Day #25
Oxnard to Hermosa Beach
Thank you so much to our Oxnard Host, Carolyn. She opened up her beautiful home and also
took us to her favorite restaurant for dinner and it was the most delicious
Greek chicken I have ever eaten. Shane,
Shannon, Keith and I slept outside on her back patio and it was a crisp, clear night. All the guys fell asleep
instantly so I used my Sky View App and could see Mars and Saturn amongst all
the stars. I also found it interesting that no one snored outside.
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| Thanks for dinner, Carolyn. |
Today was officially ‘Big Delicious Day’ – at least that’s
what I’m calling it. Thanks Shannon for
wearing those bike shorts one more time just for me…you can say it was because
you wanted to wear bibs, but I know better and I appreciate it! ;-)
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| Big Delicious |
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| Day #25 - Thanks Carolyn. |
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| Goofy Day #25 |
It started out a bit overcast but nice. We got to ride past Ft Mugo Naval base and stopped
to take pix with some old planes and missiles.
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| I see the resemblance |
We rode through Malibu and I have to say, it looks a lot
more impressive on “Two and a Half Men.”
We ate lunch in parking lot using our portable picnic set up of a
roll-a-table and camp chairs and if the signs had not said Malibu, we could
just as easily been in Glendale. Nothing
spectacular to write home about. I think
they must have been hiding the nice areas from the passers by. I had to stop for gas and a bathroom break and I
chose a station poorly. I had to wait in
line for a pump and it seemed to take forever.
I was very worried being away from the riders because they had a turn
coming up and I felt like I was at the gas station for an hour. (it was probably only 15 minutes but that is
ridiculous amount of time for a gas station these days and I was in a hurry) It turned out OK because I found them and
they really had not gone nearly as far as I expected but I was sweating bullets and only half filled the tank.
I met some interesting people on the side of the road today while
I was waiting on the boys. Ramiro, the
guy working road construction duty…I pulled up behind his truck and he got out
to see what we were doing. He had been
at work since 8pm the night before and I think he just wanted me to keep him
awake while he waited for the rest of his crew to finish. There was also Dachaw, the state park parking
lot attendant. When I told him about our
ride, he pulled out a note card from his pocket to show me that his goal for the
day was to make a difference in the world just like I was doing. I thought that was pretty cool.
I forgot to mention earlier that we gained a rider
today. Carl’s son, Jordan, joined the
ride mid morning. As we get closer to
San Diego we are going to keep picking up riders. It is also going to get a bit
more difficult to navigate. We keep
telling the riders to keep the ocean on their right but it is not that
simple. We have lots of little detours off the PCH to make it as safe as possible for them and the more we get off the PCH, the
more complicated it is for Kyle and I.
Although he is a navigational genius – almost reaching savant levels - he still has to work with me and I am very seriously navigationally challenged and hold him back quite a bit. I am pretty sure that I was bugging Kyle
today with calls and questions and will do my very best to not annoy him
tomorrow. Sorry Kyle. There was a time today when he thinks I got
lost but really I just wanted to go to Venice Beach. (Shhh….don’t tell him I am not as
directionally dysfunctional as he thinks….I have a reputation to uphold.)
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| SAG selfie of the day |
I found where I am moving next today (That is if I decide
not to park an RV on the great wall from yesterday.) Manhattan Beach is my favorite beach we have
driven through in any of the cities. I
love it. It has personality but is not pretentious. I am definitely coming back. Most of the afternoon, the riders
were on bike paths and we had to work our way around the city to find
them. We drove
along the coast without riders all the way from Venice Beach to Hermosa Beach Pier where we
ended for the day. Surprisingly (due to traffic and parking) we beat
them there and actually had to wait for a bit before they came riding down the
ocean walk. We loaded up and drove to
the Hope Community Church for our evening’s lodging. Tonight was youth night at the church and there were tons of
people around but it was fun to talk to all of them and they made us feel right
at home. We have a really large room all
to ourselves and have each staked out a corner.
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| Hermosa Beach Pier |
Kyle and I worked on the route (basically Kyle worked on it
and I tried really hard to follow – I promise to try and not get lost tomorrow,
Kyle) and then we had visitors join us.
Another rider and his family who are joining us tomorrow and my cousin
Lora, who I have not seen in about 10 years.
She joined us for dinner and it was really nice to catch up. She fit right in to the group and we had a
great time.
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| Dinner at Fire Pit Pizza |
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| See, Carl, I have cousins too. |
Well everyone else is already snoring so I am going to end
this now. (Shannon says I type loudly so
I am probably keeping him up but he is too polite to throw a pillow at me.) This amazing journey is nearing the end and I
know the riders are super excited but I, for one, will be sad to see it end.
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See ya on down the road in San Clemente!
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