Monday April 27, 2015

We were awake early again, the sun was coming through the window. It is a lovely way to wake up.  Solomon had to leave for work at 8:00 but told us where we could leave the key and we were able to leave at our leisure. Solomon had his breakfast on the deck and then spotted the whales. A mom and calf were going up the coast, we could see them spouting and diving, it was awesome.

We headed out of Laguna Beach, the road was busy again. We had a slight deter which took us along the beach path for a short while.

We passed a few high-end car dealerships – Ferrari, followed by a BMW dealership with another consignment dealership.

I asked if we could trade the bikes in on this nice little number.

It was a short ride to Long Beach, and not very exciting. Although as we came along the bike path into Long Beach, we spotted these islands. We asked an older couple what they were and they surprised us by telling us that they are oil rigs. The City of Long Beach told the oil companies that they could put oil rigs out in the bay, but they had to disguise them as islands.

Long Beach is also where the Queen Mary is moored.

We headed up to our cheap hotel room. It is in a bit of a sketchy neighbourhood. We went out for lunch and got some provisions for dinner and decided we would not explore the neighbourhood.

Sunday April 26, 2015

We had a lovely breakfast with Steve and Erin – French Toast, and Canadian maple syrup, strawberries and blueberries, bacon and good coffee. I think I might move in with them. We left at 9:30, it was a little late, but we knew we couldn’t meet our warmshowers host in Laguna Beach until 6:00, so there was no rush.

Most of the route was along the coast, until we detoured through the Pendleton Marine Base.

It was an interesting route, through the base and Ralf took photos while we were going through.  It is a popular route for cyclists, we must have seen 50 or more cyclists.

We were on the highway from Dana Point to Laguna Beach and it was really busy, no cycle path and cars not giving us very much room.

Some of  the houses that have been built along the coast look very precarious.

We arrived in Laguna at about 4:00 and found our warmshowers host’s house. Solomon was not home yet and Sean and Becky (his neighbours) invited us to relax on the deck. They gave us beer and bruschetta and we chatted to them for a while.

There is a great view from the deck.

Solomon arrived home, he had been free-diving. That sounds crazy to me.   You dive down, holding your breath and then come back up again!

Ralf and I decided that we really enjoy staying with young people. They have such a positive attitude. Solomon had so many interesting things to talk about, he has travelled by bike through Eastern Europe and has worked in New Zealand. He is a rocket scientist, very intelligent. It was very similar to when we stayed with Christine, a very intelligent young woman, great to talk to.

Solomon made us a lovely dinner with BBQ chicken, asparagus and brussell sprouts.

Saturday April 25, 2015

We were awake early due to the planes taking off from San Diego airport. The hostel is on the direct take off path and take off every 30 seconds.

We were showered and had breakfast by 7:30. We were loading our bikes and chatted to a guy who wanted to record an “interview” with us. Three attempts later and Nick was a happy guy. Nick wants to do a big tour, but like so many people is not quite ready to give everything up to do it.

We eventually left the hostel and 9:30 am. We are following the Pacific Coast Route to Vancouver. After meandering through the streets a little, we were on the beach path. Lots of people as it was Saturday and it seemed as if everyone was interested in the bikes and us.

Every time we stopped either to check the map, check the garmin or just take photos – someone would stop and ask us questions, even at traffic lights we would be questioned. Where are you going? How many miles? How long have you been out? It took us six and a half hours to get to our warmshowers host at Carlsbad!

We passed numerous beach rental homes, multi-million dollar homes in Oceanside and some nice communities. We chatted to one fellow Canadian, Marie had left Canada a few years ago.

They like their piers along this coast.

When we arrived in Encinitas there was a street market, we slowly strolled down the street and enjoyed the atmosphere. We had a lovely lunch and chatted to an older guy who had travelled in Europe by bike 50 years ago. His budget was $1.75 per day.

We stopped in at a bike shop and I treated myself to a new heart rate monitor, mine had finally given up the ghost coming down the big drop in Arizona.

As we headed towards Carlsbad it started to rain – of course – I had cleaned the bikes. We arrived at the warmshowers host at about 4:30pm, he wasn’t home yet, but arrived 15 minutes later.

Erin put together a wonderful cheese plate – triple cream brie, smoked gouda and fig goats cheese – it was heavenly.

Dinner was Mexican tacos with home-made salsas and wine. We had ice-cream and Steve’s homemade chocolate fudge. We have stayed with some amazing hosts.

Thursday and Friday April 23 and 24

We have decided to spend a couple of days in San Diego. We had ordered the maps for the Pacific Coast Route, hopefully they arrive before we leave on Saturday.

As usual we have things to do before we can enjoy ourselves. I cleaned the bikes and Ralf did the laundry and took care of resupply. The maps arrived today (Thursday) so we were able to plan the route and send out some emails for warmshowers. We got positive responses so we know we have somewhere to stay for the next few nights.

The Pacific Coast route has more opportunity to camp as we go up the coast we should be able to stick to our budget.

On Friday we had a good breakfast of pancakes and yogurt. We headed downtown on the bus.

San Diego has the rent a bike system like many other cities we have been in throughout the world.

The downtown has some lovely architecture.

We spotted a busker, who played really well.

Busking must be good, he just got out of this red Mercedes.

After doing a bit of shopping in Horton Plaza, we headed to Balboa Park.

Balboa Park is a 1,200-acre urban cultural park adjacent to the San Diego Zoo.

We really enjoyed walking around Balbao Park.

The Park and buildings were built at the turn of the 1900’s for a “Worlds Fair” The 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition commemorated the opening of the Panama Canal and provided a major impetus for the creation of the Park as it appears today—the first of two Expositions that created many of the cultural institutions as well as the stunning architecture in the Park.

It has a distinct Spanish influence.

I loved going into the Botanical buildings.

The Orchid\’s were beautiful.

Although the San Diego zoo is world famous it is very expensive ($46.00 per adult). We were more than happy to wander around Bilbao Park, as a lot of the museums and exhibition areas were free.

We ate pasta at the hostel, and bought some \”grape\” juice. Ralf put it in an apple juice container, so that no one knew we were drinking in the hostel!

We chatted to some more people. Leslie came back from her day out and had free passes to the zoo. She offered them to me, but we were leaving the next day. We had chatted to a young woman from NZ who said she was going to the zoo. Leslie handed them out, what a really nice person. We have to be in San Francisco before May 15^th as her daughter will be visiting on May 19^th and she will not have a room for us.

A relatively early night, although tomorrow\’s ride is not very far, we can have a relaxing breakfast and head out later.