 |
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
***Special Note***
Border War on HD - "Name That Bike"
It has come to my attention that my bicycle feels deprived, because it doesn't have a name. Mandy has "Flash" and Charlotte has "Annie," but my dark blue metallic colored Trek 520 is nameless (but not clueless).
Therefore, I am announcing "Name That Bike." From now through 3 pm on Thursday, June 28, there will be a contest to name my bike. Prize will be a Border War T-shirt.
Submit name suggestions to me at: Bike4Cure@bigfoot.com
I will announce the winning name at the Hunt-Dis list poolside party. Winner need not be present to win.
Looking forward to what suggestions will come in, and my bicycle is looking forward to having a name.
With anticipation,
Marie Nemec
(Day 28, Part 2) & Day 29 - Border War on HD - Monterey CA
When we got to Kathleen's she had dinner all ready to serve (this is for you Ruth L.). The first course was a delicious warm zucchini soup with just a hint of curry, fantastic. The main dish was lasagna from Trader Joe's (the same specialty grocery chain the roasted garlic pizza came from). There was also a tossed salad with chunks of avocado in it and a wonderful French dressing from Trader Vic's (Kathleen has it shipped to her). Dessert was a crowning glory; a sliced apple and raspberry crisp (e-mail me at amandaadams@pocketmail.com if you want the recipe). It was absolutely delicious served warm with two healthy scoops of vanilla ice cream. It was a Martha Stewart recipe.
After dinner we chatted for a short time and took turns getting clean. We all said goodnight Walton style at about 9:45; it had been a very long day.
Monday dawned clear and beautiful. Marie and I took our bikes to the bike shop in downtown Cambria. The bike shop squeezed us in and made a few adjustments on our bikes. While they had the bikes Marie and I did some window-shopping in downtown Cambria. It is a sweet town.
After getting back to Kathleen's we had sandwiches for lunch. Great bread, turkey, cheese, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, and carrot and celery sticks. Kathleen had also made some homemade zucchini bread that was heavenly.
After lunch we decided to clean Marie's bike chain. About 2 miles after leaving the bike shop Marie's bike began to make a squeaking noise. After we cleaned the chain the noise went away.
In the afternoon we lazed about talking and working on e-mails and thank yous. Charlotte was hard at work on the phone making arrangements for accommodations for us for Tuesday in San Luis Obispo.
Around 4 we went for a short ride thru Cambria and then took a walk through the East-West Ranch. The path wends its way through the grasslands on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We passed 3 benches and 1 bridge made of all natural fibers (sticks and stones); they were really awesome.
After the walk it was time to head home and have dinner. If you thought that dinner on Sunday was awesome, just wait till you hear this!
Roasted chicken that was absolutely succulent. We had another salad with the delicious Trader Vic's French dressing. There was also a potato dish that was out of this world. Kathleen took potatoes (with the skin) and sliced them and laid them in rows in a 9 x 9 glass-baking dish. She brushed them with an olive oil and butter mixture. Then she put salt and pepper and chopped scallions on them and then baked them in the oven, WOW! We also had steamed broccoli with lemon juice on it.
Once again Kathleen out did herself with the dessert. She made a vanilla frozen yogurt and Raspberry sorbet (swirled together) pie in a chocolate/Oreo cookie crust and then sprinkled the entire pie with crushed Oreo cookies. Marie proclaimed it the best dessert she had ever eaten IN HER ENTIRE LIFE!!! It was absolutely scrumptious.
It was getting late so we cleaned the kitchen and made a beeline for sleep. We are going to try to be on the road between 7 and 7:30 but Kathleen is whipping up an egg dish for us to eat in the morning. We're going to need to put shocks on our bikes or risk breaking something after eating all of this good food.
With much Love from the road,
Charlotte, Marie, and Amanda
Yesterday and today's mileage - 54
Cumulative mileage - 1187
Road Change Report - 27 cents
Day 30 - Border War on HD - Cambria - San Luis Obispo
After a wonderful egg, bread, and cheese casserole that had been refrigerated overnight, then baked for 1 1/2 hrs in the morning, we hugged fond farewells and headed off South on Hwy 1. Kathleen is SAGging our gear to Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church. Bless her generous heart!
