Shout out to Bicycle Czar

  For a couple hundred miles now I had been riding without water bottle cages.  I was having to stop to drink...(gets old, fast...). When I was passing through Santa Rosa I stopped at the first bike shop I saw. It turned out to be the highlight of my day.  I asked Zac if they had any extra bottle cages floating around anywhere.  They were eager to help me out!  They also gave me a sweet shirt and a delicious bacon cheese burger for lunch!  (What?!)  I know it's awesome...haha.  This bike shop is super awesome/unique.  They build refurbished bikes and sell them at a decent price.  Making it easier for the community to be able to afford to ride a bike.  My hat is off to them.  (http://store.bicycleczar.com)  Thank you guys!
 

From Santa Cruz to Petaluma

  So now that we have made it across the United States it is time to go up!  Eli, Marty, Monica, and Victor started up the coast right after church, around 12 or so, while Ashley and I left Santa Cruz around 1 or 2 PM.  Matt & Jules staying back with their poison oak infested bodies, pumping themselves with steroids and caking on the anti itch cream.  Our original plan was to make it to Pigeon Point Lighthouse for the night, a small hostile on the ocean front about 28 windy, semi hilly, miles North.  On our way up to the Lighthouse, Ashley and I stopped at a cute farm house called Pie Ranch (http://www.pieranch.org).  We got some of the tastiest cookies and brownies, we both agreed, that we have ever eaten!  Chocolate fudge cookies with sea salt!  YUM!  They also sold different leafy greens, coffee, tea, and grains.  Every couple of miles up that section of the coast you will either see, on your right, farms, fields, and/or people selling fresh leafy greens, strawberries, jams, and other fruits/veggies, or on your left, a handful of beaches full of wind surfers, parked RVS, and roaring waves.  The gal working in the farm house, (super friendly and informative!), was telling us that Pigeon Point was a great place to stay with very friendly folks.  She suggested we try to score a spot in the hot tub for the sun set, as it is common to see some whales on the horizon.  I was so pumped to hear that!
  About 3 miles down the road we reach Pigeon Point.  Turns our Eli, Monica, and Victor kept going on ahead.  They weren't able to get a room donated, and it didn't seem like we could set up our tents anywhere along the beach.  Marty had a friend he met up with and stayed with that night.  So Ashley and I took a look around and then head up the coast before the sun sets to meet the other 3.  Another 10, or so miles up, we meet them in the small town of Pescadero.  The small grocery/deli donated some delicious sandwiches and drinks to us.  We road around the town to try and find a church to sleep in.  Ashley and Monica wonder down the main road where they meet a local women.  Her husband is president of the history club of the high school.  He was also in charge of the historical down town hall that was closed, only open for the occasional poker game, until they were able to reopen it after some remodeling.  Before it was a town hall, it was a church.  You could definitely tell by the gorgeous design of the building.  I didn't get the best nights rest, as the sound of mice running around isn't as soothing as waves crashing on the beach...but I am not complaining, as it was dry and warm!
  The next morning we said thank you and goodbye to the friendly couple that opened the hall to us.  On our way back to the 1 and up the coast we hit some steep cliffs and hills that ran for quite a while.  I was riding alone for most of the morning, until we got to Half Moon Bay for lunch, about 18 miles later.  Monica and I asked a mexican restaurant in town for a donation.  We got a couple of huge burritos and chips/salsa.  That was definitely on the top 5 places I have been for mexican food (and that is saying something coming from Texas) ;).  We kept on to San Francisco for 30 beautiful coastal miles.  We hit a huge hill on our way into San Francisco (what a shocker, right?).  We wanted to find a place to sleep that was relatively close to our service project at the Meals on Wheels where we were going to make birthday cards for their clients the next day.  The 5 of us found a really sketchy park on the bay.  All the windsurfers suggested we not sleep there.  We go grab some groceries and, again, get some delicious sandwiches donated for dinner.  Marty meets us and we all road back to our only option for a place to sleep, as of that moment.  Eli and I go down the road to an RV park a few hundred yards from the park to see if they would be able to help us out for the night with a patch of sement to sleep on.  Unsuccessful, we start to lose hope, and daylight.  Eli camped with a couple back in the pre climb of big sur (Jonelle, Ben, and their son Sunny, who I mentioned in my last post).  Jonelle had mentioned she had a brother that lived in San Francisco, but wasn't sure if he would be home to host us for the night.  We figured we would try him anyways, to see if he could possibly move us into at least a better situation than what we were in.  So we get a hold of Cody (Jonelle's brother) after a while.  Turns out he is in town, and invited us to stay for the night!  We get so lucky sometimes.   The sun had gone down as we started riding to his home in the city and we were all pretty tired from the climbing all day.  I was anticipating some decent climbs on the way to his house, as well.  The bike route did take us away from those climbs luckily and it was a beautiful ride through the city.  A total win win if you ask me.  We were so grateful that all 4 of Cody's roommates were okay with us hanging out for a while.  After chatting with Cody and some of his mates, we showered, recharged phones, and slept.  The next morning he let us leave our gear in the garage so we could go to the service project and then around town to explore.
  I am impressed by Meals on Wheels.  Victoria gave us a tour of the building and explained how they work with and for their clients.  The whole place had a vibrant energy and organized system.  We were making birthday cards for a few hours.  When it is a clients birthday, they send a birthday card with the meal.  Most of the people they serve are elderly and usually alone.
( http://www.mowsf.org/volunteers-on-wheels/ )
