We knew it was going to rain today, and were pleased to wake up to a dry morning. We packed away our tent that was dry, and had breakfast under the passing clouds. As we were just about to head out it started to rain. It was light and stopped shortly after, but we knew it was going to be a wet day.
We cycled out of Monterrey on the adequate shoulders of the fairly busy highway 1. We saw two cyclists going up highway 1 on the otherside who looked like the couple we had seen a few days earlier. We were going downhill and there was two much traffic to exchange anything but a wave.
We arrived at the Pobos State Park which was a recommended stop on our guidebook. We met a friendly lady at the front gate who informed us that it was free to enter on our bicycles. We went to the ‘visitor centre’ which turned out to be a bulletin board. While we were there, we encountered very strong winds and it started to rain. We quickly headed over to the “whaling station” which ended up being an actual sheltered visitor centre. We spent a good 20 min there waiting for the rain to subside and had a nice chat with the volunteer. The building was apparently the oldest wooden Chinese homestead building in California. We learned a lot about the Whaling history and about the Japanese people who had come there in the late 19th century to start a Abalone industry. There was also a very twisted tree outside, unique to the area due to the winds.
It was still raining lightly outside when we headed out. We cycled in the rain as we headed south on Hwy 1. The scenery was nice, and traffic fairly light. However, the rain and the headwind made it difficult for us to stop and enjoy it as we would quickly get chilled.
Eventually the rain stopped, and there was blue sky behind us. We enjoyed the spectacular scenery and got a few pictures in. The sun was still behind the clouds in front of us and despite our rain gear we were still wet when we arrived at Big Sur. We quickly changed as much as we could to dryer gear by a small restaurant/grocery store/motel complex. Katherine grabbed a hot coffee and we had avocado and cheese sandwiches outside. We were dry but it looked like it could rain again soon. We asked at the motel about availability of rooms only to find out it would cost us $200 a night! We cycled further south before it started to rain quite heavily again. We quickly headed into conveniently located cafe.
We took shelter from the rain with hot drinks and I had a fantastic half-stack of pancakes. We used to internet to see if we could find any indoor accommodation but came up empty handed as places were either too expensive or full. Some places had yurts but they were charging $180 a night compared to the $36 a night Yurts we had paid in the state parks in Oregon! When the rain became a light mist after about an hour we headed out again. It appeared that it was going to be a wet camping event, in what other forest but the cold and damp Redwoods!
When we arrived at the campground, we asked the girl at the front desk if there were any other cyclists at the hiker/biker sites. To our surprise she said there was at least a couple there. When we arrived we recognized the bikes. It was Trevor and Ned’s!
It was no longer raining when we set up camp. Afterwards Trevor came by and said that the lodge/hotel at the campground had a fireplace in the lobby where the campers could hang out. We headed over there shortly after, and found Trevor and Ned, along with other campers, all drying out their wet shoes, socks, gloves, and whatever other clothing that was soaking wet. It turned the day after we saw them, Trevor and Ned got taken in by a really nice couple in Monterrey where they were taken out to dinner, and breakfast. They said they were very glad as they had lost a day trying to get Ned a new rear wheel, and that they were starting their ride at 3PM and ended up trying to hitch-hike before they met the couple walking down the road. After they set out in the rain the next morning, the hosts even came to pick them up to give them a ride to Big Sur because it was raining so much! Needless to say Trevor and Ned were in good spirits.
After spending the night by the fireplace in the lodge we cooked a quick dinner by our tent and called it a night.
Trip Around The World 
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