Southern California!

We have now arrived in what our cycle book calls "Southern
California". We've gone about 1,600 miles or 2,500 kilometers to get
here. We didn't get in to our stop for the night, Oceano, until just
before dark so we didn't have a chance to try out the ocean but we're
told it is quite warm right now. We have been dipping a foot in at
various spots along the way and so far it has been cold; much much
colder than English Bay this summer. The short days make life more
difficult; it is now dark by a bit past 5pm. There is not much else
to do but go into the tent after dark. I'm quite glad to have brought
my small netbook computer and lots of movies and tv shows. We're also
going through lots of books.

The coast from Monterey to San Simeon contained perhaps the nicest
scenery we have encountered so far. For long stretches the rugged
Santa Lucia mountain range left virtually no room for the Pacific
Coast Highway, and there was certainly no room for a shoulder, the
road was narrow, winding, and the views incredible. It is a very
isolated part of California with few inhabitants and not a single
respectable grocery store to be found! Our guide book let us down
here and we ended up having to rely on the pitiful and very expensive
food hidden amongst bursting rows of tacky touristy knick knacks
available at the stores. Big Sur, made famous by a Jack Kerouac novel
of the same name, was a highlight and we spent an extra day in the
State Park there.

Just north of San Simeon we passed a large and very active Elephant
Seal colony. At this time of the year the beach is occupied by
juveniles only. Soon the mature males weighing up to 5,000 pounds and
measuring 15 feet long will arrive from the rich fishing waters off
Alaska and the juvenile males will not be waiting around to greet
them. The females will show up in December and after giving birth to
a new crop of 150 pounders will then be claimed by the most
ferociously dominant of the males. That one beach is the only place
that the seals in the colony ever make landfall. Such is the life of
the massive and totally odd Elephant Seal.

From here on the route will become increasingly urban until we hit
Baja. We are a little apprehensive about cycling in Mexico but I'm
sure it will be much easier than what everyone (none of whom of course
having cycled there) have told us.