  After making some cards, we went back to Cody's, he was going to ride with us around the city a bit, possibly the the Golden Gate, and Twin Peaks (to get a 360 of the whole city!).  I went to some coffee shops instead to try and get some blogging done, but had no luck with anyones wifi.  Defeated, I went back to the house.  Marty and Monica were on there way out to explore, Eli, and Victor were crashed on the couches upstairs, and Ashley was writing some emails in the garage.  So, I joined Ashley in the garage cleaning out my panniers, ultimately try to loose some of the weight I was pedaling around with.  Earlier that morning on the way to the service project, I decided not to unload my bike (it gets old packing and unpacking that thing).  The whole way to the project, however, things were falling off and getting tied up anyway.  At one point my tent fell and a clip got tied around my wheel, bending a piece of my disc break (ARG!).  So I played around with the break bending it just enough so it wouldn't scrape the disc.  When everyone got back to Cody's around 5:30 we took the BART to Oakland.  We contacted Nico (who everyone with the exception of Eli camped with back in the pre cliffs of Big Sur), who lived in Oakland.  We camped in his back yard for two nights.  Nico and his girlfriend, Candice, lived in a cute little community/suburb in West Oakland.  They shared a 101 year old home with 4 other people.  The Brick Pig's House, a few doors down, donated The BEST ribs, mac-a-roni salad, and baked beans I have ever had, and Nico shared with us some of his home brewed beer while we all hung out for a bit before bed.
  The next day, Monica had a community service project set up for us with the Uhuru Furniture Company, In Support of the African People's Education and Defense Fund Program (apedf.org).  On the way to grab some coffee with her before the project, the breaks I was messing the previous day totally collapsed.  Instead of going to the project, I carried my bike to the bike shop about a mile away to install my new break pads.  It only took about an hour to fix everything, so by that time it was 12.  I used the rest of the day to type up the previous blog.  We slept at Nico's for the second night, and left for Eureka the following morning.
  We took the BART back to San Francisco, and made our way to the Golden Gate Bridge.  As we were riding toward the bridge, a gang (The Old and Tame) of older fellows from Sacramento invited us to ride with them through the Palace of Fine Arts, Fort Point, and over the bridge.  After riding the bridge, it was pretty hilarious watching us carrying our bikes down and back up some stairs to the bike trail.  Sausalito was probably one of my favorite towns to ride through for California.  It seems quiet yet entertaining and kind.  I am sure it costs a small fortune to live there, however.  So we continued on the 101 hoping to reach Petaluma.
  Things quickly were set to a holt.  The bike trail got way more complicated then what anyone wanted to deal with, and Victors back tire popped in 2 places as we were approaching Marin.  We called Eli, and Marty who were ahead to go check out a bike shop down the road for a new tire.  Monica, Victor, Ashley, and I waited for them to come back.  I was starting to get frustrated with what I expected the next couple of days to look like.  When Eli, and Marty returned with the tire Monica, Ashley, and I road down to the restaurant down the hill to charge our phones and wait for the guys.  Ashley wasn't sure what to do, as her poison oak was spreading and getting a lot worse.  The tire they got for Victor didn't fit, so Marty wound up returning it to the bike shop and heading to an REI down the road for better luck.  We were at the restaurant for about 90 minutes when Ashley was approached by Rex.  Rex got Paul, the owner of Marin Joe's to donate the 6 of us some lunch.  I definitely recommend stopping in if you are ever in that area, they have the BEST burgers of your life.  When Victor was squared away we took off to get as close to Petaluma as we could for the evening.  At this time it was roughly 4:30 and we still had to deal with some tedious turns.  We stopped at the Safeway around the corner from REI and grabbed some loaves of break and a directions list.  For some reason the bike trail directions likes to give you some unnecessary turns, so we were able to cut out quite a few turns along the way ourselves.  Marin was very good to us, and Novato was a beautiful community with a cool scene downtown.  Once we got out of town the climbs were challenging.  Around 6 or 7, when the sun started setting, we got further away from any town.  We were ridding past barns filled with horses surrounded by some dense redwood forest.  When the trees cleared the land turned into rolling hills and country land.
  Now we were 5...we asked a dairy farmer down the road if we could camp in his yard.  It was unsuccessful as it was an organic farm, and he said the rules for organic were super strict about what is allowed in the cows space, basically, but he said we could camp across the road in an empty lot.  So we set up camp there and had some canned tuna with bbq sause and PB&Js.  The next morning we road about 10 miles into Petaluma.  It was still early so the town was quietly preparing to wake up and open shop.  I got to the subway where the rest of the four were and charged my phone.  When they were ready to go, I decided to stay and head up the 101 while they moved out towards the coast on the 1.  Here was where my adventure began :)
  About an hour later I started up the road, somewhat nervous, but once I started pedaling the excitement kicked in.  It was a long day, but the road was pretty flat the whole way.  Although the 101 was annoying, when I was away from it,  you could see vineyards for miles around.  

"Where are you Peter...?"

  Wow.  Time ceases to amaze me.  I had a short discussion with Ben about the relevance of time (you will meet Ben later on).  "Does time go by faster or slower for people that are younger compared to those that are older?" (was the just of the conversation).  I still don't quite know.  If I think of my life back in my mini years, it is played back in slow motion.  Now I can't even keep up with the day or time.  What happened?  Is that the transition from being a kid to "grown up"?  Does time change?  Where the hell is Peter Pan when you need him...

