Can’t get the song ‘Ventura Highway’ out of my head . . . as usual in life there is always more to the story. Ends up the group America’s member Dewey Bunnell had the inspiration for the song when he was on a road trip, as a child, with his family and as they traveled through Vandenberg Air Force Base they had a flat tire on their car . . .  guess who else had a flat on the highway in Vandenberg Air force base????

. . . and there really is no Ventura Hwy, only in one’s mind. The name may have been in reference to Hwy 101, which runs through Ventura. We spent most of our trip on Hwy 101 and Hwy 1.

. . . and it ends up one of the more colorful governors from my home state of MN liked the song too. As Dewey tells it, “The song won many fans, including the pro wrestler-turned-politician, Jesse Ventura. Bunnell recalled, “We went and played at Governor Jesse Ventura’s inaugural out in Minneapolis. He asked us to — his wife is a horse lady, and she’d always loved ‘A Horse with No Name‘, and he had adopted this name Ventura. So when he put together his cast of characters for his big inaugural celebration, he wanted us to come and play two songs, which we did”

But I digress. It was a great trip . . . they always are!!!!

I tend to consider four components of a trip: the scenery and culture; the accommodations; the environment and the food. Two A+’s, a  B and a C-.

A+ The scenery and culture was just as you would expect in WA, OR and CA giving us plenty to see from the deep forests of WA state,  to the redwoods, to the urban area of LA, to the desert of southern California. Sleet, freezing temps, rain, mild headwinds and BEAUTIFUL sun on your face . . . we had it all!! The people of CA  were the kindest, never honking at us, giving us the finger, trying to squeeze you out of the lane or coal rolling us. They have embraced the bicycle culture!!!

A+ the food on this trip was GREAT . . . no one pot meals like when you are traveling self supported. Everybody pitched in, took their cooking seriously and turned out some wonderful meals. What a difference van-support and three BIG coolers can make!!!!

B  The weather was an issue. Touring so late in the year the temps were routinely dipping into the 30’s at night with our lowest being 25 degrees, waking to frozen water and ice on the tents. LOTS of rain in the first several weeks, but it is the Pacific NW, you know. A bigger issue to me was the short amount of daylight. Usually we were eating breakfast in the dark. Most would get into camp between 2 and 4pm, with dinner at 6:00pm. When we had our map meeting at 7:00pm we were losing daylight and it usually ended in the dark. No ‘sunlight time’ to dry anything out. I would not recommend traveling like this so late in the year . . . the yang to that though is, there were probably fewer tourists on the roads!!!

C- Many of the accommodations were, as our past British riding partner David would say, ‘Unacceptable’. The parks we stayed in rarely had all the facilities working, something was ALWAYS broke. It became an issue of how many ‘Out of Order, Sorry for the Inconvenience’ signs one would see. It was the tail end of the camping season, most the of parks had laid off their seasonal staff, and I think a lot of repairs were going to wait until winter. No power, sometimes no water you could drink and no hot water for showers happened far too often. If you like to camp, most of the campgrounds were in picturesque setting, it’s just the ‘creature comforts’ were lacking’. At sixty-six I’m getting too old to wander around in the dark looking for the bathroom (no lights in most toilet shower buildings, inside or outside’ . . . bring your headlamp!!!).

Of course the real plus of these trips is traveling with the gang that quickly becomes ‘family’. We were all in it together and shared the good times, and the bad. This group was about half women so it was a lot more FUN than just a bunch of old guys (the norm on these types of trips I have ridden).

I returned home to MSN on a Thursday, to 4 inches of snow and airline delays, but made it home for emJay’s last day of work on Friday. I missed her official going away party but made it, on Friday, to the ‘taco bar luncheon’ held at her office with her immediate ‘TNC family’ It was truly a happy time with lots of laughs and a few tears.  GREAT send off. She turned in her key and credit card and walked out the door,  unemployed after 38 years with The Nature Conservancy!!! (Although she does have one more meeting on Monday!!!).

Now . . . it’s time for continuous FUN together as we travel together down our own Ventura Hwy, ‘in the sunshine, where the days are longer, the nights are stronger than moonshine ‘ beginning with a bike trip for a month in Thailand.

Stay tuned, if you are interested . . .

 

 

Today would be our last day of  riding . . . sort of like the Tour de France, where the last day is a celebratory ride into Paris, today we would ride from San Diego to the border and back to San Diego . . .

We’d head south along the east side of San Diego Bay to the border and take the west side of the bay back to the hostel . . . lots to see!!!

. . . as we rolled along the bay through downtown San Diego, I saw what in my mind might be the epitome of a ‘penthouse’. Wonder if it has a lawn?????

. . . lots of working vessels in the San Diego harbor . . .

. . . soon we were at the Maritime Floating museum . . . home of the now decommissioned USS Midway aircraft carrier, circa WWII.

. . . adjacent the Midway,  is a statue celebrating the famous photograph taken in Times Square after the war . . .

. . . both of the individuals depicted in the photo, through time, had been identified and the sailor just died a few years ago . . .

. . . of course we had to take of our many group photos!!!!!

