the underside view.
california poppy.
seed pod of...can someone help us out on this one?
here is the tree.
great blue heron, methinks.
santa cruz boardwalk amusement rides, not operational at this time of year.
view along the beach, amusement park on right.
matt's backside, and more of the park.
the flowers outside of our hotel room.
my christmas present, a new wallet made of tyvek (the old leather wallet, featured on left, was gifted to a man named doug shortly thereafter).
watching some folks surfing at steamer lane on christmas!
more of the same.
ditto.
looks fun out there.
getting suited up to surf the hook.
luke in the bed o' his truck.
matt just dinged luke's board on the ground and feels like shit, luke is probably thinking of killing me.
walking to the beach.
top view of us, beach-bound.
same.
about to get wet.
leashing.
getting wet.
adventuring out...i was feeling ill and ended up not being able to stand up :(
flowers near our camp site.
not making it far, we ended up at the new brighton beach state park. here's the view along the coast.
so, we "slept" under a rail bridge in an agricultural field and this was the only reward for our sleepless wet night, a beautiful sunrise.
there's vicki with our soaked air mattresses.
more of the sunrise.
eating at the del monte cafe in seaside, vicki thought this was someone that alyssa liked (was she right?).
making some calls.
people surfing a jetty break in monterey.
the coastal view from the wharf.
matt demands a hotel stop after a wet and sleepless night.
matt show's off the brussel sprouts we found in an already harvested field and which vicki collected.
we made our way to the monterey campground and vicki cooked up the brussel sprouts on the single comically long picnic table in the hiker/biker area.
brussel sprouts!
closer view of same.
monterey as viewed from up on the hill.
drinking cheap wine from trader joes, we took pictures of the moon while singing cat stevens songs.
our campsite friends showed us this awesome book, and later sold it to us.
cauliflower mushroom frank and lex discovered and shared with us.
little mushrooms growing on a pine cone.
close up of the cauliflower mushroom.
veterans park.
vicki and i pull off the road to make camp for our new year's eve party.
the last sunset of 2009.
sage was everywhere around us.
another plant, unknown.
we were unexpectedly joined by a foursome of cycling tourists for new year's eve!
finally, the sun is legitmately fully setting.
a bridge along the way.
further view of the bridge.
view of the coast.
matt takes random picture of vicki without her knowing it.
more views along the gorgeous big sur coast.
point sur light house is out there somewhere.
a ladybird.
point sur lighthouse.
we were playing with the timing to capture it when lit.
our first attempt to identify mushrooms: some agaricus along the side of the road.
matt intently trying to discover if he can eat the world.
the mushrooms.
cap.
gills.
gills and stalk.
stalk.
andrew molera "primitive" campground.
pfeiffer big sur state park trail maps on display, taken for our navigational purposes, since they were $1 to buy.
the other half.
our campsite.
mushroom growing on a stump in the hiker/biker area.
cap of same.
going for a hike, we find some redwood rooters.
redwood rooters.
turkey tail, chewing gum!
sulfur tuft, with a coin, not left by us.
honey mushrooms...we didn't eat them, but we could have!
underside of some honeys.
flowers.
mountain view afforded by our long ascent.
random building at the summit of the trail.
oceanward view from the top.
possibly a large white leucopaxillus.
the gills.
some serious white spore deposition.
the gills of the same clump.
a little red guy.
his gills.
some witch's butter.
super zit! using the camera as a mirror.
vicki says there aren't enough pics of me, so she randomly takes shots sometimes.
view from our north-of-the-highway hike.
looking up a hill.
bitter bolete with nifty staining action.
pores under cap, with stains where handled.
more flowers.
more flowers! (strawberry)
the not-so-spectacular pfeiffer falls.
further view of the falls.
they rent out expensive cabins at this state park and we utilized the check-in lodge's lounge to do some reading and battery recharging.
rocky the racoon came to visit us.
hello there mister.
goodbye.
oh, hello again.
doing some laundry in the park before leaving.
the hosts' dog barks at vicki.
then gives her some love.
looking forward...i know, because the land is on the left ;)
our roadside campsite.
sunset.
the site, the road, the hill opposite.
waterfall onto the beach.
stretching on the beach.
vicki looking down at the beach.
camping in a little canyon, a national forest grove...the night sky.
nathaniel owings memorial redwood grove, our free-camping site and awesome morning river hike.
some grass that struck me as pretty.
rando-leaf, can't decide what colour to be.
hiking inland, we had a wonderful hike up the river, scrambling along the rocks (i experiment with softening the water via long exposure time).
more pretty river action.
hiking/rock climbing fun!
vicki liked it.
