On then road again!! After 2 days of driving through the central coast of California from north of San Francisco to San Luis Obispo we are now back on two wheels putting in 59 miles today to Lompoc, CA for a very nice day.
Early on in the morning we tried to bypass the Adventire Cycling route because it just looked goofy. When will we learn?! To avoid an ugly hill climb on PC 1 with no shoulder we borrowed some irrigation canal access roads to get back on track adding a couple of miles to the day. These bikes can go almost anywhere!!
Such a different landscape today, so different than anything we've seen on the trip so far. Lots and lots of berries, lettuce and other fruits and vegetable farms, mostly flat and semi-arid but the soil was black and looked rich.
Just before noon after 30 miles we weren't ready for lunch but there wasn't a lot of options for the next couple of hours so we got ourselves a Foot Long and took it on the road with us.
Perfectly we found a grassy place in the shade along a golf course to have our lunch about 12 miles down the road. It was cool and comfortable and made for a nice lunch. I recently applied for a part time job at REI in sales and I took my phone interview while I was having lunch. Maybe another kind of adventure in my future?
Gotta love these signs. While the traffic was pretty light on this Sunday most of the cars were very considerate of our position on the road.
More signs now. CA 1 is now being called PC 1 or the Pacific Coast Highway.
Passing by the eastern border of Vandenberg AFB we're about to jump off PC 1 and take the back roads into Lompoc...
....except the backroads were closed. At first we didn't know why but we stopped a utility truck coming out and they said there was a fire but we could probably pass. We pushed on up the rather steep 750 foot climb to take our chances.
At the top we had smoky views of the valley and distant mountains past Lompoc.
We found the fire at the bottom of the hill. Most of it seemed under control but they were still using bucket trucks with hoses and helicopters to put out the hot spots. Angela's intent on getting to our motel in Lompoc!
I bet Scott got extra points with REI for interviewing while on a bicycle tour.
ReplyDeleteHah. I don't think it hurt. REI wants their employees to be enthusiastic about the outdoors but I didn't get the job with them last spring because with my 5 week motorcycle trip and this 6 week bicycle trip this year I was TOO enthusiastic!
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