  Anyway, I wasn't a huge fan of Los Angeles.  It was cool to ride around and see all the huge houses, and the strip, but by no means would I ever consider living there...It's a bit too ridiculous.  I was glad to get out of there actually...We headed to Santa Monica after about 4 or 5 days in L.A./Hollywood.  I did get to see my good friend David Rodriguez! :)  I was very pleased about that!  We slept on the cliffs in Santa Monica the first night.  The next day I realized I could probably never be a beach bum for a living.  Matt had to reassemble a whole new wheel for his bike (that looks like transferring the spokes and cassette onto a new rim, whatever that technical bike term is called...).  It took him pretty much a whole day.  So the rest of us kind of just hung out and moseyed around on the beach.  It's a rough life, right..?  After 2-3 days on the beach not really doing much, and feeling super homeless, I was pretty ready to start heading North on the 1.  The true reality of being completely homeless started to sink in. Feelings of loneliness, uneasy frustration, and downright uselessness started to become very real.   Sleeping on the beach those 2 nights in a row in Santa Monica wasn't anything I hadn't done before.   I guess having a rough old man ask me if I had any drugs while I was getting some hot water at the gas station for my cup of noodles for dinner was a little different from what I was used to.  Or having our temporary neighbor at the beach throwing miscellaneous items around under his tarp roof, yelling and mumbling as the sun went down was far from Flower Mound life.  Even the next morning, when another anxious homeless man sitting on a set of steps, down by the porta potties asked in a displeased tone if we were moving anytime soon.  Curiously Ashley told him we should be out of the way in a couple of hours...turns out his stash was buried in the sand where we had slept.  My initial reaction was laughter,  I feel like this could have been something I heard in a joke from some stand up comedian, but  a few seconds later, not too much further down was a pitiful ache for the man. 

  Monica, Ashley, and I road up to Malibu the next day.  Matt was still having trouble assembling his tire, so took it to a bike shop with Marty, Elijah, Julie, and Ryan.  The whole Malibu area was filled with fancy cars, beautiful beachside homes, some pretty steep climbs and beautiful flowers and trees. We had a donated lunch from KFC and road up a gas station across the street from the Malibu Lagoon entrance.  This was the day Monica cut her cast off :)  That night we camped on Zuma beach, much quieter and cleaner than Santa Monica in my opinion.  Monica, Ashley and I ate dinner at the plaza across from the beach entrance.  We combined some Raman noodles, instant Mac & Cheese, and Spamiches (spam on bread...).  I am excited to get to seattle and have a grocery store and money to buy real meals and coffee with!  

  The next morning I took a walk on the beach.  Ryan, Matt, Ashley, Monica, and I met at the plaza to charge our phones some and head North.  We got into Santa Barbra about 65 miles up before the sun went down.  We grabbed some tacos for dinner and headed to a coffee shop we found on warmshowers.com to sleep at for the evening.  Marty met us up later in the evening in Santa Barbra with Eli and Victor.  We hadn't seen Elijah and Victor for 2 weeks.  They road to San Diego while the rest of us went down to Nogales with Susan and Sil back in Phoenix.  We had some catching up to do as a group for sure.  Most everyone had some things to get off their chests that had been bothering them or that they felt we should approach as a team effort.  

  All together again, for now, the 9 of us took off between 8 and 9 AM.  At this point 5 of us hadn't showered and had been sleeping on the beach for 4-5 days without a shower...so once we got to the shopping mall in Santa Barbra you better believe Ashley, and Ryan were working on finding a hotel to donate a room for the night after only 30 miles of riding.  Monica, Matt, and me were not objecting to the idea, as we did smell and feel very fowl.  They didn't have luck with hotels, however, Ryan's last try asking a bike shop maybe 10 miles out was successful in finding a home for us in Goleta.  We didn't have more than 15 miles to ride to get there, so we decided to take a day at the beach down the road from the outdoor mall.  It was a nice relaxing break together again as a family.  Elijah and Matt took some time at the skate park while the rest of us took some time by the water.  We road to Goleta around 4 PM arriving to Mike's home around 6 after grabbing some supplies for dinner.   It was so nice to shower and sleep inside that night!!  Monica even shared with us an indie movie from New Zealand called Eagle Vs. Shark, (basically a New Zealand version of Napoleon Dynamite).

  The next morning, Mike invited us to go to the bike shop he works at, at the UCSB campus.  Ashley, Victor, and I needed some things looked at and we all generally needed to manage our gear and what not.  This morning definitely took a 360.  Maybe a 180...we kind of all saw this coming a little I guess.  As Mike is done working on our bikes and we are all ready to leave, putting on our jerseys, filling our water, and applying sun screen for the beginning of a long day of riding, Ryan disappears.  Matt and Marty go talk to him down by the beach to try and figure out why or what he is doing.  This discussion turns out to take the morning and then some of the afternoon.  In the end, Matt and Marty come back, without Ryan.  This frustration, aggravation, annoyance, of a group structure had finally bubbled over for Ryan...I don't really blame him.  It does ask quite a bit to stick with 8 (mostly) strangers for 5 months, on bicycles, riding, camping...suffering.  Mike graciously allowed us to stay another evening at his home.  Matt and Marty stayed with Ryan to see if he could pull through and finish the ride out with us. "Too little too late".  Ryan had checked out.  I think it was good for him to do what he needed to do.  He will finish this ride one day, one way or another.  The next morning the rest of us met up to say our goodbyes.  It was sad, and unreal, we thought he would actually come back...no such luck.  

