OK - the plan for the rest of the trip is set. Tomorrow, a short trip to Malibu RV Park. The next day, a long ride to Dana Point. The day after, an average distance day to San Elijo. Then finish at San Diego either at San Ysidro (finish symbolically at the Mexican border checkpoint but would need to endure city traffic) or Imperial Beach (ride through beautiful Coronado and Silverstrand State Park but Border Field State Park might be closed the day I plan to arrive).
As for today, I passed through Santa Barbara earlier. The ride through Santa Barbara was as relaxing as I imagined it would be. I peddled in around 9 a.m. under clearing skies and had a huge omlette breakfast - paid over ten dollars! I then mingled a bit with the crowd along the beach before heading south again. Later on near Ventura and McGarth, I mingled with the crowd again at a busy and happening festival by the ocean and visited the Channel Island Visitor Center. At the visitor center, I saw a good movie about the channel islands, participated in a ranger talk on tide pools, enjoyed the indoor exhibits, and took in the view from the observational/viewing tower (didn't take a picture because visibility wasn't that great). I had planned to buy a ticket to visit one of the Channel Islands (perhaps Santa Cruz Island) for tomorrow, but the tours seemed too touristy and pricey. Since a tour would also put me in a rush with a late mid-afternoon start the next day, I decided to bypass the tour and treat tomorrow day almost like a rest day.
Today's ride was o.k. overall. I did have to do quite a bit of freeway riding earlier on. It wasn't too bad since I had earplugs with me. Later on, I passed long rows of RV's before going through the major festival near Ventura. I also had a nice In-N-Out lunch - Double Cheese Burger Animal Style, of course!
Look forward to a short ride tomorrow and having Mom and GrandMom visit me at camp. I also look excitely forward to riding across hometown L.A. the day after! I Love L.A....da..du..du.du.dum.da..da.dumm....
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