After 2-3 miles, the squeak on Marie's bike from yesterday made its re-appearance. Just annoying, nothing major serious, but frustrating.
We rode through beautiful ranch country, rolling hills with cattle. We were battling a headwind, but still moving along well.
First town was Cayucos, about 14 miles from Cambria. Nice, but not as upscale as Cambria. Bike shop in Cayucos was still closed at 9:15 am. Somehow, we lost Charlotte in town, and had to go back to reunite our trio.
Morro Bay (with its impressive dome-shaped Morro Rock) did have a bicycle shop where we stopped to investigate this noise. Seems as if the bearings on one of the two cogs that the chain passes through were totally dry, something that wasn't noticed at the shop in Cambria. Stan (the owner) lubed it for me, and we were off again!
Lots of smells, sights, and sounds. Eucalyptus and the salt air were predominant before we turned inland and through Morro Bay State Park. Lovely road, with a bike path. A beautiful bronze statue of a bear surprised us; it was just past our next turn onto Turri Rd, but we rode maybe 1/4 mi. further to investigate. We were near Los Osos (which means "The Bears"); hence the statue.
Turri Rd. was relatively newly paved, very smooth, with a couple of uphills and fast downhills (Amanda and I each clocked 38 mph for awhile). Brown ranch country.
Soon we arrived at Los Osos Rd, a major thoroughfare through the little agricultural valley. It's a favorite route for bicyclists; saw maybe a dozen other cyclists, some locals and some touring like us.
Lunch under some mature trees just off the highway. It was someone's property, but no one seemed to mind.
After lunch, we had a relatively short ride into San Luis Obispo. Temps were rising, so we were glad to be nearing our destination at about 1:30 pm.
We actually arrived at the Senior High Youth House before Kathleen did, since she did some errands first. The Church was having a funeral, with munchies afterwards. Paula, the Congregation President's wife, shared the leftovers with us, which gave us a lovely dinner!
That included veggies (jicama, carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower, green peppers mushrooms, celery, with dip) and fruit (honey dew melon, cantaloupe, grapes, pineapple). Plus we had leftover chicken from Kathleen's, which we kept on ice all day! Cookies and pound cake, too, plus zucchini cake from Kathleen. Lovely light dinner!
This was one of our easier riding days. Glad to be here, one day closer to ride's end in Tijuana. Hard to believe we've been on the road for almost a month; so many memories, so many new friends, so many delicious meals! God has graciously blessed us every day!
We are in awe daily of His protection and provision for us, through His people!
Today's mileage - 40 miles
Cumulative total mileage - 1227
Road Change Report - 1 cent
With love from the road,
Marie
Amanda
Charlotte
Day 31, Part 1 - Border War on HD - San Luis Obispo - Lompoc CA
Today was an excellent day! We actually got on the road at the time that we wanted, 6am. Getting on the road early was great; unfortunately the road we needed took out of town was not. Higuera Street was completely torn up and grooved. It was terrible and really slowed us down.
From Higuera we traveled south on Ontario Road and then turned off onto Shell Beach Road. We made a pit stop in Shell Beach and met a very nice lady named Kathleen Dagnall. Charlotte and Kathleen struck up conversation about the BOB trailer that Charlotte pulls. It was made in the store around the corner from Kathleen’s shop. Kathleen makes sandwiches and salads that are sold in c-stores. She was very nice and insisted that each of us take a sandwich or salad for later that day. She was awesome and we will really enjoy the salads (two grilled chicken salads and one chef salad).
By this time it was about 7:30 am and we had traveled about 11.5 miles. We crossed over into Pismo Beach and got onto Hwy 1 via Dolliver St. We made it to Oceano and decided to top off on water since there wasn't much between Oceano and Guadalupe where we were going to meet Pete, Jan, and Chuck for lunch and the last part of the ride.
