Turnin' the corner...

8/5/07
It was a heavy fog when I awoke. I walked to the Country Kitchen and
had breakfast. The waitress told me about a fire raging just south of
us. She said she could see it as she came from Bakersfield yesterday
so its a good thing I didn't go that way.
It was actually raining lightly part of the way toward Los Angeles. I
knew I could get most of the roughly 200 miles before I needed gas and
I decided that riding as close as possible would allow me to avoid a
gas stop in LA. I was dreading riding in LA as you hear horror
stories about the traffic.
I stopped in for gas and then called Ruth from there. She was driving
but I told her what I needed off my computer and when I'd call her
back.
I don't know if I said this before but I left without loading all the
GPS points into my GPS that I should have. That meant I first relied
upon Kira to load some maps on the computer and now I rely upon Ruth
to tell me locations I'm supposed to go to for the AMA tours.
At the very next exit was a sign for the Channel Islands National Park
visitor center. I turned and went there. I'd never heard of them but
I did get the stamp and the ranger (with a distinct French accent)
told me about the movie they had. I had her start it and learned
there are 5 Channel Islands and they are accessible by boat only. You
can camp there with reservations and there are 6 species of seals
(pinnipeds) there. Its sounded fascinating and I'd like to return and
actually go to the islands.
I called Ruth and she gave me the details on the two AMA points in LA;
the Hollywood sign and a cemetery in Hermosa. Because of my aversion
to city driving, I decided to only do the Hollywood sign. I couldn't
find the address on the GPS so I stopped at a CA Welcome Center and
they got the directions off Google for me.
On the way to the sign, I found the visitor center for the Santa
Monica Mtns in Thousand Oaks, CA. I stopped and got a stamp for both
the National Recreation area and for the Juan Baptista (sp?) trail.
I then headed to Hollywood. I got off of 101 fine but then my GPS
stopped telling me street names. I don't know why but that data isn't
in the GPS. I did have the Google directions and found my way as far
as they'd let me go before I came to a locked gate. I took the photo
from there and then headed for San Ysidro. I did stop at a rest area
and called Ruth just to say where I am. We also found a KOA in Chula
Vista that is about 10 miles from here. Its really early to stop but
in celebration of turning the second corner, I'm going to do laundry.
;)

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Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach