Santa Cruz to Monterey

Now we have arrived in Monterey, and are set up at the campsite. Its at the top of a giant hill, and after a 60 mile day i wasnt in much of a mood for it. Its called Veterans Memorial Camping Ground, and when i cycled in there was the sound of a Bugle doing that Do Do Diddle Doo (Song for the lone soldier or Farewell to the Common Man? The one at the end of the day, you know the one). We are serenaded to sleep at night by some very loud sea lions, which must be somewhere down in the bay. I imagine the whole of the city can hear them.

Weve seen so much its all been a bit of a blur.. even at 12mph.

I got a little itchy in Santa Cruz on the rest day, and so took myself off for a ride in Nissine Mark's State Park, which was a beautiful natural park with 30 miles of trails. Unfortunately it turned into an extreme uphil grind and hairy downhill, shakedn to bits by the time id made it to the bottom though. Heres a photo of me at the top, looking a bit manic, but quite pleased with myself. I suppose i liked the challenge. It was gorgeous.

The ride from Santa cruz to Monterey was tough, but it shouldnt have been really. we got a bit lost, and various other situations using the words Lost, Oh My God, Im Hungry, Is That Rain, Where is Nic, I Better get a Move On, Thats a Puncture and so on.

We seem to be leapfrogging a Canadian pair, who are much more kitted out for this, in terms of gear and sense. We left them in Santa cruz, and bumped into them here in Monterey. John and Charlene.

Me as a Zombie in Montery Halloween Superstore

Last night we got raided. We'd been warned about Raccoons and Deer, but the smell of tunafish in a sealed plastic bag obviously brought the Raccoons out anyway. They made a right mess of things outside the tent. I had the earplugs in and hear any of it, but the bike was knocked over and there were shreds of most things all around. They didnt take the Vegetable Flavoured Crackers though.

The Raccoon Tuna Party

Tomorrow morning we leave for the mighty Big Sur section. We have been warned and encouraged abotu this bit, and it is the most difficult stretch of the whole trip. Put in Big Sur into Google images, and im sure therl be plenty of pictures.

The rest of the pictures form this lot are at:

http://www.afilmcalleddads.com/photos/set2/

Ive fixed the images link below to the previous set, that should work now.

200 Miles done so far