Inverness & Caspar

People are awesome. After leaving SF, I made the decision to stop in the Muir Woods for a hike (more of a nature walk; score another point for my US Parks Pass! I kept passing the sweet sappy smell that I want to bottle and wear everywhere I go. The hike took a couple hours and because I was late getting there in the first place, the sun was already starting to wane by the time I got back to my bike to further hit the road. I stopped in Point Reyes with the plan of finding dinner. I found friends!

These two guys were up from SF doing some photography for the weekend. We ate diner together and they offered me a bed at the Motel Inverness - he'd accidentally booked a suite with 2 rooms, but had already booked another hotel anyway, so one room was going to remain empty. Dibs!

I was up and on the road early the next day. I stopped in Bodega Bay at a cute little coffee shop called Roadhouse Cafe where I ate breakfast and coffee. Back on the road, I wasn't feeling like ridding for a long day. I stopped in Point Arena, an adorable coastal town riding, for my usual coffee and baked goods. The old building shown on the right was across the street from the Arena Market where I bought amazing wool socks!  While getting ready to set off again, I was accused by another biker of ruining his trip: his wife had begged to bring along flip flops, but he claimed there was no room. My Birkenstocks were clearly displayed clipped to my saddlebags.  His wife used this as justification for sneaking hers into their luggage!

I continued north and pulled into the Caspar Beach and RV park - fully booked. Did I mention it was memorial day long weekend? Definitely didn't think this on through. I got the wifi passcode from the woman at the desk in hopes of searching for a place with vacancy. As I was doing this a woman walked by offering a camping spot on her lawn in exchange for a surf lesson! Done!

I didn't need the lesson; however, I rented a surfboard and a wetsuit for a few afternoon hours. The water was COLD! Much colder than I anticipated. Once sick of surfing, I followed Cassandra back to her place where I crashed on her floor. She lives in a mobile home in the woods on an older couple's property where she takes care of some animals and some other chores. We had the most amazing applewood smoked burgers and FRESH CRAB. Her surf-boss came up to share food and beers with us. The property had all sorts of old farming equipment and a barn of old working tools. It was an engineer's dream!

What isn't an engineers dream is discovering your motorbike has no oil. None. I couldn't see any on the dipstick even after adding the quart I had with me. Shit.

Castro

May 26th I got up early to drop my motorbike at Dani's while I attended her Castro Tour and then wandered around Castro and Mission districts. On my way from her place to the tour start in Castro, I stopped off at a random cafe where I discovered PHIL&SEBASTIAN COFFEE! It was a taste from home. Wild Craft Coffee also serves goats milk instead of soy, and I regret not giving it a shot (no pun intended).  The woman who runs this business was also a joy to talk to! 

We convened for the tour under the giant rainbow flag at the corner of Castro and Market. The group was about 15 people, and we walked around the district with Dani as our guide. I seriously believe that it is important to expose yourself to people and places that are new to you. This is how we learn and gain empathy and understanding of those that don't look, speak or act like us. Hearing about the struggles and victories of the people from this community over the last 60 years was an informative experience for me. I like to think that I'm open minded, and I question myself in situations that make me feel uncomfortable. I hope experiences such as this increase the realm of my comfort and how to speak to and treat people that aren't like me. 

After the tour we grabbed Hot Cookies and headed for lunch at Indian Eatery. Then a group of us wandered off towards the Misson District. This is when I get antsy. I'm used to being in control, alone, stopping and going as and where I feel; I'm not good at just going along for the ride in a group (at least when I'm travelling). I stuck with the group for awhile, but knowing that I had to ride out across the Golden Gate Bridge and find a place to sleep that afternoon, while still having places to explore in SF, made me anxious and I split from the group (though we ended up walking the same street - awkward!). I hit up the Mission District (read: shopped) and Good Vibrations before heading back to Dani's to pick up my bike.

After a short trip back to the Adelaide Hostel to pick up my sarong, I hit the road north across the Golden Gate Bridge! (Imagine lane-splitting on that!)

San Francisco

I got into town around 4pm on Tuesday May 24th. I didn't really know what to do with myself because that was the earliest I'd arrived in a place. There was some confusion parking my motorbike; all the patrolled garages are super expensive! And the alley outside my hostel is a no parking zone. Fortunately after 6 it's free to park on the street, and the motorbike spot I found is 0.75$/hr instead of 3+$/hr,  so I opted for this route.

I was told on check in that there was a free meal that night but in fact the guy had his days mixed up. I would have wandered for longer had I known; all I got was some trial facial scrub & a hydrating face mask from Sephora (great for travelling! and totally necessary given the exposure my skin had been suffering from). I ended up at Chipotle for dinner (great Mexican place not in Canada - cept one in Van which isn't really as good). Then headed on the historic bar crawl which included some fun facts about San Francisco and ended at a drag show! I was essentially the only person on the tour, a relief from last week apparently when there were 20! Dani, my tour guide, was awesome - she preforms in drag shoes herself, which I think is pretty cool. I've been to drag shows before, but this was different. The crowd was really into it, and it was far more "grassroots" than the organized shows I'd been to in the past. More like Broken City's Comedy Monday night - an open forum for people of all kinds to come and try on their drag personas. 

This hostel, like the Venice Beach one, had free breakfast - a small fruit bowl, a bagel, peanut butter and coffee. decent enough to get by for the morning. I walked down to SFMOMA, grabbing a coffee on the way, and spent the morning wandering around the recently reopened museum. I loved their photography exhibits (surprise!) and the architecture of the building.

I then walked to check out the shopping on Filmore street. I ended up settling on a new pair of black jeans from Rag & Bone to replace the red ones I'd brought with me. The zipper on them had been broken since I left Canada (totally unbeknownst to me, oops).  I finished my day wandering over the hill towards this beauty:

I Ubered back to my hostel to get ready to head out and meet Sara and her friends for a drink. I'm pretty happy with my sense of direction as I got to and from the bar with minimal map-checking.  This is one thing about myself that I'm really proud of; my ability to explore and learn new urban spaces. I love the feeling of generating a map in my head and the freedom I feel when I can navigate an area without aide. 

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