. . . other ships still floating that you could tour included ancient sailing vessels . . .

. . . from several nations . . .

. . . a US submarine . . .

. . . and a ‘Ruskey’ sub that either didn’t weather its capture too well or is  victim of time and weather, or both!!!!

. . . soon we ere riding along the Naval Base. Helicopters from the Navy and Coast Guard, as well as Navy jets, were taking off and landing all day . . . the helicopters were especially busy conducting frogman exercises in the harbor. Hugh told us the story of when he kayaked at night with a group of his buddies who called themselves the ‘Night Herons. One time, returning to shore in the dark after an ocean paddle, they were suddenly surrounded by US Navy Seals, in the water,  conducting a practice beach landing, dragging their waterproof duffel bags to shore . . . FUN!!!!!

A Navy hospital ship in dock for some work . . .

. . . I guess there are other ways to heal, or hide what ails you, too!!!

. . . a LARGE salt water evaporation operation along the coast. Next time you buy sea salt flakes, check the label to see if they come from San Diego!!!

. . . along the way there was this nice mural of a time past when it was a lot easier to cross the border between the US and Mexico . . .

. . . we couldn’t figure out what this hand sanitizer message was all about until we notice the ‘nature’ of the area we were now riding through and figured some of the locals who use the bathrooms may try to consume it for the alcohol in the product?????

. . .  or if you preferred something else, you could have it delivered!!!!

. . . we rode through the countryside on the way to Imperial Beach and passed this metal works shop . . .

. . . where there was a wide variety of their work on display . . . all colors and sizes available!!!

. . . lots of great murals along the way, including this one that actually had pieces of a mirror embedded in the blade of the knife.

. . . soon we could see the hills of Tijuana in the distance and needed to get to ‘Friendship Park’, the end of our ride . . .

. . . mmmmmmmmm the directions needed a little tweaking. Best kept secret along the border.

We finally got on the correct road. The monument is actually one of California’s State Parks systems but it quickly became obvious it was probably last on the list for financial support and improvements.

. . . the roads definitely need some work. There was a $7.00 charge to drive a vehicle into the park, so the few that were visiting decided to walk to the end . . . Tijuana homes across the border.

. . .  it was not a pretty sight. I felt like I was in prison!!!!

. . .  and could be if you broke rule number one of the Friendship Park entrance . . .

. . . local Border Patrol gendarmes on the 2019 version of ‘horseback’ . . .

I was the first to arrive at the gate that is only open two days a week (not today) to cross over and ‘make Friends’ with locals from Mexico . . . and there was no Border Patrol vehicle there when I arrived.

. . . within 15 minutes most of the rest had arrived, as well as the Border Patrol SUV that sat at the gate for our entire visit!!!

. . . the end of our ride and the end of the fence . . . seems like a strong swimmer could just swim around the end of the fence, but I’m sure Homeland Security has that covered with some type of sensors . . . maybe trained sharks!!!

. . . Rule #1, Don’t pass anything through the fence to someone on the other side . . . and NO Photos to be taken, although we snapped away . . .

. . . ‘official’ end of a several thousand mile trip that began on September 20th . . .

. . . lots of development on the Mexican side of the fence, including this bull fighting arena. NO DEVELOPMENT on the US side. Just sand and scrub grass. I’m sure that’s by design.

. . . a couple of shots . . .

. .  to mark the occasion . . . and we were on our way back to civilization . . .

. . . including the Coronado Hotel.  An all wooden ‘Grand Dame’ of a hotel that reminded me of The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MI.

. . .  lots of great flowers growing . . .

. . . a HUGE lobby area, of course . . .

. . . many ballrooms and meeting areas . . .

. . . and the rows and rows of shops had skipped Halloween and Thanksgiving and were now celebrating Christmas!!!!!!!

. . . but they had a GREAT beach . . . rooms started at $300/night . . .

. . . as we headed to the end of the Coronado peninsula, and to our pedestrian/bike ferry, we road along the broad boulevards of the area many retired sea captains and naval officers retire to. VERY genteel and expensive . . . .

. . . we were a half hour early for the ferry . . . so why not have some ice cream!!!!!

Soon we boarded the ferry for the 15 minute ride back to the downtown area . . .

. . . where Tom, Liz and I broke off from the group and rode to Moment’s Bike Shop where we would drop our bikes for shipping home.  As with most of these trips, since ACA does not include group lodging for the last night of the tour, the groups usually scatter. Gina flew home tonight, Pam’s husband Barry had arrived by car to drive her home, Jenny was leaving at 4:30am, I was flying out the following morning and Denise was heading east on the AMTRAK in two days.

There is more to that story considering I was flying into Chicago, where emJay would pick me up, and they were having the same snow storm that was dumping 5-8 inches of the white stuff on MSN. Eight minutes before were to depart the plane got pushed back two hours because of gate and snow issues in Chicago . . . more to come!!

ps . . .  a week later, Connie arrived home via UPS

. . . mmm, that shifter should not be sticking out of the box!!!

What a GREAT night we had last night at Kent and Barbara’s very nice home. Great meal, great beverages and great conversation . . .

