Far From The End

The train was going pretty fast, as trains do. This is a picture of the last place we camped. Yes it was about 100 feet from the train tracks.

No more bike for Lindsey.

Lindsey's bike is in the little box. The box was so small we had to take her wheels off and put them in with my bike. I think it took us a solid hour to pack our boxes.

Packing up the bikes. We got lucky, these were the last two boxes.

Our last campsite with views of dolphins, pelicans and offshore oil drilling platforms.

Our last big downhill (I think it was about 2 miles down) before our destination.

Check out that view.

We kicked its butt.

We chose the shortest of three possible routes. This was deemed "The Brave Way" by previous travelers. We didn't figure out why until this hill came into view.

We were on some really beautiful side roads in Southern California. Long rolling hills and a great tail wind. Ideal riding conditions.

Looks like a quilt shop.

Southern California, what a place.

Lindsey gets ready for another day in the sun.

Beginning of the End

Warming up about the fog.

I think we missed the tremendous, breathtaking beauty everyone warned us about in Big Sur. It was covered in fog.

Big Sur, covered in fog.

Looking back to what we did this day.

Looking at what was left of the day.

Our drinking water chillin' by the sea.

Sardines at the Monterey Aquarium.

Birds at the Monterey Aquarium.

Escaping the beating sun under a picnic table.

Lunch break at a beach shaped like a bean.

Failed attempt at off-roading at Half Moon Bay State Park.

Leaving Berkeley on the Bart. It was odd passing through San Francisco so quickly and not by our own power.

Northern California to San Francisco/Berkeley

We're currently staying with Louise, a friend of Ariel's, in Berkeley, CA. She's a pretty fantastic host, feeding us and providing laundry and advice for what to see the rest of the trip. After navigating the insane pedestrian and rental bike traffic of the Golden Gate Bridge, finding our way through downtown San Francisco, and getting our fully loaded bicycles onto the BART train yesterday, we spent a down day slowly wandering around Berkeley, exploring bookshops, eating everything in sight and buying a ton of bulk food and produce at the Berkeley Bowl. It was a good down day. Tomorrow morning we leave and continue down the coast to Half Moon Bay and then to Santa Cruz to stay with a friend we met along the way. HUGE salad in my stomach.
HUGE salad and sandwich in Berkeley.

Our first view of San Francisco.
Redwoods near Sausalito they couldn't bear to part with.
Eucalyptus buttons.
Biking along this was exciting.
Our sketchy hammock setup in the tree filled campground. The rain fly turned out to be unnecessary because it was the first campground were we didn't wake up shrouded in mist.
View for lunch.

Eating lunch on a cliff.
What we found at the top of the really steep hill.
We climbed up this, it might not look it, but it was steep. And this was only halfway up...
The coast
Mac n Cheese with farmer's market broccoli.
Flowers that attracted multiple humming birds.
Solar house on Judy's farm. Our second Warm Shower's experience. We pitched our tent next to a windmill between the volunteer fire department, the emus, and the sheep.
View from the top of our tallest climb yet. Unfortunately there were some trees in the way.
One Log House.

Biking over the Eel River after Benbow State Recreation Area.
Biking through Avenue of the Giants. We skipped biking through the drive through tree because it cost $3.00 that we'd rather spend on a campsite.
Produce stand in the middle of Avenue of the Giants. Blackberry Popsicles were delicious.
Goats across the driveway from Sharon's garden.
A kind lady named Sharon stopped her car as we were eating lunch on the side of a road and offered us her yard to camp in. She'd had a good experience with cyclists staying with her before and felt she should offer. We cut our day short and took her up on it and were very glad we did. She and her family were incredibly hospitable and shared the goods of the garden. We pitched our tent right in the middle and woke up among snap peas and beautiful flowers.

Cooking dinner in the garden.

Smelling Sharon's flowers.