Four states, 3,700 miles creates a lifetime of good memories and new friends
By Jeff Welch
Part Three

Day 7 - I intended originally to head from Oakland down Pacific 1 to Cambria. Along the way I would meet up with Emily (AKA teknokruncher) from the Ninja 250 forum and her mom in Monterrey. Both ride & we thought it would be cool join up for a part of the trip. I actually got into Monterrey around noon and Emily & her mom wouldn't be off work until around 5:30 so I had to find something to do. Emily had suggested the aquarium since they had just brought in a new great white. It wasn't bad but not the best experience for $25.

I remembered after coming off of 1 into Monterrey seeing The Fisherman’s Wharf and a kayak rental facility. So being the expert navigator in small coastal cities that I am, I took 3 lefts, a right, two more lefts, ran over someone’s yard, went straight, shook my fist in righteous fury (looked pretty cool) then finally stumbled upon it exactly as I had intended. Luckily the kayak rental facility had a 2 hr tour starting in 1 hr ending right at 5:30; perfect timing. I got to sit on the beach for an hour and take my first kayaking tour. No photos from the kayak trip, my cameras don't like water. But, I have to say it was $50 well spent. The funniest part was coming back in from the tour to find Emily & her mom talking to one of the employees. They not only knew the place she apparently loves kayaking and goes quite often. It was probably one of the best things I'd done on my trip. If you’ve got a couple of hrs near the coast make sure you try it out.

Due to the timing of meeting up with Emily I wasn't able to make it any farther than Big Sur that day. It was however one of the best days of the trip. We had dinner at Nepenthe (skip the tiny *** $10 salad) and they rode with me to a local campground. All in all I'd say it was a really good day.

Day 8 - My intent was to travel from Big Sur down Hwy 1 to Cambria, get some pics of the sea lions, then down to Santa Barbara for photos of the pier and from there head up 33N to Maricopa, CA to meet up with another Ninja 250 forum member. However as with other things on this trip I had to adjust my plan.

When I awoke at the campground things looked pretty clear, however about 1 mile South down Hwy 1 I encountered my first 'bit' of fog. Not knowing anything about coastal fog I assumed it only lasted until the sun burned it off, maybe 2 hrs? About 30 miles down the road I stopped for gas and the attendant told me the fog bank went well past Cambria and was expected to last until at least 3-4pm! SOB, I expected to see the coastline on my last day before heading home. There were a few breaks in the fog for maybe a few hundred meters with altitude changes as I rode, but 90+% of the coast all the way until maybe 30 min before Santa Barbara had thick fog. I did manage to get some coastal pics w/the fog and made it to Santa Barbara with no problems. Actually pretty cool riding through it but gets a little old after a while.