. . . it would have been  Tom’s and my turn to cook tonight so of course we were happy to take credit for the GREAT meal!!!!

. . .plenty of veggie and carne, whatever your choice!!!  . . . and two cakes, ice cream and pies for dessert!!!! No body is probably going home loosing any weight from this trip.

. . . a photo of our gang with Kent and Barbara. Thanks again for a great night. Kent will be riding with us today down to San Diego and then taking the train back to Carlsbad.

On the road, we were back along the coast as the sun came up . . .

. . .  morning commuting traffic was HEAVY . . .

. . . the stoplight waits s are LONGGGGGGGG in CA and it gives you time to chat with those along side you. Here was Laura, with Benjy and Peanut in the lane next to me. Everybody was happy!!!

Great graphics for a coffee shop we passed . . .

. . . along the way there was a statue of a surfer decorated, for Halloween,  as a hockey player. People dress him up for different occasions and holidays . . . FUN!!!

The SurfLiner runs between San Diego and LA and we were right along the tracks today. Lots of trains and it has heavy local use . . . great idea!!!

One of the only ‘low riders’ I have seen on the trip. I guess we didn’t get to the part of LA where they are common . . . this one was a surfing rig!!!

. . .  first they go one way . . . then they go the other way!!!

Along the way we stopped at the  Swami monument and beach . . .

. . .  where  the Swami’s ‘rules of life’ were many!!!!

. . . here was a great hedge someone was manicuring to create an overhang over the sidewalk. VERY INVENTIVE!!!

. .  .the peloton stayed together for most of the day with Kent and Joe serving as our guides . . .

. . . i

. . . in Encinitas we stopped by the ‘boat houses’. Two boats serving as dwellings in the middle of a  ‘normal’  city street block!!!

tight quarters but no problems with wake or tides . . .

. . . upper and lower berths . . .

. . .  and room for puppies!!!

We stopped at the local ‘biker bar’ for coffee and goodies . . .

. . . as we parked our bikes I noticed some great stamps the city used when laying the sidewalk. Wonder if people make rubbings of these???

. . . as usual, when we roll in, we sort of take over the place . . .

. . . most places in town are VERY puppy friendly, and they are well behaved!!!!

. . . we have stayed ahead of the fires as they started behind us. We rode right past Will Rodger’s Park and the Getty where fires are now blazing!!!

. . . hard to decide what to have for our stop . . .

. . . I settled on the almond pastry stuffed with marzipan.

oh yeah . . .

. . . and they roast their own coffee in the basement.

. . . each city we rolled through had a boardwalk along the ocean and it was nice to get off the busy roads . . .

. . . look out for the high speed SuperLiners at intersections!!!!

Cedros Avenue was definitely the place if you needed ANYTHING to do with home design.

. . . and it had some great mobiles!!!

. . . the Belly Up is a great local venue for music, and known worldwide!!!

. . . and still bringing in headliners!!!

. . . Wisconsin  products front and center!!!

. . .  words to live by . . .

. . . a BIG climb up to the top of Torrey Pines State Park gave us a great view of where we had been . . . .

. . . and the ‘yurt girls’ lined up for a celebratory photo . . .

. . . interesting sign at the golf course at the top of the mountain . . . lots of Porches and Mercedes in  the lot!!!

. . . it was a white napkin kind of place, outside of our lunch budget . . . had to eat the PB&J sandwiches in the parking lot . . . nobody got hit by an ‘errant’ golf ball.

. . . nice course on the top of the world . . . .

. . . there were a few more great home locations along the way . . . the sunsets must be fabulous EVERY night!!!

We arrived at the hostel in San Diego, our home for the night, and tomorrows ride to the Mexican border will be the trip to an end.

. . .  nice ‘living room’ with a big screen TV for the gang interested in watching the world series (not me).

. . . and like most hostels in this climate had a great outside living/recreation area . . .

. . . this hostel is a lot smaller than the one in San Francisco and much more ‘homey’ . . .

. . . with only five boys needing beds, we got two rooms and everyone got a lower bunk (much easier for those mid night bathroom stops) . . .

What a GREAT celebratory last dinner we had at the Stone Brewery. The group on this tour have been healthy eaters . . .

. . . but due to the volume of daily calories consumed, we will definitely need to cut back once we begin our ‘return to life as we know it’!!!

We had a GREAT meal last night at the local Italian restaurant . . . I had a BIG salad, Eggplant Parmesan with penne pasta, and canoli for dessert . . . all washed down with two glasses of Josh Cellars Cab. Getting ready to go back to my old eating habits ?????

Rich and Michael had kitchen duty this morning and set up the breakfast and lunch in the open air parking lot below the hotel . . . all the guests park their vehicles out on the street. mmmmm . . . wonder if they know something we don’t  . . . earthquakes????

The peloton starting to assemble out in the sunlight . . . still wearing a light wrap at the start of riding. Temps around 50 degrees!!!

Today we would be on and off bike paths for much of the day. A strong east wind blowing onto our left sides as we headed south . . . but no headwind!!!

