Home

I dropped in on John's work to say hi. When he told his coworkers I was there, they all came out to greet me and gave me a round of applause. So sweet and unexpected! They had lots of questions for me.

I arrived home around 6:40 pm after a really long days ride, my longest on this journey. Friends had gathered to welcome me home. There were balloons, flowers, streamers, and sidewalk chalk. I took a quick shower and we all headed out for fish tacos.

It was a month ago to the day that I started my journey, July 5- August 5. 1,300 miles. When I started I had a lot of preconceived fears and anxiety. It took some time, but the things that I feared the most had the least relevance in the overall journey. That fear of being on my own, later became one of the greatest joys of my trip. That fear of not being able to ... became triumph when I did do it. I learned so much.

Home coming

By land and by sea... A real journey!

I avoided the PCH by heading down balboa peninsula to the ferry. Such
a good day to be alive!

Jim on a trike

Jim has a dream. He wants to do this same journey on his trike. I
think he should!
Jim kept me company for a few miles in Huntington Beach. Good guy

Homecoming dolphins!

Bolsa Chica state beach.

The queen Mary

This is my turf. No maps or guide books necessary!!! So close! It was
such a strange feeling.
It was also a bit of culture shock. So many people. So much noise. No
one talks to anyone or asks questions. Weird.

The LA river

There is a great long bike path parallelling the river. It's a great
place to ride. But just keep riding, no matter who calls to you, or
how big the guns are those boys at the base of the hill have. Ride!
Ride like the wind!!!

Redondo beach pier

I spent Wednesay night with our friend in manhattan beach and took off
around 9:00 am. I road through some beautiful board walks and some
really ugly areas as well-- not just ugly visually but in smell and
truck traffic as well. I kept my can if pepper spray close at hand but
never felt threatened in any way. Pepper spray would have little
affect on a semi truck.

A welcome sign

And things get really loud!!!

Santa Monica

Already to the Getty villa and it feels like the day just began!

Hi mom!

PCH through Malibu.

Kate

Kate and dan had oatmeal for dinner.

One of the difficulties of this journey has been eating to live and
work hard. I feel like a machine. Clean fuel works best with little
problem. Greasy fuel makes life tough.

Blue sky pink

A tent with a view

In Malibu I stayed with Dan and Kate and Thea and Thomas at the Malibu
RV park. It was a really beautiful evening and a great place to camp.
This may be the last place I camp on this trip

Memorials

On every major road I passed dozens and dozens of memorials. They are
always touching. I used to wonder why the place of death needed to be
memorialized, on this journey I discovered they are for the rest of
us. To remind us to live and love and remember our living.

Sand sand sand

Point magu state park. See the wee little. People sliding down the
dunes? Fun!

Point magu

Point Magu

I had some work done at point magu naval base to try to expedite my
trip home.

Thea and Thomas

I met these lovely Netherlanders on a long stretch of flat road beside
a beach. I camped with them a couple nights. We went to dinner at a
restaurant in the Ventura marina and had fish stew all around. The
food, the company, the heaters on the patio--all made for a lively
evening.

Ventura

Cycling through neighborhoods with tall palms was yet another
revelation of location. With this change of location comes noise. A
whole lot of noise!!!

Santa Barbara pier

Not sure what to think?!?

The guy in the tie die is the owner of this vehicle. He was talking to
a passerby-loudly-about religion. Then the passerby asked if the owner
smoked pot. "every day. Every single day!!!" this is about when I
recognized I had entered southern California.

Hazard cycles

As I left the motel I discovered that a spoke was broken. Not good! So
glad John was with me to drive me to the bike shop. These awesome guys
changed the spoke, rotated my tires and gave me new brakepads! So fast
and all before they were officially open!

The Viking inn

We stayed in this sweet piece of Americana. Or is that Asiana

Solvang

Solvang claims to be Danish, norsk, and scandanavian in general. I
think it's just a really strange place! Fun, but weird!!!