matt liked it.
stop taking pictures vicki, come up here, let's go!
ok, i'm leaving.
no, seriously, come on.
babe?
rocky pools.
notches in a log.
nail.
cement weir.
weir.
chair stump.
water tanks near the grove entrance.
alternate view.
plumbing (we were taking these pics to study them later and figure out how this was setup, and why).
plumbing.
path into the grove.
a "bay area news group" blimp flying by.
me and some mountains.
elephant seals; little did we know, we'd be coming up to a big sea lion rookery shortly after this.
the big sea lion rookery, complete with docents that provide information and generally, we think, protect the seals from stupid humans.
an andolescent female piling sand on herself.
a male.
getting some milk.
another creature is also on the scene ("why doesn't anyone take pictures of me", he says).
a cute young pup.
hearst castle...not that big.
seems pretty well fastened to the ground.
a school house in old san simeon.
what could this be about?
1500 miles!
lisa (vicki's sister) and craig are getting married!!!
looking toward morro bay.
?"i know something you don't know!"
morro rock.
applying some muscle pain relief cream.
morro bay.
pretty patterns in the tree park by the museum.
pretty lichen on the rocks.
some info. in the museum.
salvia apiana (outside of the museum they had a garden with plants and their uses labelled, nifty).
salvia melifera.
rosa californica (we ate some of the hips).
merp.
vicki thought you'd like this, kevin.
i got a hair cut.
information on the kangaroo rat (for megan, kevin, and alex).
morro rock is getting a little foggy as we climb toward montana de oro.
setting up camp after climbing up to the campground.
exploring the beach next to the campground, we saw many interesting things.
here's matt, exploring (also, showing his new cycling jacket, being lighter and less voluminous...the old one, and other things, we mailed to my pop).
what has he found?
nifty thingamajig.
hiking up mount valencia (this series of photos is meant to be stiched together, but i don't have the software at present).
series.
there's morro bay again.
sedimentary rock on a fun angle (thrusted).
rock and sky.
looking out to the ocean along the ridge trail we'll take 'home'.
matt at the summit.
us at the summit.
vicki at the summit.
walking home from watching sherlock holmes in morro bay, this tree randomly fell over across the road from us.
army surplus store in san luis obispo.
a front handlebar bag for vicki!
pelican says hello to us in pismo beach.
mr. pelican.
yummy pier pickle.
pismo beach monarch butterfly grove.
butterflies, fluttering by.
another upward shot.
looking down on lompoc (poke, not pock).
checking out la purisima mission.
the mission has a working farm.
after sleeping in an orchard, with the farmer's permission, we did doughnuts and coffee in town.
mmm..."day" old doughnuts.
riding through another mountain pass to get south, this is the view back from whence we came.
huzzah, downhill again!
rest area homesteading, my favourite.
breakfast bridge.
your speed is 13!
home sweet home.
wild grapes?
the morning sun through the vines.
awesome bike path snaking around the highway.
not only on roads, but sometimes only for bicycles (riding into summerland).
we stopped at an orchid farm, vicki took a lot of pictures of these beautiful flowers.
orchids.
lunch under the bridge.
the new netbook.
the hostel netbooking session...matt got the photos captioned and uploaded...from picasa, making life much easier.
lillie took us to the ghetty, here we are waiting for the tram.
matt riding back from the ghetty to the car storage facility (also known as the garage).
waiting for the tram.
lillie taking my picture while i take hers, i don't know if anyone has ever done this type of thing before!
"hey, vicki and lillie, what the heck is this?", haha, caught you...looks like vicki knew what i was up to. :)
who is that handsome devil?
the ghetty gardens, devoid of human traffic, due to the rain.
lillie is capturing the same scene, with greater skill and photographic power.
i'm standing next to a monet (the security guard said a little too close...).
my unhappy bike: broken spoke, broken rear gear cable, broken rear shifter.
time to replace the dura ace shifter, $100 later.
checking out the handlebars.
making sure i have a document of the cable housing routing, etc.
the gear cables routed along the bottom bracket.
having recently adjusted the derailleur without knowing why, i discover why...its bent on its mount, but i'm just leaving it, since it's functional as such.
frustration! not only were the cables and cable housings too short (requiring another trip into santa monica), the wheel had been misassembled, necessitating a visit to the palisades bike shop again too).
looking at my frame, i got concerned that it might be bent, but now i think it's fine (as i post this on the 22nd, i've put everything back together and it's running fine).
another look at those dropouts.
is that a dent/bend/frame damage?
vicki is cooking up a storm while i putter in the garage, and she's plating them up like the art that they are (thanks baby!).