. . . another prayer service being held on the beach . . .the guy sitting on the stonewall was doing the preaching . . . no table, but I did spy the requisite coffee and donuts!!!

We continue to see oil platforms off shore and they seem to be getting closer to shore!!!!

Not sure if it is the end of beach season, still LOTS of surfers, they all wear wetsuits, but the lifeguard shacks are being pulled together . . .

. . . as this row was. Maybe for maintenance???

Speaking of surfing. Many arrive by car with racks on their roofs, but MANY arrive by bicycle with a surfboard rack made of two big U shaped tubes. Wonder if Saris makes them????

Today we will ride through Huntington Beach (189,000 pop), Newport Beach (85,000), Laguna Beach (22,000), Dana Point, Capistrano Beach, San Clemente and into Carlsbad for the night. Many times you can gauge the wealth of he community not only by the marinas, shopping and restaurants but also how the town presents itself as you roll into it. LOTS of flowers on the boulevards in towns today . . .

. . . including lots of Birds of Paradise.

If you can’t afford beach front property you can still have ‘a room with a view’ !!!

Nice setting . . .

In Laguna Beach there was an artist celebrating his 40 year with a BIG sale. He had this neat painting outside made of tile, with water running down the front. NICE!!!

Love Shack . . . Love shack, babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Love Shack!!!!

Near Interstate Highway 5 we passed this Ghost Bike (white) denoting someone riding a bike had died here. Not sure what the blue bike means????

We also passed this California Edison ‘nuke plant’ . . .

. . . where several of us noted the large speaker/sirens mounted on poles. For emergency warnings regarding a leak . . . for those close enough to hear, it would probably be too late for them!!!

. . . concrete casks for shipping out spent fuel?????

Soon we were paralleling Interstate 5 again on a GREAT bicycle trail . . . .

BUT Camp Pendleton was in our way. The road rolls right through the Marine base, but 5 months ago, because of security issues, if was closed and you now need to have a permit to drive through. Since we did not have permits and the road was closed to us . . . the only alternative was to RIDE ON THE INTERSTATE!!!!

. . . which we did for eight miles. Along the way you could see some of the practice areas used for training, including this mock village . . .

. . . and this half track type machine hauling Marines up the hills . . .

oh, oh this was not  good sign for us . . .

. . . and this one even looked worse!!!! Luckily there was no road work going on as we rolled through . . .

. . . and we were happy to exit on Harbor Drive and try to get our hearing back again after all the LOUD traffic for the last eight miles.

Jenny has a riding companion from her TransAm group that lives in Carlsbad, our home for the night, and he is having us over for dinner. NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!

The girls and I went out to ‘Simply Salads’ which was right down the street from the hostel and all had nice salads. Wish they had the chain in MSN. Then it was onto the Promenade for some gelato. I had two scoops of tiramisu. Street performers, lots of shops blaring  music and the homeless yelling and screaming at each other  (some have issues) added up to a colorful evening.

I went out for breakfast the following morning, since the hostel doesn’t start serving their PBJ’s, cold cereal, yogurt and granola until 7:30am AND there probably 75 German junior high students who were already seated, waiting, when I got back at 6:45am. The place I went to opened at 6:00am and other than me, it was mostly the homeless already up and wandering the streets, coming in asking for a free meal. Just as I was finishing, a big guy came in yelling and screaming he needed something to eat. He was getting into an argument with the Asian Manager and I thought it was a good time to finish my coffee and, exit stage right!!!

When I got back to the hostel, the van and trailer were parked right in front of the hostel!!! Tom was driving yesterday and once dropping all the luggage at the hostel could not find a place to park. Parking lots do not allow vans with trailers to park in ramps (possibility of illegal camping). So . . . he parked 3.5 miles away from the hostel in a residential area and biked back to the hostel, This morning he biked back at 5:00am to retrieve the van and trailer. Lots of parking spots in front of the hostel at 5:30am!!!

As we exited Santa Monica, getting back on the beach path, we rode onto the Santa Monica Pier. No traffic this time of the morning!!!!

Very quiet at the amusement park, too . . .

We were not too far down the beach before we started seeing the overnight homeless ‘camps’. We have seen LOTS of homeless in cities of all sizes. It is such a problem that the police really don’t roust them out, if they are not causing trouble, because they would just move to some other public space. Really too bad . . .  your whole life in a shopping cart.

Soon we passed through Venice Beach, but at 7:30am  there were none of the famous body builders out doing their thing . . .

. . . which is evidently put on display at certain times in this little stadium donated by Joe Weider, ‘The Father of Body Building’ !!!

. . . there were also some outside hand ball courts available for use . . . great idea during fine weather!!!

The folks of LA, REALLY use their public beaches and today we encountered two big run/ walk fund raisers. This 10K walk had over 3,000 junior and high school student participants. Hard to get down the path on a bike!!!

. . . oh and in Redondo Beach, The Church Beach ceremony was under way. They had a yummy selection of pastries and coffee on the table!!!! The man in the white hat was doing the preaching.

. . . to early for volley ball games . A large tractor with a drag had just smoothed out and groomed the courts. You miss a lot when you start riding too early!!!

