DUDE. It felt good typing in that 95 miles. It is Saturday night. I AM SO HAPPY. I loved today. People, we saw our first San Diego mileage sign today: 198 miles. I squealed a little at the sight of it.
Today we are staying with Dad's sister Shirley's family. She lives in Thousand Oaks (about 15 miles out of Oxnard where we stopped) and they were all nice enough to pick us up! Tonight has been better then most Christmas's I've had. We got picked up in a CAR that goes FAST, got a shower in a REAL home and had a humongo meal. And I'm typing this on a real computer, not a tiny little blackberry phone with buttons designed for elvish-sized people that cramp my fingers (that, truly, has been the real hardship of the trip). I digress. Basically, it is really wonderful here and the Jones family is very kind. But let's talk about the day, shall we?
We biked! The terrain lately has been really boosting my self esteem. I think we hit so many hard climbs this trip that now we are finally getting to some flatter land we are able to really cruise. The only problem, at least for the first half of the day, is I actually just get bored. Just chilling on an uncomfy seat for hours is rough. So I've been making Dad tell me stories as we ride, to help with the boredom, as well as the inevitable morning stress I feel. I heard all about his childhood today. He sure was a nasty little brother sometimes. It was great, made the morning pass quick. Combining nicely with this little bit of nostalgia, we went past El Capitan Beach today--the beach that Dad's family vacationed at often when he was younger. It was touching, we took the exit to see it, and he told us a bit about the times they used to spend there. He got his classic smile that makes his vein in his forehead pop out and it warmed my heart. It made me wonder, in 35 years or so, where I will be when I show my kids where I vacationed as a kid. Probably some lonely road on the coast where we biked on this very trip.
When we got to Santa Barbara, we had our normal "we hate biking through cities" syndrome flair up again. We got lost several times trying to wind our way through, but Matt is a jedi master navigator so we prevailed victorious. Schooled, Santa Barbara. We traveled through Ventura- beautiful city, and spent the rest of the miles right on the beach. We are definitely in Southern Cali, it's getting hot and palm tree-ish. Another squeal-worthy detail of today.
Honestly, I woke up this morning not thinking I could do 95 miles. Now we are 50 miles from LA and 180 from San Di-freaking-ego. If I can do this, we can easily solve world hunger and cure cancer. In general, there is hope for humanity.
I love you!
Kris
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