Good sleeping last night and high forties when we woke. Had some drama this morning when we discovered there had been some thievin’ in camp during the night. Six raccoons had made it into our camp and went through Glen’s handlebar bag, he had left outside on the picnic table (which they unzipped)  and Anne’s, seat bag . . .

. . . which they decided was just easier to eat through in order to get to the  goodies!!! We have been warned continually in CA to beware of our belongings at ALL times. High theft rates. They told us in camp tonight to keep our bikes locked at all times . . .

. . . as we left this morning, our neighbors were going to wake to a surprise!!! Good eatin’

Back in SF car break ins are so common, among tourist and local residents vehicles, that police do not respond anymore. You need to go to the police station to file a report. Usually it is a ‘smash and grab’ operation that takes less than a minute. One fellow at the hostel had his vehicle broken into twice, in 24 hours. That is not a thief in the photo above but Rich wearing his one ‘going out on the town outfit’ as we left for dinner on Fisherman’s Wharf.

As we left camp, we drove though the quaint city of Half Moon Bay. The town was preparing for their HUGE pumpkin festival to be held Saturday and Sunday . . .

. . . great local architecture including this funeral home!!!

Early out on the road the surf was breaking. There had been high surf warnings last night and today waves were still predicted to be 12-20 feet!!!

. . . and they were building!!!!

. . . another nice lighthouse along the way that had been decommissioned and given to the state . . .

. . . and is now a Hostel International!!!

. . . as the traffic whizzed by us at 65 mph, I wondered it anything ever flew off a vehicle. I doubled back when I saw this bike, thinking I had found a treasure, but it was a kid’s BMX type bike.

High winds today, THAT WERE AT OUR BACK, yippee. As you can see by this windsock at a hang glider airport along the way. There was one machine, you can just see the top of the orange wing, that was tied down to prevent it from blowing away!!!

There was fog all day including when we crossed into Santa Cruz County. Most likely spray from the wave action!!!

This place had ‘Burma Shave’ type signs stretching out for about a mile before we got to it but as you can sadly see, it was ‘Shut’!!!!

Most of the coast is under Federal or State ownership but there are some sensitive areas that are closed to the public . . . .

. . . out of the corner of my eye I saw this white bike and circled back to see what the story was (it means a bicyclist had died there in an accident). No info on the Ghost Bike website.

We rode into Santa Cruz, population 56,000 and rode along their boardwalk all the way to our campground. Really nice use of public space . . . some homes were RIGHT ALONG the coast

Another light house, right on the boardwalk . . .

We went right through the metro area . . . felt like I was in Miami

. . . but there were lots of quiet little areas in the residential neighborhoods.

As we passed through  Santa Cruz we entered Capitola . . .

. . . where I guess at 2:00pm it was already rush hour!!!!

Connie had a nice run today and seems to easily adjusted to her new fork, me too. She seems a little more ‘lively’

Met this nice young man at the park office who has a new travel adventure company he and his partner have started. They already had their first successful adventure to South America celebrating the Total Solar Eclipse. Learn more about their company and future trips here: https://www.solaura2019.com/