Here I am, at 8:30 a.m. on Halloween morning, ready to ride, with my Halloween decoration no longer wrapped around my neck but rather around my frame's top tube, where it belongs. I actually bought that thing in Japan and had been schlepping it in my bag the whole time, so I was happy to finally bust it out and make room for some who knows what. I also put my full-finger gloves on for the first time on the ride. I didn't necessarily need them, but I figured that was probably my last chance to use them. After all, if I hadn't used them, I would have been upset with myself for bringing them along and wasting more of that precious space in my bag. Besides, they added to the smurf look. Poor Joe. He had an even better decoration, a really scary mask, but he left it outside of a restaurant later in the day so he couldn't wear it in the evening when we went trick-or-treating. And Jody, well, his costume was pretty boring. He dressed up as a bike rider...
As you can see, we were all bundled up pretty well that morning.
About 20 minutes later, we arrived in Solvang, a quaint little Danish village that I had never heard of, despite its obvious popularity, and were ready for breakfast. Check out the fabulous pancakes I had!
And here's a look at what Jody had. Yummy for my tummy! Ideally, we would have eaten breakfast in Buellton before we started to ride, spent the night in Solvang and eaten this breakfast anyway, or picked a place much farther down the road to stop, since riding for only 20 minutes before stopping can throw off your rhythm. Again, though, you have to just chill and go with the flow on these mega-rides, and that's exactly what we did. Enjoy the moment. Worry about what comes next next.
Not even three hours after breakfast the weather had improved dramatically!
And an hour later, it was time for a late, light lunch at Tinker's, in Summerland. One of the highlights of my trip to America was definitely the food, and here you can see why. If I could make that burger re-appear right now, I would have it and I'd eat it, too!
Japan borders the Pacific Ocean, too, but somehow the view from California seems so much nicer!
I took this picture at 4:45 p.m., somewhere in Point Mugu State Park, I believe, about 30 minutes before I crossed into Los Angeles County. Somewhere around here, I lost Jody and Joe and didn't see them again until just before Santa Monica. That means I probably rode about 25 or 30 miles by myself. Thanks to the great weather, amazing views, and good roads, however, I was incredibly relaxed along most of that stretch. When I finally did catch up to the other two, it was already after dark. All three of us figured I was about 5 or 10 miles behind, but it turns out that I arrived only about a minute after Jody and Joe sat down in a parking lot to wait for me. Unless that is, they were pulling my leg...
We spent the night in Brentwood with Jody's friends Laura and Lawrence. (Both of them liked me...) The running gag, thanks to Home Slice, was that they lived next door to O.J. Simpson. I fell for that one hook, line, and sinker... Anyway, that night we had Mexican food, for the umpteenth time on the trip. Luckily, unlike white rice (the food, yo, not the man!), burritos never get old, especially when they are this good. (OK, OK, I should have taken a better picture. I realize that now. But you can take my word for it. That thing had flavor!) And thus ended Day 13.
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