Coming out of Oceano we were on a roll and ran right into our own folly. We decided to take an alternate route that looked like it would cut off some distance, not to mention the painful looking ascent up a respectable looking hill. WRONG CHOICE!!!! (Marie did find about $ .98 at the intersection where we decided to take the alternate route). The first 1/2-mile of the alternate was great and then we turned the corner. What we saw was the steepest hill we'd encountered to date. With our bikes fully loaded with gear we all ended up walking up the hill, a real calf burner. We ultimately decided to be a little more circumspect about taking alternate routes and we're tempted to send a letter of protest to the California Department of Transportation for having the audacity to mark that hill as a legitimate alternate route (it could be a double black diamond ski slope in Colorado).
From here is was a short 10 miles into Guadalupe where we met up with Pete and Jan Moeller and Chuck Greenley. Pete and Jan are our hosts for the evening. Chuck is a riding buddy of Pete's and will be riding into Lompoc with us.
Lunch in LeRoy Park was absolutely perfect, a bit of a change of pace. We had some really fresh bagels (sesame seed, cinnamon and raisin crust, blueberry, etc.). There was peanut butter and jelly to go on the bagels. We also had wonderful juicy California oranges and bananas and sweet strawberries. There was water and lemonade for beverages.
After lunch we loaded our gear into Pete and Jan's SUV and Jan headed for home. Pete determined the route into Lompoc (approx. 30 miles) based on the least amount of total vertical climbing, and boy did we appreciate it!
The route was not on any of our maps so we just followed his lead. The day was quickly getting warmer and the sun was becoming fierce as the afternoon wore on so there was no dawdling. We made one stop at a golf course about 15 - 20 miles outside of Lompoc for water and facilities.
For the most part the roads were flat or with minor rolling hills. We did have one fairly long low-grade ascent. This was a warm up for the big hill that we had to climb to get into Lompoc. Harris Grade is aptly named. It was a 1.5-mile ascent that was very curvy and fairly steep. Even though we have done harder it was by no means an easy climb.
According to both Pete and Chuck, Harris Grade should be one of if not THE last really big hill we have to face on the ride and we don't mind that a bit!
Downhill almost all the way to the Moeller's, except a hill at the very end!
Day 31, Part 2 - Border War on HD - San Luis Obispo - Lompoc CA
Jan and Pete live in the Vandenburg Village area of Lompoc. When we pulled our bikes into their garage we parked them next to Pete’s vintage '56 black hardtop convertible Thunderbird w/continental kit. What an awesome little car!
We relaxed for a few minutes and then took our showers. After showers Jan popped the lasagna in the oven and then Pete and Jan took us on a quick driving tour of Lompoc and Vandenburg Air Force Base.
We started with the Air Force base. The base is named after Hoyt S. Vandenburg the 2nd Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Vandenburg, pre-Air force, was an Army Base named Camp Cook. The Navy's worst peacetime disaster occurred in 1927 when 9 destroyers, who were following each other, all turned left too early and ran aground. Lives were lost and today an anchor memorial marks the site of the tragedy.
As you enter the base you drive down an avenue that is lined with the flags of every state. At the end of the avenue is a Minuteman missile, very impressive.
Pete, a retired Lt. Colonel, worked in the Space and Missile Training detachment at Vandenburg. The base is divided into two areas; the north section that serves the ballistic missiles that are launched to the west towards the Marshall Islands. The south end of the base serves the space launches of satellites that go into a polar orbit. It was really fascinating. Interestingly enough Vandenburg is not a base that has airplanes, although it has a 15,000 ft. runway!
The second part of the tour, the town of Lompoc, was also fascinating. Lompoc is one of only two locations on the planet that mines Diatomaceous earth. Diatomaceous earth is used in just about everything. It is the vehicle that carries time-released medicines into the bodies of humans and animals as well as things like water filters and such.
Lompoc is also known as the Valley of Flowers. This weekend they are having their annual Flower Festival. The festival also boasts the 3rd largest floral parade in the nation. We saw lots of flowers and vegetables like sweet peas, marigolds, lupines, sweet alyssum, and stock. The veggies included cauliflower, asparagus, and artichokes.
