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| Another sunny day at the beach |
Cold start! It was a little chilly at first light this morning. Despite trying to build a layer of resistance made of cheese, bread, and chocolate over the last 5 weeks, our Bermuda thinned blood was feeling the chill this morning. Any hope of an early start was dismissed as we huddled for warmth – never a bad option – till the sun warmed the tent a little more…
We had received word from another rider that our proposed route was ‘hilly and shoulder less’. She advised using the 101 freeway and reluctantly we agreed; until we read the freeway sign that prohibited bicycles. Plan A it will be.
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| San Marco Pass overlook to Santa Barbara |
Our route would be hilly, shoulder less, and windy for good measure. This highway was once a stagecoach route to the interior of California and I pity the horses that did time climbing these hills. We managed 50km in the first 3.5 hours before a windy, hair raising 15km descent in the beautiful city of Santa Barbara.
A clean ocean breeze, warm temperatures, many thoughtfully built neighborhoods, and business development with Spanish flair made it an ideal sightseeing afternoon. We enjoyed lunch at Gelson’s Market, including Jeannine’s famous scones. McConnell’s was next for our first ice cream stop of the entire trip – Unbelievable!- before we rolled down the hill to the waterfront.
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| I'm LOVE ice cream! |
One word comes to mind when describing the city of ¼ million – pristine. Well manicured lawns, tastefully decorated streets, and countless numbers of restored historic buildings made the ride very agreeable and we caught ourselves stopping to sightsee more than usual to close the ride. The last few miles to our park offered numerous views of the Pacific to our right and the Santa Ynez Mountains we had crossed earlier in the day to our left.
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| Santa Barbara ocean front |
We managed to find one last Farmer’s Market just yards from our campsite in Carpinteria. More strawberries and cheese to enjoy with our bread, chocolate, and Pinot.
Our sunset at the beach may have been one our last for this segment of the trip and we savored it. On to LA we go!
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| Sunset @ Carpinteria State Park |
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