Leaving Occidental, we hit the Sonoma County coast, winding through beautiful wine country. Skirting the Tomales Bay, we ended up in Mill Valley, just north of Frisco, as I call it. We stayed with Mark, a gracious WarmShowers host for a few days, daytripping into San Fran. San Fran was a really great city. Very scenic and spread out. Out of towners that we were, we mistakenly happened upon a few hills that probably could have been avoided, but I think thats all part of the "Frisco Experience." We got some "bomber burritos" in the Mission District, reconnected with our inner deadheads in the Haight Ashbury District, and visited a couple local breweries, our favorite of which turned out to be 21st Amendment Brewers, right near Giants Stadium. In the 2 days I spent cruising the city, I am proud to say that I tried every beer they had to offer.
Ross and I left San Fran on Friday Morning, leaving behind Christine and Andrea the German who would stay another few days. Christine would fly back to Vermont and Andrea would continue along the coast after some further exploring. We had a mentally grueling day leaving the city, fighting suburban "bleh" thru Daly city and Pacifica. It wasn't until after a good climb over Devils Slide that I really felt comfortable again, out of the path of the sprawl-monster. We spent that night in Half Moon Bay, camped out 100 yards from the Pacific.
Our next day found us in Santa Cruz, birthplace of American Surfing. We spent a little time on the boardwalk, absorbing the sensory onslaught as best we could. I thought it was a lot like the Seaside Boardwalk, just without the Jerz.
The next day we took off for Monterey, through oceans of Brussels sprouts, artichokes and strawberries. One stop on this ride, Castroville, claimed to be the artichoke capital of the world. It was as exciting as you are imagining it to be. Ross had an incident with a dog (he should really pick on people more his own size), and we basically hot-footed it to the city. Monterey was very nice, but I am left wondering if Steinbeck Plaza was really that nice when he wrote Cannery Row. We also met a(nother) crazy guy on a bike. He said he was 26 states and 60,000 miles in. He looked it.
The next day we rode into Big Sur, where we were reminded to always "keep the greasy side down." "Remember that," Colin the Firefighter said. Will do. Big Sur was breath taking: the colors were different, the scale was incredible. I felt so small next to such a huge, powerful and still so dynamic coast. We camped in the rain and took off the next for San Simeon. We saw the elephant seal sunbathing on the beach and realized we could make it all the way to Morro Bay with the glorious tailwind that had appeared. We took it and ran. After some real Cat 7 races, we landed and got a bight to eat on the embarcadero, in view of the big Morro Rock.
It poured all night, so we are taking a day off to recover before we head inland and north to Yosemite, Death Valley, and subsequently Las Vegas. Contrary to popular opinion, what happens in Vegas will be blogged liberally. Stay tuned for pictures and more soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment