This was the much longer day two of our overnight coastal trip. Ruth was very excited all day that she had stayed in a hotel.

Anne wasn’t quite awake when we started, so I took the first turn with the trailer. It was misty, but not enough to really need rain gear. Before too long, Anne warmed up and was ready to take it back.

We didn’t have much of a lunch with us today, just some bread and peanut butter. We though we’d find something at the gas station near the hotel, but they were still closed when we passed them. We decided to take a 1.7 mile detour to the La Honda Market, even though we weren’t sure of our when they would open. Lucky for us, they were open so we got some yummy sandwiches before continuing up Alpine.

Anne took the trailer all the way up, and she still kicked my butt. I was not having a very good climbing day. But we eventually made it to the top, and got to enjoy the ups and downs of Skyline.

Finally it was my turn for the trailer again. The descent on Tunitas Creek was nice – at first anyways. It started out nice and gentle, but then got fairly steep. Anne took the lead, and every time she disappeared around a corner, Ruth would ask where Mommy went. Then she would get very excited when we caught up again. “There she is!”

We had a short uphill section before rejoining Highway 1. Even though it wasn’t too steep or too long, it took a lot out of me. Fortunately enough, there were cows and horses to keep Ruth entertained.

I believe this was the longest bike ride we’ve done, in terms of time elapsed (we’ve done more miles, but not with any significant climbing). I feel pretty good, although tired. This ride was a little more intense than our biggest day scheduled for the Oregon trip, so I’m pretty confident we’ll be able to pull that off.

PS: Anne was sad I didn’t mention the artichoke farm yesterday. We rode past a artichoke farm both today and yesterday. Hurray?

We decided a while ago that we should try to do an overnight trip as part of our training. We ended up scheduling it just a week before the big tour, so I guess it’s kind of a dry run more than anything else.

As we were getting ready to leave the house this morning I heard a funny noise. I looked outside and saw that it was pouring! Still sunny though. After about 10 minutes it stopped. Quite an auspicious start.

Today was a pretty quick ride down Highway 1. Tomorrow we take the long way back. Nice views of the ocean, although parts were pretty foggy. There was more car traffic than I would have liked, but there was a pretty nice shoulder most of the way.

We stopped for lunch at Pomponio State Beach. Anne took Ruth to see the ocean. Apparently she freaked out at the waves coming over her toes, but calmed down once Mommy told her it was just the ocean giving her a kiss.

We arrived at our lodging fairly early, so had a chance to walk around a bit. It’s a pretty nice place, with regular hotel rooms, RV campsites, canvas cabins, and also horses! We’re in a hotel room – I’m quite fond of a proper shower after a bike ride.

Ruth is now “sleeping” on the floor next to the bed. She actually playing with the room phone (unplugged) and ducking out of sight if I look at her.

Animal sightings: cows, horses, goats, some lizards flitting in the bushes

Mechanical problems: none