Another of the great attractions in Lompoc are the murals that have been painted all over town by prominent artists. There is a street that they call Art Alley that is a must.
After our quick tour of the city we went back to the house to the inviting aroma of Lasagna. The meal was tremendous and started with hors d'ouvres.
Fresh fruit led the way with watermelon, cantaloupe, green and black grapes, and strawberries. There were also white corn chips and a tangy salsa to whet our appetites.
The dinner consisted of terrific cheesy lasagna and a tossed salad with vine ripe tomatoes and our choice of three dressings. There was also warm crusty French bread that had been lightly buttered, absolutely fantastic. Dessert was a fabulous peach pie served warm with vanilla ice cream.
It was a special treat for us that Chuck joined us for dinner (his wife was working in the flower festival) and the conversation was great.
Bedtime snuck up on us and there wasn't much time to sit and visit after dinner. We said our good-byes to Chuck and our sleep tights to Jan and Pete and then hit the hay.
Today's mileage - 59 Cumulative mileage - 1286 Road Change Report - $1.01
God Bless from the road, Charlotte, Marie, and Amanda
Day 32 - Border war on HD - Lompoc - Santa Barbara CA
Milestone day today! Last scheduled day for us to carry our own gear!
Got an early start from Lompoc, after a solid juice/fruit/cereal/milk/muffin breakfast. First time anyone has made Kashi GoLean cereal available (what Marie eats almost every day).
True to form, Pete (who all three of us consider to be a "prince of a man," lead us out through Lompoc to catch Hwy 1 South. What a dear man!
We rode through a canyon, which paralleled the Salsipuedes Creek and then the Jaro Creek. Cattle grazing on dry hillsides, sparse chaparral-type trees. All through this canyon, fiber optic cable is being installed underground alongside Hwy. 1. There were many crews working, pilot cars, flaggers, and the whole 9 yards!
There was a gradual but undulating 13.5 mile rolling hill climb to an elevation of over 900 feet, before a fast, 2.5-mile descent onto the 101 South.
We stopped and ate lunch at the Gaviota Safety Rest Area. It was only 10:30 am but we'd been on the road, expending energy, for 4 hours. A blue, brown, and silver bird (color scheme matched Charlotte's bike Annie's to a tee) amused us with its boldness and making its wishes known that it wanted Marie to share the raisin/oatmeal cookie she was eating!
Once onto the 101, immediately we got a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. We will parallel the ocean for many miles from now until ride's end next week. Fortunately for us, there was some fog, which kept the temperature bearable.
We had to endure the sounds of traffic whizzing by for about 15 miles, plus we had to ride on the freeway shoulder, which had been newly oiled. Yuck! We were happy to exit the freeway where it was required.
The rest of the ride was on Hollister Ave. and Modoc Rd., both of which had a designated bike lane. Marie stopped at a bike shop in Goleta to try to get a small problem with the derailleur fixed, but to no avail. Guess it's just minor annoyance, this "hitch" in the pedaling rotation.
Goleta is home to UCSB (Univ. of Cal. at Santa Barbara). Didn't really see the campus, though.
Arrived at Emanuel Lutheran Church at the roughly predicted time (3:30 pm). Charlotte had stayed here two years ago with Evelyn very close to the end of their "Infinity Ride." I liked the sign outside, advertising their Sunday worship times. "Living Praise" - 8:15 am; "Classic Grace” 10:15 am. Nice!
We got settled in the church, rested some, and I actually fell asleep! You can imagine how surprised I was to wake up to hear my very dear friend Dede Duly's voice! She has driven up from her home in Burbank to SAG for us for the rest of the ride!
Charlotte remained at the church to work on her journal and E-mails, eat a microwave dinner, and wait for Pastor Skov to return. Dede, Amanda and I drove into Santa Barbara and had a wonderful Mexican dinner at Acapulco Restaurant.