  And then there were 8.  We made it to Santa Maria that night about 75 miles North.  We asked a church in town if we could stay for the night.  It turned out to be some sort of school.  They had some sort of play going on that night.  One man allowed us to camp out on his land.  As we were about to go check out the spot he offered us, a kind, excited, women came out and asked us all about what we were doing.  After telling her our purpose and some of our stories, she told us a little about her tour and general journeys of her traveling life.  She called the YMCA she was a member of and got us in to take showers.  On top of that, she and her husband brought dinner for the 8 of us!  Fried chicken, potato salad, strawberries, beans, fries, and cookies!  It was such a delicious blessing.  We feasted outside of the YMCA.  We were all super exhausted.  After showers, and food we all walked our bikes down to the park to set up tents for the night, too tired to really care about the dreaded sprinklers.  

   Waking up to a soaking tent the next morning, I had no desire to move, I was physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.  Eventually we were all packed up and on our way to the local grocery store to gather food for the ride.  We plugged in our phones, chugged bottles of water, ate some cereal and fruit, and distributed food.  By the time we left, I am pretty sure the whole staff knew about the purpose of our journey, which is pretty cool.  Right before we left, the store manager donated a box of oranges and strawberries.  Even some local shoppers stopped to ask questions and donate a few dollars!  God started to show some beautiful moments to reflect on.  Shortly after making our way back the highway, Monica's rack breaks.  Once we do some jimmy rig-zip tying we are once again, on our way!  Our original goal was to get to San Simeon State Park.  Monica and I exited into a town called Cayucos, about 20 miles short of the park.  Once you stop, sometimes you don't want to jump back on, and sometimes..you don't... :) haha we were ready to be DONE for the day....so we were.  And that is one beautiful thing about this trip.  Sometimes you just don't know where you will wind up.  We got some awesome chicken strips, a burger and some fries donated from Duckie's Chowder House.  Afterward, we met up with Martin, Matt, and Ashley for the evening.  They were only 4 miles up while Julie, Victor, and Elijah were about 10 ahead, just outside of San Luis Obispo.  We slept in a ditch that night, just beside the beach, in a field of cow shit.  It wasn't the best night of sleep, but it definitely wasn't the worst.  

  The first obstacle of the next day was running up the ditch.  It was quite entertaining.  I could only imagine what the people driving by thought about 5 bikes, on the top of a ditch, tent and sleeping bags flying up from out of know where.  We road up to San Luis Obispo and met the other 3 outside of the church they camped outside of.  The 6 miles to town was probably some of the most beautiful miles of the trip.  The rolling, green hills, happy cows, open winding road.  It all looked like a dream.  It was also quite an enjoyable downhill cruise into the town.  We grabbed some breakfast, started the usual phone charge and went to the grocery store to get the usual bread, peanut butter, and jelly.  After about an hour and a half we took off to make our way into Big Sur territory.  

  I had no idea what this Big Sur was.  I was in for a treat! :)  We road into the southern edge of the cliffs that night to camp.  It might have been about 50-60 miles.  We all gathered at the first restaurant before the cliffs really started.  After making some sandwiches and talking to a young, French traveler, he accompanied us up the beginning cliffs.  We road with him for about 5-7 miles and we continued on to a campsite about 10 miles up.  After climbing, dropping, and climbing again for an hour or so, Elijah was ahead and we were ready to call it a day.  Seven of us stopped at the first camp site we found.  We figured Eli could handle his own, and we knew there were more sites up the road.  Julie and Matt found some people at the camp that allowed us to share there lot.  It consisted of 2 girls and 4 guys, all from California.  Some lived in Santa Cruz, our next location to get to, and 2 lived in Oakland.  It was good to hang out with some new people and hear some funny stories.  I happened to grab Nico's number, one of the guys that lived in Oakland, just in case we needed a place to stay once we arrived there.  They shared some cookies and brownies and allowed us to use the fire they had going to make some pasta!  What a night.  

  The next morning we said our thanks, and goodbyes.  We didn't wind up meeting with Elijah the next day, he took off from the campsite about 30 minutes to an hour before we got there.  He did however camp with a family of 3, also from the Santa Cruz area, that offered us a backyard to camp if we needed!  So we were on our way to and through Big Sur, some of the most awe inspiring views, EVER.  It was a day of slow, long climbing, not so much dropping, and more slow, long climbing.  Everyone was pretty spread out that day.  Once Ashley and I got into Big Sur Julie was behind us and Matt had passed through at some point.  After resting, I decided to keep going on to meet everyone in Monterey.  Julie wasn't feeling too well, and Ashley's chain was on the verge of breaking.  They wound up hitching to San Jose, passed Santa Cruz a little ways.  On my way out of Big Sur maybe 6 miles into riding my chain broke going up a series of cliffs.  After calling Eli, Matt, and Ashley, to see what everyone was doing, and after sticking my thumb out for 10 minutes, I got a ride from a local into the next main town before Monterey, Carmel, where Matt was.  Eli, Victor, Monica, and Marty were already in Monterey looking for dinner.  Matt and I got some food from the grocery and put a new chain on my bike.  Monterey was about 15 miles out and daylight was going fast.  Matt and I road around the neighborhoods a little when his chain broke, and I had to call it quits.  There was no way I was going to make it to Monterey that night.   We found a walking trail down the road to sleep.   