. . . down the pike a bit more we started seeing oil tankers lined up for unloading at the ‘man made’ islands. The islands had  LOTS of palm trees to help disguise them!!!

After riding through Torrance and Carson City’s, one strip mall after another, we finally could see Long Beach on the horizon. We rode along this drainage canal for several miles. As wide as an Interstate Hwy and all concrete, even the bottom. mmmmm . . . $1,000,000/mile construction cost!!!

Long Beach was the highlight of the day . . .

A working harbor, you can see the loading/unloading derricks in the distance, and a beautiful marina . . .

. . . where the Queen Mary is ‘docked’ permanently and entertains 100’s of tourist a day, along with Howard Hughes’s ‘Spruce Goose’ which sits in a dome behind the ship . . .

. . . we rode for miles along the beach an the best trail/path system yet. Bikers and skaters on the right and walkers on the path to the left!!!!

. . . there must be 10’s of thousands of boats and yachts anchored in the marinas we biked by . . .

. . . and, in what seems to be  growing annual tradition of Halloween decorations, even some boats were ‘made up’!!!! Supposedly Halloween had surpassed  Christmas  purchasing!!!

 

After a nice lunch in Seal Beach, the whole gang rolled into our hotel, The Ocean’s Rooms and Suites, at the same time. It would have been nice to have stayed at this ‘room with a view’ home just down the block!!! Rich and I did laundry to clean the three riding outfits we both brought. They will last the rest of the trip . . . only three more riding days!!!

Our usual breakfast and lunch routine beginning at 6:30am with coffee and the kitchen open for breakfast and lunch making at 6:55am. Denise and Hugh were on duty this morning and had the lights of the Motel 6 parking lot to help out seeing the goodies . . .

. . . and Anne surprised us all with donuts from Tony’s Donut Shop located just down the block!!! Nice and Thank you Anne!!!

By 7:15am the sun was getting brighter, breakfast had been eaten and lunches were made. A 75 mile ride to Santa Monica today and folks wanted to get going early. Everyone was on the road by 7:30am!!!

The crowd at the Motel 6 is a little different on a weekend. Not so many trades people but people out to party. Whomever consumed these on the veranda left their perfect six pack of empties for the maintenance folks . . . and bars must close about 2:30am because it was noisy for about a half hour.

On the road . . . with all the construction going on it is never hard to find a pit stop . . . the porta potties are never locked and this one even had water, soap and sanitizer!!!

In Ventura,  we passed the first Patagonia retail store. The company was formed in 1973. Too early in the day to be open!!!

This is where a lot of the berries sold in WI come from, during our non-growing season . . . especially during the winter !!!!

First grass or sod farms we have seen . . .they were REALLY pouring the water to the fields . . .

. . .  right down the road was another type of grass available!!!! Ugly plants and REALLY smelled bad.

Ventura was also the home of a National Guard Air Wing. Their outdoor museum REALLY needed some rehab!!!

Soon we were back on the coast . . . what this ride is all about!!!

Not much traffic this early on  Saturday and lots of space for non-motorized vehicles like us!!!

. . . and CAL DOT has added bike lanes on many of the bridges. This one was especially nice!!

It’s the weekend,  so there are folks camping EVERYWHERE!!!! This is typical of any beach area along the way. Self contained rigs parked bumper to bumper. The spots are numbered so not sure if they are reserved or first come, first serve. Every type of camper you can imagine is represented!!!

. . . another ‘RV parking area’ up ahead!!!

Oxnard and most of the cities we went through really have nicely laid out lanes for the ‘Pacific Coast’ route. I followed a couple of local riders out of town.

The SurfRider Foundation was sponsoring a Saturday morning clean up in several cities we passed through today. You put on a yellow vest, grabbed a bucket and one of the orange handle pair of long tongs to pick up the trash, and off you went. Great idea!!!

The Mandalay Power Plant was still running and they were trying to ‘green up the grounds’ some. Unfortunately, the nozzles were not oscillating and the water was continuously being sprayed in one spot.

At about the half way point today was this biker bar that had a HEAVY police presence to make sure the riders got across the lanes safe without getting hit by cars driven by gawkers!!!

Soon we were into Malibu. The city limits stretched for 21 miles along the coast. That’s one way to keep control of development!!

One of the nice beaches around each corner.

I missed the turn onto Lower Malibu Rd and went up another hill instead. Missed seeing the garages of most of the VERY expensive home, but did get views of their roofs and their footprints . . .

This one was BIG . . .

Must be a law against privacy fences, so why not make it out of plexiglass panels!!!!

Would have like to see the inside of this one!!!

Big I’m telling you . . .BIG!!!

Here was the Dan Blocker Beach . . . remember Dan? He played Hoss on the Bonanza TV series. Must have been a BIG supporter and environmentalist in the Malibu area.

Looking for  place to eat . . .

they are ready for the upcoming power outages. Could affect 30 million people in the next several days. Hope they have their freezers full!!!

At precisely the 75 mile mark, I was downtown at the Hostel we are staying at tonight . . . almost a hotel setting . . .

. . . with comfy outdoor seating areas . . .

