June 7,8,9

Today, on the road, David said something that really summarizes our trip so far. “Without meeting those two guys, this would just be a stretch of road.”

The two guys were just some random bikers…Dean is a rider we met outside of a beach bathroom. He’s got the gig of a life-time as a personal chef in Malibu; and Ronan, a biker RIDING A FIXIE from San Luis Obispo to San Francisco. Into the wind. On a fixie. Over the hills. Insane. And people think WE’RE gluttons for punishment.

What we’re remembering most isn’t the gorgeous California coast; it’s the people we’re meeting along the way. David says, “I’m from a small town. You think that everyone out there is crazy and messed up. It’s amazing to see how many people are kind and welcoming. It’s changing the way I think about people.”

I’m already pretty trusting. I don’t know how badly this trip is messing me up. We’ll probably get home and someone will ask, “Can I deposit a fake check into your bank account?”
“Yeah, that sounds good… here’s my debit card. It’ll make the transaction easier.”

We’re currently camping out right outside of San Fran. The town is another Tremont-esque town called Half-Moon Bay. Chad and January, thank you for letting us camp out in your yard, and for offering us a room, and for chatting to us about life. And thank you, Paul and Noah for being two great Germans we could share a campsite with in Big Sur, and for playing “Warzenschwein” games and sharing cherries.

On a less sentimental note; we headed into town tonight for something from the grocery store, and David ended up taking me to a restaurant called “Spanishtown” for dinner. I’m pretty much loving eating. Everything. I know, probably not a good habit to get into, but I ate pancakes for breakfast, and a giant mash of Mexican for dinner, and I’m NOT thinking about it. And the Ben + Jerry’s ‘Phish food’ in Big Sur? Not thinking about that either. Nope. Can’t make me.

Speaking of eating…can a sandwich make your day? Yes! We were riding from Big Sur to Santa Cruz (great scenery)… and the few things I think about from yesterday are: 1. The strawberry fields…forever. (the air smelled like strawberries; it was magical). 2. The mist/fog. Aaaaaaaaaand the sandwich I ate outside of Moss Landing. Holy. Smokes. THAT sandwich. It was from a café by a giant roadside fruitstand. I thought about that sandwich for the next 20 miles. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Oh! My husband was a hero again yesterday…

We were on a hill, and I heard a loud PING. I thought, “that’s exactly what my Dad’s wheel sounded like when he busted a spoke.” I yelled out, “I think I broke a spoke!” We took a CURSORY look at the wheel and kept riding. About 15 miles and several hills later, we missed the turn onto a bike trail, and found ourselves at the doorstep of Pebble Beach. That’s where I noticed definitely, definitely, for real-uh-huh, my brakes are rubbing. So, right there, David flipped open the netbook, looked up some instructions, and replaced my spoke, which involved removing the rear cassette and everything. What a man.

We stayed with another great couple from warmshowers.org named Michael and Anne. Anne is a school teacher in Santa Cruz (for troubled teenagers), and Michael is a librarian. We didn’t get much of a chance to chat with them, but they DID recommend where to go in Santa Cruz. Fun town, fun downtown… probably wouldn’t live there though. Nutty. Granola nutty, and crazy nutty.

Distracted. David is talking to a friend on the phone about torsos and fire trucks.

Last of all, I’ll leave you with some new made-up words from the trip.
One is Sqwat… as in the Squirrel/rats that sometimes cross our paths. David asks me what distinguishes a Sqwat from a Squirrel. “Oh, they are definitely more squirrel-ratty. I mean, squirrels are way more squirrelly…these are sqwatty.” As you can tell, this trip is helping me become more articulate.

By the way, this writing is more squirrelly than sqwatty. Just thought I’d clarify proper usage.

And the second is Wist… as in, the Wind-mist that we find ourselves in at odd hours of the morning. “Is it raining? I can’t tell what’s going on”, I say. “It’s mist. And wind. It’s different than rain.”

Well, yes. We’re both more articulate, I guess. Or somethin.

Good night, we love you all. Thanks for keeping up-to-date with us.