  The next morning, we packed up, and headed to the grocery to grab a bag of cereal and some chocolate milk.  After that we hopped onto the highway to meet everyone in Santa Cruz.  We took a bike trail for a third of the way at least.  At one of the cross walks Matt flicked off an angry driver that honked at him for crossing.  The next light we got to, the angry driver had decided to come talk (yell) at  Matt.  Profanity being tossed back and forth between the two, this guys threatening to hit Matt, blah blah blah...Matt asking this guy if he had kids...  It was super entertaining.  Then as this guy goes to get back in his car, he starts crossing the street when it says not to cross, and of course Matt has to point this out to the angry driver...  Two other cyclists road up as the argument subsides.  We start to ride with them down the path, and a police officer stops us to see if we are okay, and if we wanted to report anything...Matt said no so we kept riding on.  We ride with this married couple to the end of the bike trail out of Monterey and say our goodbyes.  They also kindly donated us $20.  From there, shortly after that trail, we hop onto another bike trail on the beach for a while.  Then we got into some country towns, beginning with old, stagnant, smelly, sea water.  Then moving into some windy, hilly roads, and finally to wonderful strawberry fields of all sizes, and old farm houses.  We stopped at a small farm with a little red shed close to the road.  We talked to the guy who worked the farm with his girlfriend.  The little red shed held a refrigerator filled with leafy greens, peppers, lemons, and fresh strawberries.  We helped ourselves to a pint of delicious juicy strawberries for $3.  Shortly after we were back on the road.  Once we were pretty deep into Aptos, closer to Santa Cruz we stopped again for some ice cream.  We got ahold of Eli, Martin, Monica, and Victor.  They were about 5-8 miles behind us at this point.  They caught up to us as we started our climb up the 9 to Felton, where we would be staying for our service projects for the week.  It was also a very enjoyable view the whole way up!!  Julie and Ashely had made it back down already to Ron's house in Felton, where we stayed that evening.  (Ron is Matt's old director at Mount Herman, a camp Matt worked at 5 years ago.) ...and then there were 8, again.  

  For the next 3 days (Tuesday-Thursday) we pulled Broom from sections of the wooded areas on Mount Herman in the camp.  Broom is an invasive weed that grows densely in the area and kills off other grasses and plants.  I was so lucky!  On Tuesday, my papa was only 30 minutes away from me in California!  He picked me up from Felton after a full day of weeding and we took a walk on a trail before heading to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz.  It was so great to see him and in such a beautiful place!  God works in very beautiful ways.  

  On Friday, 5 of us went back down to Santa Cruz to stay with Ben, Jonelle, and there 4 year old son, Sunny.  This is the family Elijah had camped with back at the beginning of Big Sur that I was talking about.  Matt, Ashley, and Julie were covered in poison oak so they took recovery time at Ron's for the weekend.

  On our way down we stopped off at a Red Wood Park to take a walk through.  It was so gorgeous.  Red Woods have to be the most resilient trees, ever.  We had a miniature tour from a women on the trail, that I do believe worked at the park.  She showed us to the oldest, and tallest tree of the park, that was indeed healthy.  Just a few feet away you heard a creaking, dying tree, bound to fall sooner or later, just a few feet away.  She took us to a Red Wood that was hollowed out, naturally from fires.  It fit all 6 of us in the tree.  She told us in the past, when that area was considered a resort, the tree was rented out as a hotel room.  You could see where the tree was once hollowed out with a window and a stove!  The tree since then has healed itself and covered up these holes, one day the whole considered as the door will be too, shut. 

  We started back on the road and made it to Santa Cruz before dark.  Jonelle and Ben were so good to us!  They fed us delicious burgers and beans and breakfast the following morning as well!  We hung out that night with them and some of there friends.  Marty went out on the town.  I was going to go with, but decided around 12 that bed sounded better.  Monica and Victor and Eli went to bed pretty early.  One thing I have learned is when you start to get tired, as a cyclist, you can expect to go down fast.  Ben, Jonelle, and Sunny are some of my favorite people to stay with from this whole trip so far, for sure.  After breakfast Eli, Victor, and I borrowed Jonelles car to do some shopping, while Monica, and Marty went to try a Indian food restaurant and cruise around.  After the three of us shopped Jonelle and Ben invited us to a BBQ birthday for one of Ben's co-workers.  We packed our bikes once we got back to the house and road about 5 minutes to the park to meet them.  After some grub, a beer and chatting the 3 of us said our thank you's and goodbyes and made our way back up the mountain to Ron's.  Eli split off for a bit to check out a skate shop/park, so Victor and I were on our way.  Martin had gone back to Ben's to sleep off the night he had in the city, and Monica was knee deep in a book store somewhere...they made there way up a little later.  Eventually we were all back at Ron's, in Felton, preparing to leave the next day (Sunday) after we attended Ron's service at the church down the road.  It had been at least a few years since I had been to any church service, it was nice to go, peaceful.  

  Matt and Jules had poison oak all over, still.  They hung back with Ron a little longer, as the rest of us made our way up to the one and only, San Francisco.