However the space for 280 guests still has the spartan look. BUT the rooms are certainly bigger than the last one we stayed at in San Francisco!!!

Before I went to the hostel, I rode over to the Santa Monica Pier which is the ‘official end’ of Route 66, that traversed the country. It doesn’t officially exist anymore but the end point is sill here!!

‘

Rest days are all abut laying back and smelling the roses . . . Hugh and I were the first in yesterday and I did my wash and cleaned Connie’s chain before the others got in for the day. The day today was now mine!!!  Here at the Motel 6 there were two washers and two driers. One of the driers was out of order. It is AMAZING the number of ‘Out of Order, Please Excuse the Inconvenience’ signs we have seen on this trip. Either there is a lack of Maytag repairman types and plumbers or the whole world, as we know it, is falling apart!!! When Denise was doing her wash, the machine broke before the final spin. She was refunded her $2.50 but was left holding a dripping pile of biking gear!!!

This morning it was time to go out for a nice breakfast other than of course, instant oatmeal. At about 7:30am, Rich, Joe, Tom and I headed down to the Worker Bee. Soon we were joined by most of the rest of the gang . . .

. . . the reviews said get there early or you will be standing outside in line. By the time we left, the place was full!!! Carlos was the lone chef and by the time we left, he was hopping!!!!

. . . a veggie omelet, American fries and wheat toast, along with 4-5 cups of coffee, and I was good for the day!!!!

I had ridden the mile down to the cafe and used Connie to tour around town. Nice little town that was pretty quiet on a Friday morning. All east, west streets lead to the ocean . . .

Some great old buildings along Main Street . . .

. . . and some interesting houses, too.

. . . Roxanne and Snaren, you would have been right at home here!!!

. . . down at the beach you could see the six oil rigs right off shore. Walking on the beach barefoot you were sure to get oil globs on the bottom of your feet. Locals say it is the ‘cost of living’ in such a beautiful place!!!

. . . what a day and what great weather. . . seems there are always trade offs in CA, might just be the yin yan of life. Tomorrow we head south again into more sunshine and beautiful scenery and hopefully not into the forest fire areas,  with smoke, ash and POWER SHUT DOWNS!!!

Everyone slept well last except Pam and Gina,  who when they woke during the night, had two cockroaches running across their beds. Pam quickly ‘dispatched’ them with her cycling shoe!! She lives by the rule in UT, ‘if it is outside the house it lives, if it is inside the house it’s dead’ !!! On the way out of town we passed the Embassy Suites which looked like a nice place . . .

. . . and is where ‘Larry the Cable Guy’ stays when he is on the road. No wonder cable rates are so high!!!

We create quite the scene when our peloton rolls out of town in the morning, often literally bringing traffic to a stop. Lot’s of red flashing lights attached to panniers!!!

We had a 16 mile ‘gentle climb’ out of Lompoc this morning and before you knew it there was a NICE two mile downhill. Yippee!!!

On the way down we passed through a narrow canyon where there was room for the southbound lanes, but not for the northbound . . . so they built them a tunnel. First time we have seen that!!!

Soon we were back on the coast, and passed El Capitan State Park, where we were to have stayed except now for the ‘campground mechanical problems’ and Gaviota State Park, shown above, which looked quite nice. Would have been nice to camped under palm trees!!!

At the 50 mile mark we entered civilization again, the twin communities of Goleta and Santa Barbara, combined population of over 100,000. A great system of bicycle paths kept us off Hwy 101 and the busy streets. We rolled by an example of an old gas station . . .

. . . that is just waiting for some restoration $$$$. Probably the kind of place where the attendant wore a white shirt,  a  hat at a ‘rakish angle’ and a bowtie. The ‘Postman Always Ring Twice’ was filmed here in the 1980’s. We have passed a number of movie location sites on this trip. No need to venture too far out of Hollywood for great movie backdrops.

Just another golf course, yes, but the first time we have seen off shore oil drilling platforms. They look like aircraft carriers to me, anchored out at sea.

There was a five mile trail connecting the two communities of Goleta and Santa Barbara that ran through  residential areas. Along the way was this Teen Sports internet radio station featuring the ‘Queen of Teen’ . . .

. . . and the King, making a local appearance. Hard to believe the teen listeners would even know who Elvis is!!! When we were eating out the other night, Frank Sinatra was playing on the Muzak and it was interesting to hear one of the young servers explaining to several others  who the ‘Rat Pack’ was!!!

. . . quiet areas along the way . . .

. .  and the first splashes of bougainvillea colors along the way . . . hopefully more to come . . .

. . . I decided to eat lunch before entering Santa Barbara and stopped to use this horse riding rink viewing stand of a local riding club . . . Connie was almost engulfed by the aloe type plants growing on the side of the court.

Great setting close to Santa Barbara . . .

. . . and as I rode through the Santa Barbara College campus it was evident EVERYONE on campus must own a bike . . .

. . . so organized, they had many bike lanes and round abouts along the way . . .

. . . as I left campus, I noticed a yoga class taking place on one of the green spaces. By the time I got my camera out they were on to the ‘COBRA’. Denise, our resident PT expert thought they had quite good form (no tight glutes)  . . . of course, they are in their twenties and much more limber that us oldsters!!!

