Free lunch

They say there's no free lunch. 

I have a lot to pay up for then; throughout this trip I had lunch paid for, my back tire paid for, a free night in a hotel room (floor camping!), a free campsite, a guy randomly gave me 60$, another free hotel room, dinner paid for.... 

Not sure what's next (in life, now that I'm home) but I've accumulated massive karma points (or spent them?) and I shall have to pay it forward!

PCH camping

I took a good long morning walk before checking out of my Venice Beach Hostel and heading to Deus Ex Machina for one final coffee and hitting the PCH north. 

I rode through Malibu, Santa Barbra, Lompoc, and San Luis Obispo without much fanfare. I stuck as close to the ocean as possible on the 101 (or 1, depending on where). I did have trouble paying for gas using a 50$ bill I had hidden in one of my "secret travel spots." I had no troubles using it down the road, despite the disgruntled and rather rude cashier who rejected my perfectly legal tender. 

Other than that one hiccup, I was starting to wonder why, exactly, all these people had told me this ride was beautiful. Sure there were hills, some ocean, beachy towns, but nothing particularly spectacular. Had I become numb to beauty? I'd seen so many things up to this point, both on this trip, and in previous ones. Maybe I should have taken highway 33 through the Lost Padres National Forest as recommended to me by another rider from DEM. 

I'm not sure exactly when the landscape changed. At some point I released a long-held breath; I'd hit curves again!  The ride up to Plaskett Creek (where I spent the night) was amazing! The sun was setting off the coast, and the road was a squiggly line set out before me. I pulled into a motel lot just off the highway to inquire about accommodation. 200$/night was the cheapest she could offer me! Thank-goddess I had my tent, as just up the road was a campground. It was full.

I pulled into the campground anyway. Denis, whom I initially mistook for the campground host, indicated that it was just him on his site, and that my bike would easily fit in next to his. I pitched my tent on the grassy area behind his campervan. 

The slightly slanted ground, coupled with my nylon sleeping bag and my slipperyish mat, meant I woke up the next morning culled in a ball by the tent door. Not the most comfortable wake up I've had.

Oh, and while I was packing up, I got harassed by this bluejay!

I packed up quickly ready to hit the road ASAP. One of the women at a nearby campsite was cleaning out her sleeping bag and getting her dog into the car to go to town for some medicine. Apparently her pooch was sick. Unfortunately, she didn't follow the "left loop only" road-sign arrows, and attempted a right turn out of her site, promptly hitting a massive boulder which clearly did not improve her morning. I helped her maneuver the car around the boulder which had relocated itself partially under her car and closer to the middle of the road. 

Denis woke up and made me coffee as he'd promised the night prior. We had a good chat before I hit to road on my way to SF!

Rode out through this in the morning!

Los Angeles

I reached the city at a decent hour (from Vegas) and checked in at my hostel in Venice Beach. My buddy from NZ, Andrew, came to pick me up and we headed to his friend's then Ubered to a German sausage house. The beer was great and the food good. I ubered home pretty early because I was exhausted.

Early to bed, early to rise! I got up as headed out to ride around the city. My first stop: Hollywood! It wasn't far from  my hostel by motorbike.

I rode my own motorbike though Hollywood. That was freaking cool.  Basically, when I get to a new city, my MO is to walk out the door of my hostel in the morning and keep walking until the sun goes down (usually stopping for food only after I've been hangry for over an hour) In LA, I got to do the same thing, but my ability to explore was expanded by being on my motorbike!

MY OWN BIKE ON HOLLYWOOD BLVD!!!

I did the drive, then quickly checked out the walk of fame (while parked in a loading zone). Then parked at the Hollywood bowl to get a picture of the sign and eat a snack. Then somehow managed to find the Conservatory via some back roads while I got to know my clutch really well at some hilly stop signs. I am good with directions but I doubt I'd ever be able to retrace that route!  Being on a motorbike certainly has it's perks because I got to cut the cue of cars and park right by the entrance to the upper park.

I met a fellow biker (on a sparkly yellow Harley) taking pictures of the sign from the conservatory; he's a photographer for Nco. We chatted for a few minutes, and he gave me a card and offered to ride with me going forth for a day or so as he has some time to kill. Unfortunately I never got in touch with him after this.

I headed into the conservatory to wander around (giant tesla coil! - Kent, I think you'd like this destination) a bit and grab some food (was definitely getting hangry at this point). I sat outside in view of the Hollywood sign while I ate my sandwich, and talked to my tablemate - a woman from Oklahoma who'd been in Europe working for the UN and was trying to decide on her next move.  I took a nap on the front lawn after lunch.

I headed back to the hostel after a long day of riding around. I hit rush-hour, but fortunately, California's riding the line rules meant that I could cut through all that traffic! I would go crazy in a car, but on my bike I could keep moving even when all the cars were stopped. I did have to pull into a lane to let some other bikers pass - clearly I wasn't going fast enough over the white lines for them!

Dinner back at the hostel consisted of one of my "free-bin" concoctions - I attempted curry, but couldn't find curry powder in the local grocer near-by. I bought coconut milk and veggies, and managed to find cumin powder in the free bin!  Dinner wasn't great.

Deus Ex Machina

The next morning I went to check out Deus Ex Machina as recommended to me by the Tamales. The place looked closed from the front, but they have a lovely patio in the back, great coffee and good snacks. I met a German couple who's first stop this was (at the guy's insistence!).

After coffee, I rode up to the Getty Museum. Once again, being on a motorbike kicks a$$. The guard instructed me to ride around the gate arm and park right by the entrance! I decided to do the "hike" on the way up and take the tram back down. Silly Laura. 'Twas not a hike, twas a walk up next to the road. oh well. It made for good exercise that morning - my calves were killing me by the top. I thought I made it just in time for the Architecture tour; however, the guide didn't show up, so we waited ages for them to find a replacement. This set me back a bunch of time, so I didn't make it back  to see Henrik off. I also didn't budget for the amount of time it took for me to wander through the photography exhibits and then through the beautiful gardens.

Requisite Architectural photo illustrating the facade.

The whole museum is covered in and Italian white stone that adapts to different structures depending on their use. Each building is uniquely designed for its purpose (gallery, research, cafeteria etc.) and yet they are all tied together by their stone facades. I can only imagine how hot the walkways would be in the dead of summer - sunburn from underneath anyone?

I got back to the hostel in time to meet up with Yannick for dinner. We walked down Venice Beach till we hit a Swis/German restaurant. After good food and better beer, we continued down to the Santa Monica Pier. It was like a mini-stampede midway, with a beautiful view of the beach in the setting sun. We walked into Santa Monica to get hot chocolate (it was chilly!) and catch the bus back to our hostel.

I still love to climb things! There's all sorts of cool gym equipment on the beach.

I missed Yannick in the morning by just a hair, grabbed my free breakfast and headed to Deus Ex Machina for coffee again (and to browse the store that had been closed the previous day) before hitting the PCH north!

Beginning of my PCH journey!

Home

Yup, I'm home now.  As usual, I've overrun my blog (like over running your headlights). I get distracted by the beauty of where I am or, as was the main case here, I  crash after a day of exploring or riding. I will fill in the blanks of how I got home, but it's going to take a little time. The big perk though is I will hopefully now be able to add photos!

-LJ