To be continued.... ;)

Nogales to Phoenix, and then to LA

  Times like this, I wish I had taken more pictures during our week long adventure in Mexico, because pictures definitely are worth 1,000 words sometimes.  Monday morning, we loaded up the van, truck and trailer.  We made our way to the church Sue and Sil attend down the road to pick up 3 other volunteers.  The car ride wasn't too bad.  It did remind me that I would much rather sit on my own bike than to be crammed in the middle of two smelly men in the back of a bumpy van.  It didn't take us but 20 or 30 minutes to get across the border and maybe another 15 minutes to get to Manitas Que Hablan. As soon as we arrived we started unloading the van and truck.  The volunteer crew and the founders of the the first deaf school for all ages in Mexico met in the main room of the school.  The school consisted of 3 classrooms, an office, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a large room in the front of the house.   In 4 days we planned on tearing up and putting in a new roof, updating some of the pluming and installing a hot water heater, and painting all the rooms, ceilings, and doors.  
  Manitas Que Hablan was the vision of a women named Tere Valenzuela.  Tere's vision was to see her daughter, Daniela,  a chance at living a life with choices.  Before Tere started to move her vision into a reality, there was no chance for the deaf Mexican population to make a living outside of begging.  Sadly, this statistic also holds true for the blind and mentally challenged communities.  Manitas now educates 46+ deaf students year round, ranging in all ages.  

  Soon after being introduced to the Manitas community/family we were introduced to the media and the mayors wife.  Once the excitement started to settle down, we got to work in the house.  After the main room was painted the men broke out the ladders and got to work on tearing up the leaking roof.  The students and women got started on tapping up the walls and painting the 2 classrooms in the main house blue and later putting a second coat on the main room.  After a long day of work,  Tere and her family joined us for dinner downtown, compliments of the mayors wife.  Dinner was a bit awkward, being that only Susan, Silvario, and Monica were the only people from our group that spoke decent spanish.  We still managed to have a great time and great food!

  Tuesday, we woke up and had breakfast around eight.  The guys strolled back up the ladders and the women got started painting the office and doors.  We took a break every couple of hours.  The women that worked as tutors or teachers at the school (were also brothers, sisters, and mothers of the students) made us breakfast and lunch each day.  The work days consisted of starting at 8 or 9 and finish cleaning up by the time the sun was down.  I showered Tuesday night with a solar shower bag...the sun had stopped hitting the bag a few hours prior, so it wasn't quite as warm as I had hoped it to be, but I did manage to get yet another good nights rest!

  Wednesday...we did more roofing, pluming and painting.  I didn't have much to do with the pluming, or the roofing (unfortunately)...I just know it got done, which is quite a beautiful thing!  We finished up painting the bathrooms, and doing some touch ups on the other rooms we had already worked on.  Monica and I moved on to the classroom next to the main building.  The texturing job on the walls was a bit thick and rough, so it was a bit more tedious to get it done.  With the help of some students and Matt joining us here and there we got it done in a good amount of time.  That night Alejandro, Tere's son, took us to a karaoke bar with some of his friends.  We enjoyed some singing, dancing, drinking.  We were even able to chat between Monica, and Alejandro's friends, the translation worked quite well.  It was a nice way to wind down from the past couple of days.  

  Thursday, Julie and I worked with the students on creating white boards for the classrooms, office, kitchen, and entrance.  It was fun to work closer with the students on a project, a little less strait-forward than painting.  We started to finish wrapping all our projects up around the house.  

  I would like to give a special thanks to Alma, a women that had accompanied us from the time we arrived has been one of the most powerful people I have ever met.  She works with the United States to help provide better living situations for many people in Nogales.  Alma works along side non-profits, like Manitas Que Hablan, to allow people like Tere to get the means they need to create a sustainable business.
 Friday before we left we had to finish up some last minute adjustments on the pluming situation and pack up the rest of our gear to get going.  All in all it was a great experience to be able to create a new relationship with beautiful people forming a new avenue for a community in need.      

  We made our way back to the states after saying our goodbyes.  The following day we accompanied Robert to a bike race close to Tempe, AZ.  We helped set up and run kids through a bike safety course for We-Cycle.  Sunday, Sue and Sil drove us from Phoenix to Los Angeles so we could catch back up with our schedule.
Los Angeles has been such an interesting experience.  My original thoughts when we first got here was a bit of a shock that this place actually exists.  It kind of caught me off guard I think.  After a day or two it finally started to sink in.  We road around Beverly Hills, and Bel Air, hiked the cliffs overlooking Los Angeles, and road down the coast.  
  Last night I filled my cup of noodles with some hot water from a gas station and had some peanut butter for dessert.  My most recent feelings, the ones I have been longing for, I think, have finally come.  I miss the "normal routine".  I miss the little things.  A cup of coffee, knowing where I am going to sleep each night, opening the refrigerator, turning a switch to have heat in seconds, a warm shower, a choice.  To end our first week in California, we slept on the cliffs of Santa Monica, in our sleeping bags, listening to the ocean and the cars pass.  Around 3 AM, night life started to die down, but the waves were still coming in.  It was a beautiful thing.  
 It has been 3 weeks now since we have gone more than 30 miles on our bikes and I am so ready to get back on the road!