. . . on into Santa Barbara where the avenues are wide, have a nice paved shoulder AND an additional running/walking and two way biking lanes adjacent the roadway. VERY non-motorized friendly!!!

. . . only a couple of streets off route was State Street, where Joe said the beautiful people hang out, so most of us thought we would fit right in and cruised down the avenue. LOTS of shopping available.

. . . more great flowers and architecture . . .

. . . even a poochie dog club!!!

. . .  as I entered State Street I heard some great piano music and thought the music was being piped in via outdoor speakers . . . but here in front of Starbucks was the source. A young man playing an upright with a crowd gathered around listening . . .  nice going Starbucks. . . but as I rolled on I realized there was a piano on nearly every corner being played by folks who just wandered by, and if they had the ability, stopped and played a song or two. Nice, really nice. So the west coast has piano music, Rich says in W Virginia they have had outdoor weatherized pianos on street corners for years . . . guess the trend from either coast has not got to the Midwest yet. Of course, our snow may have something to do with that. Hard to play a piano with mittens on and Sorel boots!!!!!!

Leaving town on the wide boulevard of Stearn’s Wharf . . .

. . . lined by palms . . . NICE!!!

. . . and the long wharf that had several restaurants . . .

. . . another version of the Wisconsin Dells ducks!!!

. . . either the star of  the local production of ‘Jesus Christ, Superstar’ or just one of the beautiful people of Santa Barbara!!!

. . . after our 70+ mile day we finally arrived at our home for the night, another Motel 6. Nice setting right outside our room. Only 1 more night of camping on the trip!!!!

. . . great sunset starting to light up the Motel 6 as we left at 6:00pm for dinner . . . hoping to catch the Senior, Early Bird Special?????

We settled in at ‘Teddy’s By the Sea’  . . .

. . . where we saluted emJay’s Retirement party which was probably just about wrapping up, two time zones away in MSN. Can’t wait to share tini’s with her and catch up on the last six weeks. Love you , Smoochie!!!

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. . . quite an assortment of entrees and everyone found something to fill their tummies . . . several of us had the Cedar Plank Wild Salmon. YUM . . . NO PASTA WITH RED SAUCE tonight, Joe!!!!

. . .Teddy and his staff were very friendly and had provided us with a great meal and evening . . .

. . . ah the lights, firm bed, real towels and coffee at 6:00am lured us back to our Motel 6. All the basics . . . and so much more!!!

We were sorry to leave this morning . . . would have liked to luxuriate a little more in our favorite campground of the trip. Just outside of the park was this diner. Too early for a second breakfast but if we had know it was there, we might have skipped our breakfast and had a nice sit down one here.  Since we do not venture far from camp once we arrive for the day, it is always interesting to see what is ‘just down the road’ the next morning.

We pedaled south out of Pismo Beach and began the first climb of the day . . . it was a nice stay . . .

Not to far down the road was this Philips Refinery . . . interesting that some of the gas is refined right here and it is still $4.49/gallon!!!!

Another CalFire station . . . there seems to be one right around every corner. No metal pole buildings for these guys . . .

. . . and they had quite an array of sensors, out back,  at their weather station. Much more sophisticated than the weather station setups at our 66 forest fire stations in WI. But, all the info is fed nation wide into the same NFDRS (National Fire Danger Rating System)  system.

We are back in the ag region today as we pull away from the coast . . .

More strawberry beds being prepared for planting by fumigating the rows to kill any pathogens. We did the same thing at the Boscobel Nursery in WI with Methyl Bromide. Bad stuff . . .  but effective!!!!

The fields were FULL of migrants picking and boxing all sorts or produce. Folks may have a problem with legal or illegal immigrants but I’m not sure who would provide this workforce if they were not here. American would not do this work for twice the salary. Very hard work and hot!!!!

Black berries were being harvested from hoop shelters used to keep them out of the blazing sun.

Cabbage, on the left, being harvested . . . 7:55am

All this produce needs to go somewhere and there are many of these large cooler facilities, strategically placed among the fields . . . trucks from all over the United States ready for the long haul.

The long road ahead . . . reminded my of the Northern and Southern Tier rides. Wide open spaces, open enough area to be able to see the water tower ahead for Guadalupe. On a bike, that means it’s usually about 6 miles ahead.

We stopped in Guadalupe after 15 miles for a little refreshment. Things were heating up already and the high today would be 88 degrees. Here Glen and Jenny make friends with Jose, the store owner, and Diego, from the Deli department . . . fun!!!

. . . oh yeah, and just like Hispanic markets in WI, they had a HUGE supply of fresh baked goodies!!!!

I bought some sun screen and SPF chap stick, liberally applying them to beat the sun. The color from my ‘fork incident’ bruise from  a week or so ago is starting to fade. It was three days after the incident before I  even knew I had a bruise. So much for showering in CA state parks that have no lights in their toilet/shower buildings!!!!

