REMEMBER THE CAMERA and a few SD-cards. Have a great time. That is one of the nicest trips I have ever driven/ridden. So much beauty, things to do and places to stop. It will be hard to keep on a time schedule.

Lil

How far south Moni??? We live near PCH in Southern California. I work about a mile from it.

Jodi-

Of course, I will bring extra memory cards for my camera!!! I love taking photos on my cycling trips after all.

How far?

That depends.

I need to head to my daughters by October 1. Thus, how ever far we get, before October one. The goal is the Mexican border, but without crossing, but if we don't get that far, that's fine too. No prescribed mileage per day, not specific place to be at a specific time, just ride, and enjoy the experience.

However, I would LOVE to meet and greet as many KT members as possible along the way.

If you email me through "my page" I will put you on the list to contact, when I get close enough to be able to make meeting plans.

Moni

Oh what fun! I've always wanted to do that, uh, not on a bike, though-lol.

Another exciting adventure! I'm glad for you, it should be a great ride.

Looking at my map -- it should be downhill all the way! LOL Are you connecting with other bikers?

LOL at Judy!!!! Really, my friend Howard says, no matter where you are you will go downhill, since the earth is round. Another LOL.

Judy, so far, nada from the people I know, cept Mel. He bought his ticket as well.

But, there is/was quite a list of people interested at one time or another. Bad thing is, I waited all this time to go with Kelly (woman from Colorado), and she canceled on me earlier this year.

Moni

You and Mel always do well. I'm sure there aren't many people that can just put the rest of life on hold for 2 months.

It should be a gorgeous place to ride. I hope you have the wind at your back and an easy time finding a place to pitch tent.

Nothing put on hold, just go away, and forget about it. LOL

Moni, I will send you email.

We are 110 miles north of the Mexican border.

Moni, I keep meaning to ask you if you know John Lee Ellis. He's won the Super Randonneur award many times, raced RAAM and RAGBRAI and at one time held the honor of having more annual miles on a bike than anyone else. He and I worked for the same company for many years and he once stayed with us just before a RAAM. For many years RAAM began in the city where I live. Now it starts about 45 miles south of us.

Jodi-

Yea for Moni!

Ummmm would Iowa be too far out of your way...LOL
I'd love to have you stop by again.

patti

Are you referring to hwy 101? We always refer to it as 101 here, and snobbily say PCH is in CA : ) We're not too far from the Keystone ferry ( which you would probably be catching to get to the Olympic peninsula.) What is your WA route going to be?

Better option I just remembered, catch the ferry is BC and ride to Port Angeles on the peninsula. Bypass a lot of ugly highways.

Moni, on narrow, winding Hwy 1 in CA, watch your rear view mirror for those big motorhomes coming around the curves. Bicyclists used to scare me to death when I pulled a small camping trailer on that narrow highway.

You can come visit me.....we are really close to the PCH.....the central coast of California is beautiful.
HWY 1 is the PCH.....Summer is not the most beautiful time to visit, especially if the weather is really hot in the Great San Joaquin Valley. We get "June Gloom" all summer if it is.
Let me know when you will be in San Luis Obispo/Santa Barbara county.

woowoowoo... I'll have to send you an email too. I can drive out to 101 and meet you if we are around!

Moni.. I enjoyed following your journey last summer. Will you be able to keep us posted as you travel on this most adventurous trip?
Cheers to you Moni...

june

We're between Monterey and Santa Cruz. The road is called US 101 in the far north, Washington, but it branches off and there's California Highway 1 down here. US 101 becomes an inland road for a good portion of it. It is only called Pacific Coast Highway is southern CA. Don't call it that in San Francisco! Down south, in Orange County the main road will be I-5, but you will find portions of Highway 1 right by the coast. I don't think it is contiuous, tho. Last week, we were just down in Del Mar north of San Diego, and it was I-5 there.

Another quirky note. In Southern CA, they say "The" (number of the highway), like The I-15, or The 415. In Northern CA, we say just the numbers. If you say The 101, we all know you're from out of town!

The PCH is alive and well in Pismo Beach, CA.

Well, from here on the north side of Big Sur, we consider that to be Southern California, Carol. We stopped one night in Santa Barbara, and the TV news said "Central Coast".

So where exactly is the line where people consider themselves to be Southern Californians?

hwy 101

Here is a link that might be useful: looks like a cute site with travel info on 101

I consider the central coast to be Southern Monterey county, San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara county.
I just found this info on line, which may make some sense.

The Central Coast of California comprises seven coastal counties of the Golden State, lying between Santa Cruz, two hours south of San Francisco, and Oxnard, about an hour north of Los Angeles. The Central Coast comprises some 300 miles of the stateÂs inimitable coastline and 14,333 square miles of spectacularÂand spectacularly variedÂCalifornia landscape. The region encompasses half a dozen mountain ranges, and more than half of CaliforniaÂs 21 historic Jesuit missions.
It doesn't really matter what is is called....our area is really pretty and has lots of interesting byways.

Not to be picky, but it's actually Vancouver Island. Victoria is the capital city and Butchard Gardens is on the outskirts of the city.
Suzan J

I have to laugh, it's the same here and Oregon. We all call it 101. If you were lost and asked anyone how to get to PCH they would direct you to Southern CA.

Yeah, I know, 101, 1, and Pacific Coast highway are not the same, LOL, cept for us land locked people.

Mel and I will try go get together before long, and plot our way up to Canada. The route back south, along the Pacific Coast is mapped for cyclists via bike maps, and there are a couple of books written on it. I own the book already.

I am also working on a new journal on the crazyguyonabike website, and will furnish a link as soon as I make it public. Right now, just the same info as on my first post up there is on it.

Thanks to everyone that wrote to me through "my page". I will see about giving you a couple of days notice before I get near you.

I am so pumped up about this adventure right now..., after all, I have been waiting for it since 2006.

Moni

What a fantastic adventure!
I can't wait to hear about it and see all the pictures.

Ron

Butchart Gardens is beautiful. We visited Victoria and Vancover and Seattle on one trip. On another, we flew into Seattle visited around Portland and then drove along the coast in Washington, Oregon and into California. We rented a convertible so it was lots of fun. I would be scared to death to be on a bicycle along some parts of the road. You must stop at the Sand Dunes in Oregon. What a blast! We went inland when in California as we were running a day late to get to Yosemite for our reservations. Wish we could have kept to the coast in our little red convertible.

Hi Moni! You sound pumped to be getting out on the road again. There are so many beautiful areas over there. I agree it sounds wonderful. In fact I bought tickets to see CA about two or three weeks ago. I'm excited to show the kids the beach and Yosemite. The desert, where I used to live, will only be a one day drive through. Not a fun place for anyone in July anyway. I'll be leaving as you are getting there ..wish we could have crossed paths though. Maybe this summer when I'm visiting mom we can meet up. Remeber Marsha? I was just looking at her cookbook today. Wonder if she is still in OK?

Looking forward to your bike adventures this year!

oh i'd give anything to tak the trip with you! you didn't mention vancouver...it's an awesome city, as is seattle. then going south...we did hiway 5 thru oregon so misssed the coast...i've always wanted to do that...teh redwoods and driving thru a tree..i could go on and on.

you know you can park in downtown san diego and take the trolly almost to the mexican border... i don't know if they're having the same problems as other border towns...san diego has tons of things to do...one little gem is the following... the whole la jolla area is awesome...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/Exhibits/