Returned to the church after we drove by the Santa Barbara Mission. It is one of the prettiest and most famous, founded in the late 1700's by the Franciscan Padres from Spain. The road between the missions was called "El Camino Real" (The King's Highway).
Enjoyed homemade brownies and ice cream for dessert. We went over some of the routing for tomorrow; lots of turns tomorrow.
Today's mileage - 56.62 mi. Cumulative mileage - 1343.75 Road Change Report - 41 cents
From now until ride's end, it will be a "quartet" (Amanda, Charlotte, Marie, and Dede), but don't count on us to sing!
With love from the road, Your HD Road Warriors
Day 33, Part 1 - Border War on HD - Santa Barbara - Port Hueneme CA
What a glorious day for a ride, but it is going to be a scorcher! With the help of our new SAG person, Dede Duly, we were up and on the road by 7:15 this a.m.
Dede is a long time friend of Marie's and lives in Burbank with her husband. She will be SAGing for us through the end of the ride next Thursday. Dede drove her husbands mammoth truck, a 1977 Ford F250 Ranger Super cab XLTW with a topper. She also brought along a bike stand that came in real handy today.
The traveling today was a little tougher than it has been lately because of the traffic and congestion of the larger cities that we are now traveling thru. Getting out of Santa Barbara was a bit of a challenge due to construction, though we met some very nice construction workers, Rudy and Rafael, who let us and our SAG vehicle through the closed street to keep us on course.
We also met a couple of other riders from San Francisco that gave us a tip on a shortcut that actually worked. Upon leaving Santa Barbara we traveled on Hwy 1 for a short time and then left the highway for a short trek on Via Real.
On Via Real we passed some Orchid Ranch and the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club. Dede discovered a little park, Lookout Park that was the 1st place on the California coast where oil was drilled in the 1870's.
Just before got to Carpinteria we made a pit stop at about 10 am with 17 miles under our belts. We followed Carpinteria Ave. until we picked up 1 again for a quick 5 miles of heavy, loud traffic.
While on 1 we passed Mussel Shoals, a long pier that stopped on a small island with palm trees, several bungalow style buildings, and a torch that was burning.
Dede scoped out the scene for us and we decided to pull off on the Rincon Parkway and watch the surfers, fishermen, and swimmers in the ocean while we ate our lunch.
Lunch was awesome. Dede had brought lots of good stuff with her. We had tuna sandwiches on garlic cheese sourdough bread with slices of vine ripe tomatoes. There were also sweet honeydew melon slices and meat rolls. The meat rolls were thin slices of ham that had been spread with cream cheese and then rolled up. There was also salt and vinegar pringles and cheetoes (both crispy and puffed). For beverages we had our choice of Snapple Raspberry iced tea, water, Gatorade (passion fruit, citrus cooler, or fierce melon), or Hanson sodas. Dessert at lunch was dark and rich homemade brownies that Dede brought with her.
After lunch I took a few minutes to walk along the seashore. After growing up on the Gulf Coast in Florida I was surprised at how cold the water was. It was very refreshing and I found a neat looking rock and shell.
After lunch we headed south along the Rincon Parkway (a road that borders the ocean) and realized that we had only seen a small portion of the Parkway. The first 1 - 2 miles there was nothing but RV's parked on the parkway. Big, little, old, new, every make and model ever made. It was really neat to see. You just pull onto the side of the parkway and park the RV. It costs $18.00 per night and there is a five-day limit. Not bad for a week of camping.
From the parkway we continued south thru the fictious town of Dulah and into the city of Ventura. We were able to take advantage of a nice bike path that took us along the beach for a short time.
From Ventura it was a short and straight shot into Port Hueneme (pronounced Y-NEE-me). We found it very interesting that the landscape changed fairly abruptly when we left Ventura. There were lots more crops and livestock.
On this stretch we also passed the longtime camping stomping grounds for Dede and her family, McGrath State Park.
Day 33, Part 2 - Border War on HD - Santa Barbara - Port Hueneme CA
We reached our destination, the home of Mark and Pam Hoffman. They have a lovely two-story home on Blue Dolphin Way in a small-gated community on the beach. Their daughters are Anissa and Genna (short for Genevieve).