I took this shot on the way out of town. Well tended cemetery like most, but it was the green grass that really caught my eye. All the irrigation water is used to water CROPS not grass. We haven’t seen a large area of green grass like this since probably, OR!!!

Speaking of water, these strawberries have been planted, now it was time to start the irrigation. By early spring they might be in your local supermarket????

I went off course today to ride through Vandenberg Air Force Base . . . hoping to see some jets . . .

Saw no jets, (its a missle base!!!) but had my third ‘puncture’ of the trip. No trouble locating the culprit as the staple was poking about 1/16 of an inch out of my new Specialized Armadillo tire . . .

Connie laid on her side, and rested,  as I fixed the flat. Nice wide shoulder here!!!

. . . the rest of the staple was INSIDE the tire . . .

. . . I guess the Armadillo couldn’t stop it from reaching the tube . . .

. . . as I sat on the shoulder repairing the tube I heard someone who walked up behind say, “everything all right”. I looked up and it was Tom, who was driving the van today. I told him things were fine but what was he doing here, off route (sagging is only provided on the official route of the day and if you venture off the route you are pretty much on your own). He came upon me because he had missed the turn off of Hwy 1 and on to Hwy 135. So he made a U turn and headed back to get on course. Nice of him to stop by, though!!!!

There were a couple of these climbs through the Air Force base . . .

. . . before I got to the main gate. Had to snap a photo of Connie by the entrance sign. She has ALWAYS had a thing for men in uniform!!!

We were supposed to stay at El Cahon State Campground tonight but the park was having ‘mechanical issues’ (probably water pumps) so we are moteling in at a Motel 6 in Lompoc. Actually, we are in motels for the rest of the trip now, except for one more night of camping at Carlsbad . . . maybe we can talk Joe into moteling it there too . . .

Speaking of Joe, the trailer was dropped in the parking lot of the Motel 6 and everyone grabbed their gear . . . here Dave and Joe are enjoying a beverage of their choice after the hot ride and were very willing to give advice  . . .

. . . to Jenny and Pam, who were repairing Jenny’s flat that had happened while the bike sat in the courtyard of the Motel 6. Good timing!!!! This was Jennie’s fourth flat with the 52mm Schwalble tires she is running. It was a staple for her today too, that flatted her rear tire. She is tied with Glen for the most flats.

Everyone was in by 2:00pm, so lots of lounging around this afternoon. Rich was the only one to brave the UNHEATED pool. Was quite an experience!!!! Tonight we will eat at one of the restaurants near the motel, and prepare our breakfast and lunches tomorrow morning, in the parking lot.  AND . . . our last rest day the following day!!!! Yippee!!!

On the road it is all about calories. Some need more than others and some eat healthy than others . . . this is one of the healthy gallon size ‘feedbags’!!! (not mine)

Just down the road from the campground we rode through Cambria, where this past weekend they celebrated their BIG Oktoberfest . . .

. . . there were still LOTS of scarecrows and paper mache mannequins around town, including this group of the ‘living dead’ . . . .

. .  and this group of ‘florry dory’ girls from the local jail . . .

. . . as well as this local biker, or wait . . . is it one our own??????

. . . this navy boy won a ribbon!!

On the way out of town I met this trio that were protesting ‘active shooter’ training for grade school children. They had been at it every morning at 8:00am, for about a month, and planned on keeping it up until the CA laws regarding gun control are changed!!!

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. . . about five miles down the road was this big billboard for Harmony Wine . . .

geesh . . . everyone in Harmony must work at the winery!!!!

Just before I turn onto Los Osso Valley Rd, I met Vicki. She was walking down the road with this sign so of course I had to check it out. She had her car parked about 300 feet away, at an intersection, and had walked down the road to retrieve the sign. She is from Crane Country Day School in Santa Barbara that brought 160 students to the Morro Bay area for biking, hiking and kayaking. This mornings group had just finished biking. She was a pleasant person who you could tell is a great teacher!!!

CA may be the land of milk and honey, and ‘free love’ but they DEFINITELY are not giving away free mulch!!!!

The ‘rock in the harbor’ Morro Bay gets it’s name . . . big I’m telling you, BIG!!!

Not too much road kill on this trip but here is a beautiful snake I could not pass up . . . looked like it was sleeping or sunning itself!!!!

Los Osso community . . . Land of the Golden Bear!!!

A fifteen mile section of rural road took us to Saint Luis Obispo, a town of thousands of Californians. I was stopped at a light when traffic at the light coming the other way started honking incessantly. the light had turned green and the car at the head of the line was looking at this hoverboard laying in front of them that must have fallen off the car in front of them. Pressed on by the honking, they drove around the board. The next two trucks and a car drove right over it . . . parts is parts!!!!

oh . . . there was some interesting architecture in town!!!!

We finally reached Pismo Beach, our home for the night and rode along Pier Street to the Pismo Beach State Park. Probably the best state park we have stayed in on the whole trip. Toilet/shower buildings were brand new!!!! Funny how important showers and toilets become when on a trip like this. The bathrooms even had lights in them!!!!

The only place better to have stayed at was here . . . our campground is the sandy area on the bay.

New development in town . . . you’d think they could have picked a better name!!!!!