We're here in beautiful San Diego taking a couple days off from riding. We've been blessed with beautiful weather still and starting to form somewhat of a tan. The campgrounds have been right on the beaches...with good views of dolphins, sea otter, elephant seals, and parrots! It took us a little while to figure out how we were going to go about skipping Los Angeles...it just seemed really messy..actually more like frightening. So we cheated and rented a car in Ventura (50 miles north of LA) and drove all the way here to San Diego. Chris did very well driving amongst the California city drivers who don't use blinkers and go about 90 miles an hour. Along the way I experienced a Wienerschnitzel, which I had been told was a real treat for the Hansen family. It was nice to kick back and play some tunes in the car..it seemed very luxurious for us. We dropped it off today and were only semi sad to see it go.
Our bike rides before renting the car have been pretty epic. Almost 1000 ft elevation gain in a matter of 3 miles and then a 13 mile hill the next day. Our legs still are sore, but spending some time on the beach under the sun has restored our strength....(I think the Coronas helped too). We just barely missed an earthquake in Santa Barbara..it happened the day after we left...(very, very small one for all the mother and fathers reading). We've also had the opportunity to visit some beautiful missions along the way with only a small entrance fee.
We're staying at a really neat hostel that has $3 BBQ nights, movie nights, free pancakes, and of course very hot showers. We'll be here until Sunday awaiting our treasure map from the Adventure Cycling Association. This guide is going to help us get from San Diego to Tempe, Arizona so we figured we should stick around for it. Because of the lack of water in the desert we thought it crucial to make sure and highlight all the water stops along the way. We're saying goodbye to the beautiful coast and heading inland for Part II of our trip. Stay tuned 