  

Phoenix to Nogales

   We road about 60 miles from Camp Verde (http://www.cvaz.org) to the Happy Valley area (about 30 miles North of Phoenix) last Sunday, March 31st.  We stopped off to grab some dinner and catch the  rail into Phoenix on this exit.  The group met at Red Robin for a delicious donated dinner.  We were collectively looking on our smart phones for the light rail going into the city.  Defeated, we asked our waitress, who didn't seem to have much of a clue, either...  At this point,  the light rail we were looking for did not exist.  We collectively decided it would be better to split off into smaller groups for the night.      Ryan made it to Phoenix earlier in the day; Ashley and Julie got a hotel room; Elijah, Matt, and Victor found camp a couple of exits down; Martin, Monica and I hopped back on the highway right before the sun set to attempt to hitch a ride.  We were inconveniently posted up beside a jail, but some how we managed to squeeze our bikes and the three of us into John's home/van after about 10 minutes of waiting.  John was on his way to the last leg of The McDowell Mountain Music Festival with his friend and three dogs.  About an hour later we were dropped off in downtown, outside of the festival.  Marty discovered the light rail we had been looking for.  He was on his way to go visit a friend at Arizona State University.  Monica and I were going to find a place to camp (sleep on the street), and decided we should probably grab a beer first.  A guy at the CVS suggested the Crescent Ballroom on N 2nd Ave. and W Van Buren St.  On a side note, (something that took us a few days to get used to) Phoenix has a road called Central.  On the East side of Central, are streets, while the West side of Central are Avenues or Drives, fyi, if you ever decide to check Phoenix out.   When we arrived to the Crescent Ballroom, Tim, a fellow Philanthropistic soul, noticed the heavy load Monica and I were pedaling with.  He invited us to chat at his friends table so we could explain ourselves.  In the end Monica and I enjoyed a Grateful Dead cover band and had a couple of beers, thanks to Tim's generosity.  The two of us originally planned on picking a spot somewhere downtown to crash for the night.  Ryan, again, was already in the city.  We were talking to him while we were at the bar about where he was staying and what his plan was.  The couple he had found on warmshowers.com invited Monica and myself to stay for the night as well.  So, the two of us were pleasantly surprised to see that the couple was just down the road from the bar we were at.  There is nothing like a night ride in a warm, quiet(ish) city, but we were tired from a long day, and ready for bed.  We arrived at some lofts with a great view of the city and the Diamondback field, such a great end to the day.
  I met Susan and Silvario the next morning while they made us breakfast.  Our immediate connection with Silvario was when he told us about his touring experience from Saint Augustine, Florida to San Diego, California.  He was the type of rider that wanted to take his time and enjoy the views and people at whatever pace he wanted.  While his friend, Robert, that joined him (who we met later) wanted to keep the pedal to the pavement. As we wrapped up breakfast, Susan and Ryan had talked about some volunteer work we could do at the local Community Center she supports.  Silvario walked Monica, Ryan, and I through the neighborhood to the community center.  We helped distribute and restock some food for the pantry that serves families in the neighborhood.  At 3:30 the kids came in for the extended school day.  Helping them with homework, reading, and doing some arts/crafts and games while waiting for their parents to pick them up.  It reminded me of when I went to ESD in elementary at Prairie Trail, back in Flower Mound.  I can appreciate how this ride has sent me back to my past from moments we ("adults") tend to forget about.  Anyway, after a not so long, successful day with the kids, we made some enchiladas for dinner and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.
  As you can imagine, 9 smelly cyclists/bikes, and 2 experienced parents, crammed into a decent sized loft, wouldn't be so comfortable (for most people)...so we decided to stay at another warm showers profile for a couple of nights to lighten the load on Sues and Sil while we stayed in town.  Marty was still at the University, so Matt went ahead and joined him down there for a couple of days.  Ryan, Monica, Elijah, Victor, Julie, and I made our way across town to stay in Blaise's warehouse, behind his house.  He trekked from San Francisco to Seattle on a Penny-farthing!! (Much respect)

  After hanging out at Blaise's for two days, we headed back to the city.  I hung out at a coffee shop all day looking for jobs at summer camps and ski resorts.  At 4 we went to check in at the Renaissance.  I was able to get a room donated for the night.  At 5 we went to Bike Labs (bike shop) to get our bikes worked on and hang out with Robert.
  Robert is a good friend of Sil and Sues, and founder of We-Cycle.  We-Cycle is a non-profit organization that collects recycled bicycle parts and either builds bikes from scratch or donates parts to people that cannot afford new parts.  We-Cycle doesn't only sell/donate bikes to homeless people or people that don't have a means to get to work, but they also educate these folks on how to maintain the condition of their bikes.
(Check them out on Facebook or  www.We-cycle.org  <<very impressive site!)
  I left early to go check out a potential partner for The YP.  I found a yoga studio down the road I wanted to take a class at.  They incorporate hammocks into the practice.  I didn't make it in time for the class, but was still able to talk to the guy that started the donation based classes.  He also created a clothes making business.  Currently he has 120 employees that were jobless, and most didn't have any skills to get a job.  They make shoes, clothes, boots, belts, jewelry.  He donates the children's clothes to other organizations/non-profits.  I am hoping we will be able to get some of those clothes to Casa De Lus in Honduras.
(Whether your into yoga: http://ra-yoga.com or clothes: http://ra-apparel.com check it out and get in touch with Roman!)
  It was quite a blessing to have met Sil and Sues.  Through them we had met so many lovely people willing to give back to the community.  They also gave us more opportunities to fulfill our goal in volunteering on our journey, something we haven't had much luck with for the past 3 months.  When they invited us to join them in Nogales, Mexico to help make some repairs on a school for the deaf community, it was hard to say no!  We left the Renaissance the next afternoon and headed back to Sues and Sil's.  Monday morning we were packed, loaded, and about 4 hours from the boarder.

