Total Distance Ridden: 1583 miles
Cumulative Elevation: 84,771 feet
If you looked at the Cancer link above, you will notice that this is our last day on the bikes. When I first put the complete itinerary together, I made last 10 days shorter. This was partly so we could have more time to have fun but also because I was worried about how Katelyn would be doing at this stage in the ride--on the contrary, she is riding at her peak right now. The other night, as we previewed the final couple days, we realized that if we combined the final two days, San Clemente would only be 76 miles to the border. Also, because my wife was coming down to get us, we wouldn't need to carry all of our gear down the coast since she could pick up the bags in San Clemente--right on her route anyway. I can strap a spare tire, tubes, and a pump on the back and we will see how we ride when we are the only weight to pedal around. But enough talking about tomorrow. Today was pretty dang awesome as well!
During the last few nights in Sourthern California, we have relied more and more on newly made church friends for places to stay. Honestly, sometimes it feels like a giant family looking out for us. Last night, a family let us stay in their home--even though they had left that morning to Hawaii. They trusted that we would care for their home and be proper house guests. Other than that chicken that Katelyn picked up, I don't think we were too disruptive and we had a nice night. They even left us a couple free breakfast coupons to use at Denny's. Generosity at every turn! On our way to eat, we got a call from our new friend--fellow GCC rider James Chavez and his daughter. He is a 5th grade teacher and he recruited his entire class to ride and raise money for kids with cancer. He asked if he could come and meet up with us. They drove well out of their way to stop by for a few minutes. We loved meeting him and his daughter Jazlyn--what great examples they are!
Other than taking a wrong turn for the second time on this trip (we had an extra mile added on), the trip down to San Clemente was pretty uneventful--just another awesome day riding along the beach and seeing places that we wanted to return and visit. The beach in Laguna Beach was one of the nicest public beaches I have ever seen! This was a much hillier section of the coast so we had to put on our big boy Lycra pants and get back into the low gears. I actually liked the change of pace.
Today's destination was the Zwahlen home; they are friends of our that used to live in Ripon and decided to make me jealous by moving to San Clemente. To pile on, after dinner we took the 10 minute walk down to the beach where there was a super good swell coming in and surfers were all over it. Had we gone down earlier, I may have gone for a swim. Both me and Katelyn decided not to wear our bathing suits. Katelyn, however, didn't last 5 minutes before being wet from head to toe. Now I found that I was busy watching a bunch of surfers as well as Katelyn's head bobbing up and down behind the surf. It's hard to believe that this was the first time Katelyn had been in the water this entire trip! It was a great way to end the day though--man, I really would love to live that closer to the beach!
For the last time, I will write this: For tomorrow's ride, we have 75 miles to the border. There are a couple hills around Torrey Pines near San Diego but that's about it. Jay Zwahlen will ride the first 30-40 minutes with us to send us on our way. After that, we will put this ride to a proper close. See you all at the border!
This lady has the right idea! She just needs to add a couple little happy trees. Or at least a couple little happy surfers!
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| This train is called the Surf Rider. It goes between Santa Barbara and San Diego. I am standing next to the water's edge asking the picture. How awesome would that train ride be! |
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| We decided to walk down to the beach barely before sunset so we didn't put on our bathing suits. One wave splashed up and got Katelyn a little wet. Then another. And another. Before long, she was out near the surfers ducking under the waves. So much for staying dry! |
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| Soaking wet. And 15 minute walk back to the house... she didn't care a bit. |
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| On a scale of 1-10, how guilty does this little sculptor look? I have her an 11. |
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| Another day, another awesome mural to photograph. |
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| Our four meals on this trip: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and ice cream. This place made custom hand dipped chocolate bars with personalized toppings. Really good! |
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| If money was not an option, I think I would want to live in Dana Point. |
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| Hot day out today--definitely in the 70's! |
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| We took a little detour off the PCH to go up and visit the Newport Beach LDS temple--beautiful building! |
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| What lessons did we learn today? Squirrels like corn nuts! |
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| Getting to meet the founder of Team "California Love" was one of the highlights of our day! James and Jazlyn are an amazing duo themselves! |
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ReplyDeleteAbsolutely incredible you two. Been a sheer pleasure virtually joining you on your journey. Thanks for letting us tag along.... best wishes for those final 76 miles and I hope you get a grand reception when you reach the border :-)
ReplyDelete(BTW - my comments from yesterday did not go through - a tad jealous as you are now in my old haunts. Uncle had his sailboat docked in Long Beach and much of my early childhood was spent at San Clemente ...)
This entire trip has been amazing! Just thinking about all the people who have helped you along the way, from strangers to new church friends, the community supporters, your friends, your family and above the strength from Heavenly Father you had to keep going, endure get stronger and complete such an incredible journey!!! Love you guys!!!
ReplyDeleteYou two are an inspiration! What an incredible journey. So glad you decided to blog about it.
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