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!!

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