudged and worked and on the down hills I need another stick to slow me down and finally I made it to the town of Big Sur. Not much to say about this town, a few over priced restaurants and shops and a few over priced parks for camping and I decided I would move on. Again I had no couchsurfing responses so I settled on going about 10 miles south and camping among a clump of trees. I had trailmix that Chadwick had given me for dinner and watched the sunset over the ocean from my perch among the trees on a cliff. The guard rail on the road kept me reasonably hidden and the barking of seal with the crash of waves lulled me to sleep. What a day. No hot tub, but this little 20' by 20' patch of pine needles was all I needed for a very restful night's sleep. That and I had the great satisfaction that I didn't have to pay $35 for it either, as that was apparently the going price for the other campgrounds I passed along the way. Wheeeew.
The next morning I was up and moving by 7:45. I did the exact same as the day before. I stopped at the "villages" of Lucia, Gorda, and Ragged Point along the way, but only to find more overpriced restaurants, shops, hotels, resorts, and parks. So on I trudged. They wouldn't even let me use wifi, which I needed because my mobile hotspot could not get a signal. So, like a rejected puppy, I hung my head and moved on. Then, at the last shop, where I stopped to get canned beans (4 time the price the should be, but the cheapest sustenance I could find) I saw a fellow cyclist who had passed me a while back as I pulled my contraption up yet another ungodly steep incline. He informed me that all the state parks have $5 camping for cyclists and hikers. Whoooo hoooo!!! I am saved! Not only that, but the park he was heading to was only another 15 miles or sow down the road. Despite my exhaustion and aching grip, I found a new burst of energy (the honey I bought and chugged probably helped). I headed south and found Johnny, the cyclist who clued me in, along with a gaggle of other human powered enthusiasts at the park. It was 8:25 when I pulled in, so 12 hours and 40 minutes from my departure time and approximately 55 miles from my departure location, I was able to rest. The park even had showers!! So I cleaned up, laid out the sleeping bag and then stood around the campfire with everyone else answering questions about my stupidity and bravery for taking on Big Sur on a hand trike, while I wolfed down three cans of beans and a can of beef stew. Wheeew, what a day.
Then next morning I was heading to San Luis Obispo which was a mere 35 miles away, so after the ridiculous day I had previously, I took the morning slow. I allowed the other cyclists to give my trike a try. They then applauded my lunacy as I finally climbed on for my departure. I stopped in the town of Cambria and treated myself to breakfast while I checked my emails and such. My good friend Haluna had told me she had a sister in San Luis Obispo who would probably let me stay on her couch and sure enough she had arranged just that. So for the next 25 miles I took it slow and easy. Taking time to check out the elephant seals, and enjoy the nice small rolling hills. So nice. Not only that, but the wind was with me!! Oh thank you wind. The sky was overcast and the wind from the ocean was cold so I kept my long sleeve shirt on and didn't put on any sunscreen. That was a mistake. In the afternoon the sun came out and it got hotter so I took off my long sleeves and put on sunscreen, but as I got to SLO I realized it was a serious mistake. I should have put on sunscreen at the very beginning. My face was cooked. I had a fantastic tan line where my bandanna covered my forehead. Dang me and my dumb self.
That brings me to the awesome and welcoming hospitality of Akane Gunterman, the boisterous biologist in SLO. She left a key for me and told me to help myself to the refrigerator. So I did just that. I showered and ate and then slept. It was awesome! Akane got home about 8:00 and then we went for a bite, watched "Man of Steel" and then it was to sleep for me. Again, and amazing soft bed for my weary bones and now I feel so much better. Today I am taking a rest day because it marks the middle of my journey, both time and miles wise. Tomorrow I head for Santa Maria and will be away from the cool breeze of the Ocean for a bit. I need rest and make ready for the next 230 miles of my journey.
More to come as the party has just begun!
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