We were up early in Carpenteria, especially since our hiker-biker site was right next to the train tracks. We made an early start for about 100m and Adam got a flat tire on his front wheel. We changes the tube like pros and were soon on our way.
We followed bike paths out of town and met a local woman on the far end of town who thought we should climb a hill in order to avoid US 101 a bit longer. We decided the hill was too much and got on the highway. Almost as soon as we got on the highway it leveled out and gained a bike path! We enjoyed the scenery as we cycled along. Soon, we were able to exit onto Highway 1 and enjoyed some beautiful beach views. The pelicans were fishing in a huge group and we had fun watching them glide over the water. I got a bit cranky due to hunger but that was soon resolved with a snack.
The rest of the day per Adam:
We stopped in the town of Ventura for lunch, groceries, and laundry. Before the turn off to the grocery store we met two local cyclists Pat and Katherine, who wanted to make sure we knew which way to go. It turned out Pat and Katherine had toured around their world on their bicycles over the years. We had a great time chatting with them and couldn’t wait to check out their web site that was on their card that they gave us.
After Ventura we cycled by a US Air Force base. Further south on highway 1, we spotted a campground before our intended destination and decided to stop for the night. This campground was right on the beach, unlike the campground that we were headed to. We quickly set up camp and cooked dinner as we knew rain was quickly approaching. As it was getting dark, another touring cyclist arrived. We invited him to camp with us, and we learned his name was Mike and he was originally from South Africa. He had started about a month ago in Bellingham, Washington, and was on his way to Chile! We tried to have dinner together but then it started to pour rain. We quickly finished our meals and put things away.
As I type this up in the tent I can still hear the rain hitting the outside of the tent. Mike is actually camped under the picnic table which has his tarp over it. Our tent had been pretty much water-proof our entire trip, but on this last night of forecasted rain it is struggling. We can see water leaking through the outer fabric dripping onto the inner fabric. It hasn’t started dripping inside yet, so we are keeping our fingers crossed for the night! We also heard some thunder earlier in the night, so it’s been pretty exciting so far. We are right on the beach with some shrubs around, but other than RVs and the big mountain next to us there aren’t many other things for lightning to hit. We can hear the waves constantly hitting the shore which kind of sounds like thunder. Luckily the lightning seems to have stopped for now, and we just have to hope the tent can survive our last night in rain!
Trip Around The World 
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