Post 2

  Mikheal Maxwell.  What a guy, let me tell you.  He blessed us miles back (Pensacola, FL)  with great stories, tasty food, shower/washer/dryer, a roof over our heads for very cold/rainy nights, he extended his resources out for us, and fed us even more tasty food.  He still continues to support us.  It is humbling to see a complete stranger (as of a month ago) become a young philanthropist with us in spirit after a few short days.  Mikheal is currently going to school to become a social worker.  He has such a beautiful, full, beating heart.  Mikheal has been a lot of places on this earth.  Maybe more situationally and emotionally than physically.  It was definitely a weekend to remember.  His neighbors were also kind enough to fix us up some eggs, bacon and pancakes before we made our way to the next state.  (Thanks so much Mikheal for everything.  I am sure we will all be keeping in touch).
  Our next couch surfing extravaganza started out with quite a kick.  We were on our way into Slidell, LA.  Maybe a quarter mile from Ken's house.  We all turn to look at a loud rustling in the bushes to our right.  All of the sudden Ashely is on the ground under her bike and we all take a few seconds to try and figure out if what just happened was real.  Ash was T-boned by Bamby.  (What the hell...right?  Are you serious right now?)  It still amazes me with all the space the deer had to be startled and run off, it managed to run dead into one of our riders...it was crazy!  A scrape to the leg and extreme soreness was a given.  Nothing immediately threatening though.  When we got to Ken's we were all so mentally and physically exhausted.  We had some great stir fry and snacks.  Hopped into the hot tub for a bit and hung out to come back down from the adrenalin rush.
  The ride the next day was so beautiful.  The sun came out to play with a slight breeze and the open road beside the swamps.
  To fast forward some, we did some not so productive hitchhiking.  It was definitely adventure worthy.      Moving from gas station. to gas station... to getting some free burgers and fries, to hitching a ride to another gas station in the next town (about 10 minutes out)....to riding to a casino down the road... to then riding to a walmart down the way and getting a ride to another truck stop....to being exhausted at 1 AM....to falling asleep inside the subway at 3 AM...to finally setting up tents behind a brick wall at the truck stop...to sleeing at 4 or 5 AM for six beautiful hours.  In the end we all made it safe and sound to my Aunt Mare and Uncle John's home in Houston (minus Elija and Martin, who decided to ride the way).  Mind you, this all happened well within 24 hours...thanks to a generous, loving mother willing to give us a hand (and rent us a Uhaul).  Thank you!
  Getting to Houston, meeting our newest edition to the young and wild family, Victor, and seeing John, Mare, and cousin Jacky.  I was very pleased :)  It was a great weekend to regroup and visit.  The visiting part was rather significant for me.  As most of my family, along with myself (me being one of the worst of all) is terrible as sitting, being, and visiting with each other (as most "normal" families do, rather often).  (It was great seeing the three of you this past weekend, I would like to keep in touch with my Lesters more often :)).

All for now,
Mac and cheese is calling my name ;)

Post 1

  I will try my best to give you a taste of where we have been in the past 3 weeks.  I haven't written much about where we stay and where we are headed because I don't feel like I can do it justice, but I will try my best.

  We have stayed with a range of different folk from Little Talbot Island (East of Jacksonville FL.) to New Roads LA. where we relax for an extra day today due to a storm forecast.  Luckily, so far we have had nothing but sunshine and a slight, cool breeze.  I am very pleased with life.  

  Seven other individuals and myself gathered in Little Talbot at the National State Park that kisses the Atlantic.  We stayed 3 or 4 days camping, building and riding bikes, packing and unpacking panniers, telling our stories, and talking about why we each decided to join the ride.

  I think we are all a little surprised on how well we interconnected from the beginning.  We all bring a variety of flames to this bonfire.  The practiced communication, open/honest questions, the mixing pot of opinions, and beliefs creates quite a unique but solid base.  With a structure like this, there needs to be a rich range of flexibility.  So far, it seems like we are all willing to contribute  patients.

  The day we arrived to Kim & Nathan's home outside of Tallahassee, I wasn't sure if I had anything left to give.  I was close to shutting down for the evening.  Getting inside, strait to the shower, and to bed for me.  When we made our way inside my heart softened some.  Just enough for me to stick it out and visit with many kind people.  That night they were celebrating a Pagan ritual for the dark moon.  Basically it was a way to release negative energy you held onto.  We had some great talks and tasty food with Kim and Nathan for the remainder of the weekend.  

We have stayed with a handful of very loving churches.

Lamont Baptist Church
Taylor Church in Sanderson, FL
Lighthouse God's Gym
Village Baptist Church

The food and shelter  has been some of the greatest gifts I have ever received.  When you strip yourself away from all (or most) comforts of life, there is a chance for a radical detox and a chance at a larger volume of awareness of the mind body and spirit.  I believe the beauty in this "detox", is that it looks so different for everyone.  

That's all for now.
More couch surfing stories under way.
Thanks for the patients.
Cheers