In 1999 Charlotte and Evelyn were about to complete their "Infinity Loop" ride of 6 months when they passed Port Hueneme and contacted the Lutheran Church about accommodations. Pam is that church secretary and graciously took them into their home in 1999. When they found that we would be coming thru this year they were very gracious and invited all four of us to stay with them in their home. It was wonderful.
We had a lovely dinner before Mark, Pam and the girls left to attend Genna's pre-school graduation. The main course was shish kabobs. There were green peppers, sweet Vidalia onions, chicken and beef on the kabobs. We also had steamed broccoli and a delicious cooked wild rice.
After dinner Marie and Dede went to investigate the status of the Ocean Aire Mobile Home Park, which is owned by some of Marie's relatives. Charlotte and I got caught up on some of our e-mail and other correspondence.
When Marie and Dede returned, the four of us took a walk down to the beach to see the sunset. It was beautiful. We walked out to the end of the pier and then back to the house.
When we got back to the house Mark and Pam were back from the graduation and we all had a delicious dessert that Pam had whipped up. It was a yellow cake mix with cream cheese poured into a jellyroll pan. Then she mixed cherry pie filling in with the batter and baked it. It was a delicious cherry and cheesecake. This was served with vanilla ice cream, Vunderbar!!!
After dessert it was time to hit the hay. The day had been long, hot, and very fun. We really feel blessed to have Dede with us; she's great.
Today's mileage - 46 Cumulative mileage - 1333.13 Road Change Report - $1.02
With much love from the road, Charlotte, Marie, and Amanda
Day 34 - Border war on HD - Port Hueneme - Venice CA
Left Port Hueneme about 7:15 am. Our host Mark even made a little video clip of us leaving.
We passed multiple peletons of bicyclists headed in the opposite direction. Had never seen so many bicyclists, all sporting multicolored lycra-type riding shirts!
We passed many military installations, including the California Air National Guard, Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station, the Naval Air Warfare Center, and the Naval Base Venture County. Quite a military presence!
Once along the coast again, we tarried briefly at Mugu Rock, the first place where there's a panorama of the Southern Coast, towards Malibu.
Stopped at Mugu Estuary, a border world where land and sea overlap. Seemed appropriate during the "Border War on HD."
Surfing is alive and well in So. Calif. Saw many surfers, especially at Leo Carillo State Beach.
Never realized that Malibu has 27 miles of coastline. Quite a few gradual uphill and downhill grades. Marie even found 30 pennies in a heap, like they'd been in a plastic baggie that had deteriorated.
Amanda spotted a Trek Bike Shop so we pulled in. Once again, Marie sought help with the rear derailleur/"hitch" problem, while Amanda and Charlotte visited with two young men bicyclists, one of whom had been to Grand Junction and remembered the "Art on the Corner" statues on Main Street!
On the road again, much to Marie's dismay, the problem WASN'T fixed, although she was $15 poorer. Oh well.
Passed Pepperdine University, site of the water polo events of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Dede prepared a great lunch spread. Enjoyed the shade of her blue & white umbrella.
The last stretch, from Malibu to Venice, well ... welcome to the reality of the Los Angeles area traffic! Being Saturday, many thousands were at the beach. It was a relief to veer onto the bikeway at Will Rogers State Beach. Many pedestrians and roller bladers to share space with, but we were able to thread our way through at a fairly fast clip for us (10-11 mpg) anyway.
While we were riding, Dede drove ahead, and found my mother waiting for us just N of the Santa Monica Pier. Dede and my mother arrived at Jan and Henry Folick's apartment in Venice perhaps 5 min. after we did!
Two highlights of the day. First was a ride on the Philadelphia Toboggan Co. #62 carousel on the Santa Monica Pier. Horses were hand-carved by German and Italian immigrant craftsmen in 1922. There are 44 horses, no two alike, and 2 chariots. This carousel was first located in Nashville TN, before it was moved to the Venice Pier, and finally to the Santa Monica Pier in 1947.
