We were able to get out into the shared kitchen, masks-on, cook up some breakfast, and get sealed back into our room before our phlegm-hacking neighbors had woken up (we also saw a third guest depart wearing her mask, which she hadn’t had on when we briefly saw her the day before). We didn’t have… Read more…

WarmShowers is a wonderful network of generous people, willing to host touring cyclists like us, in or around their homes. But one of my apprehensions preventing us from taking advantage of it more often (beyond that basic “taking advantage” feeling) is the structural imbalance inherent in the network. Generally, bike tourers ride, and are looking… Read more…

We’d decided to take the offshoot to visit the Danish-themed town of Solvang, found ourselves a WarmShowers host there, and even plotted a good idea of a route back out. So the only thing left to do was decide how to get there: the empty but probably-bumpy and no-shoulder farm road, or the busy, smooth-shouldered… Read more…

We’d had a couple evenings lately that had started out slightly damp, but then dried out by morning. No such luck here, as this clear-sky condensation was heavy enough to be dripping inside our tent by the time we woke up. I just ate breakfast standing, while Rett ate in the relatively-dry and slightly-warmer tent.… Read more…

Screams of wild coyotes broke through the nighttime silence (and our sleep) multiple times. I think I even heard one trot past the tent, though I tend to think I hear a lot of things in the dark that are revealed in the light to have been imaginary. For the most part I think we’ve… Read more…

An early pass by San Simeon State Park, with its hiker/biker area visible from Highway 1, proved that staying put for a second night in our motel was likely worth the extra $35 we paid over camping there. Soon after we passed through the much busier Moonstone Beach resort strip, and town of Cambria, which… Read more…