lillie and matt working on the website (matt learning mac at the same time).
time to self realize!
those crafty dutch again
vicki reading the literature.
zen turtles.
more of the zen turtles.
getting closer to the windmill, the sun made a nice silhouette.
the windmill again...i guess i like windmills.
so delicious and beautiful; get in my belly.
vicki's masterful lasagna.
jenga!
we had a blast with 18 storeys of wooden blocks.
but things got tense as the tower grew.
and everyone was taking pictures.
riding to hermosa beach, looking back north.
hour very own room in a hostel in hermosa beach, for only $25/person.
a room with a view.
michelle and fab making awesome asparagus pie.
dinner is served.
heading south out of HB, the path goes through a parking garage.
laurel (who we met in oxnard and randomly reconnected with after leaving lillie's).
another cyclists shares his maps with us.
kite boarding!
same (huzzah, got it with the sun right behind it).
arriving at laurel's warm showers contact david's house in huntington beach (david came to pick us up and escort us).
picking some oranges for the ride out of town.
laurel getting some oranges.
david is shocked and amused.
jeff bought us delicious lemonade in newport beach.
then we did mexican food at sharkees.
requisite group shot.
wardrobe change as we approach a nuclear facility.
tank crossing in camp pembleton.
delicious frozen yogurt stop.
our second night at san elijo state beach, this time at the ocean-view site that neighbours ryan and melissa let us occupy since they were checking out early.
the view.
north-facing view of the beach; there were at least a hundred surfers within our immediate view throughout the day.
matt decides to take a swim.
matt starts to get his feet wet.
matt stands with feet wet, but thinks better of this errand and returns to the beach, only 20 minutes later deciding to go take the plunge, and then only very very briefly.
vicki's toe beside some sort of alien material from the sea (coral, vicki informs me).
pipes cafe breakfast...i over-ordered, not realizing the eggs came with a muffin and potatoes (explaining the second order of potatoes and the hidden grilled cheese in the top right).
a torrey pine.
torrey pine description.
agave.
agave detail.
agave description.
torrey pines lodge.
neat frame showing the underlying building materials.
detail of adobe brick.
a very cheerful view of the rain, reminiscent of our thoughts about the oregon rain and it's ability to make the grass grow to feed the cows to make us yummy cheese.
northward view from torrey pines mesa: back from whence we came.
me and the cougar.
vicki and the cougar.
a walk through time: strata.
del mar formation.
cobblestones.
torrey sandstone.
a gap in the record.
linda vista formation.
model t's had to go up this hill in reverse since the fuel was gravity fed.
the road is holding up well, all things considered.
torrey pines farmers insurance open.
spending the evening with wayne and sally; we met W&S at the san elijo park and they invited us to their mission beach rental home for the evening.
took a fun 15 second shot of the ocean beach pier during our farewell and safe journeys celebration with laurel.
vicki rocks out in the skate park.
omg, a monster!
said monster.
our 2000 mi mark!
huzzah for 2000 mi.!
ocean view at the bottom of our 2k mi. descent.
jean paul conducting business on the telephone.
llamas on the road during the farmers market.
same (christian approaching them).
pepper roaster.
beer pong.
cup's view of kyle and maria.
beer pong implements.
davog (spelling?).
christian.
sherman.
pier walk.
a gull.
this pelican wants your fish guts.
hello mr. pelican.
whatcha up to?
fisherfolk on the pier.
vicki is reading the poisonwood bible.
ain't she cute?
our hostel room (still just us in here).
smiling this time round.
waiting for the artist (a fellow OBI hostel lodger, sometimes, but not presently) to finish with another client.
stephen, from ottawa.
his first meal where he cooked chiken (all by himself, his mom would be proud!).
so, i had a few beers last night and may have told a man named tony that i'd buy him a tattoo for his birthday...so i did.
vince (the tattoo artist), [name forgotten presently], and tony (tony is from NY and has worked in commercial fishing for years).
today, as fate would have it, after we started worrying about needing a backpack for hawaii, we found an amazing one at a thrift store for $20 (it's a lowe alpine kanga himal; googling reveals approx. $400 new...more than our flight to HI).
tony getting inked.
the finished product, for $40.
botanical gardens.
again, from the exterior this time.
balboa park, where we hit up the science centre and then strolled around.
a pirate ship?
davog.
matt, with flash.
matt without flash.
who is that? it's vicki!
all dolled up by ashley, who is studying cosmetology.
vicki.
i'm scared, she looks so crazy different.
ashley is cute.
red, blue, and vicki.
i got a new shirt and a new girlfriend; seriously, who is that on my arm?