Second highlight was a visit with Jan and Henry Folick. Jan has been a faithful supporter of Bike For The Cure for all 3 rides. This visit, in her apartment, was much more relaxed. Her Phd husband Henry just turned 80 last month. He was quite "with it," engaging in conversation with us. They both seemed to have enjoyed our visit.
Drove back to my mother's home in Hollywood, with Marie playing "tour guide" for Amanda. (Charlotte came back with my mother.) After showers, we went to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. Everyone enjoyed something different (Mother - lasagna, Charlotte - Chicken Marsala, Amanda - Mizithra cheese/butter on spaghetti, and Marie - spaghetti with meat sauce. Spumoni ice cream topped off the meal.
Today's mileage - 50.51 Cumulative mileage - 1394.26 Road Change Report - 80 cents
With just four more riding days, in the Southern California megalopolis,
Marie, Amanda, and Charlotte
Day 35 - Border War on HD - Rest Day
I have learned that "Rest Day" is a misnomer; it's really, for the most part, a non-riding day to get caught up on what needs to be done, that didn't get don on riding days.
We all slept in to some degree. Charlotte's friends, the Faiths from Monrovia, came to pick her up at 8:30 a.m. to spend the day with them. Their Presbyterian Church and a Nazarene Church had a "church in the park" service planned.
Amanda, my mother, and I drove to Burbank to attend Sunday morning worship service at Dede's church, Calvary Bible. Good praise music, and an excellent sermon by a missionary to China, Steve Wible (rhymes with Bible.) He told of the growth of the Christian house churches there, and how his missions group (SALT) is training Chinese folks for leadership/pastoral roles.
Dede gave us a little tour of the hillsides of Burbank, including the Castaway Restaurant, the 3-hole golf course, her mother-in-law's family home, and the Starlight Bowl area. There is still much undeveloped natural vegetation above Burbank, almost an island amid the hustle and bustle of the sprawling urban metropolis of the Los Angeles Basin.
Dede invited us to stay for lunch. We had a great spiral pasta salad with ham, sliced hard-boiled eggs, grapes, scallions, and carrots in a mayonnaise and sour cream sauce (salt, pepper, and garlic to taste). Watermelon and banana nut bread w/cranberries were the dessert. Dede has always been an outstanding cook, for the 31 years I've known her.
Dede told us that the radiator on the big brown Ford truck had sprung a leak so she would have to use her Toyota Camry to SAG for the rest of the ride. That will necessitate taking less gear, but we're ready to discard rain jackets, wind pants, etc!
We drove back to my mother's house. I worked on the process of washing/drying laundry, while my mother ran Amanda to Rite Aid for 1 hr. film developing, a little local sightseeing, and the infamous Trader Joe's.
Charlotte returned from her visit in Monrovia. She had a very good time with the Faiths.
We ate dinner out, at the Acapulco Restaurant (same chain restaurant as our meal in Santa Barbara). But the servings seemed 50% bigger, and no one but Charlotte could finish her dinner. I had Traditional Chicken Fajita, Amanda had Carnitas (braised pork w/oranges), Charlotte had a halibut taco, and my mother had an enchilada and a taco. The rest of my chicken and Amanda's pork will become my mother's lunch and dinner tomorrow.
We spent the waning hours of the evening making decisions about what to include in the "bare necessities." I will bring back what is left behind back to Colorado when I return in the 4Runner, after the HDSA Convention.
Dede will pick us up between 6-6:15 a.m. tomorrow morning, and drive us to Venice, where we will resume riding.
With only four more riding days left, we remain your 3 heavily farmer tanned "Roadies," plus one,
Marie, Amanda, Charlotte, and Dede
Today's mileage - 0
Road Change Report - 1 cent
Cumulative Road Change from San Francisco-Venice CA - $5.65
|
|
|
|
Home | Mission | Itinerary | Journal | Journal Archive | Photos | Memorial | Biographies | Sponsors | Links Please send any comments to the Web Master |
|