We started the day riding on a bike path past a popular surfing area. Soon after we past a nuclear power plant, and then entered Camp Pendleton, a U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp.nTo avoid having cyclists needing to cycle on the prohibited I-5 freeway, they allow cyclists to bike through the camp. Initially we were on an abandoned section of the old highway 101 and a section of the road that is sometimes used as a test landing strip for the army (they close the road then). Once we arrived at the guarded entrance, the guard at the front gate was very friendly and after showing our ID he let us through. There were many day-riders and we were surprised an army camp would be a popular cycling route.
It was a really neat experience cycling through an army camp as we saw the marines in full gear training by the side of the road. There were army choppers flying over us and army Humvees and trucks driving by. We were also surprised to see so many regular cars driving around the camp. Near the exit to the camp we went past a suburb of base family homes, and even went past a big mall, complete with fast food chains and a large grocery store all within the base!
After exiting the camp we arrived at the waterfront, where we had lunch on a picnic table on the beach. It was a breezy day by the ocean, but the sunshine kept us nice and warm. While having lunch we met Gertie and Nick (please correct us if we were wrong! We are having trouble with names lately..). They were from B.C. and had been coming to the area in the winter for the last 17 years! We had a nice chat and they wished us a safe journey.
We continued cycling along the water front on bike paths and bike lanes. It was fantastic cycling. At one point a seagull decided to drop some white droppings on me, but thankfully it only hit the side of one pannier and no where else!
When we arrived at our camp ground in San Elijo, we had dinner as the fog started to roll in. Thankfully it was still warm, and we would take fog over snow or even rain any day 🙂
Trip Around The World 
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