DAY 25 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK TREK - JULY 25, 2008

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July 25, 2008 - Friday - Day 25
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
  -- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today -     - Total Miles -  (totals tomorrow)
San Francisco - to - Corning,CA 
(-staying at    -)
(XX-XX)
- THE GOLDEN GATE - FIFTY MILES OUT OF MY WAY FOR A SPECIAL SANDWICH… AND A SPECIAL FRIEND - INTO THE SMOKE

    It was a wonderful breakfast to power my day - a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries and a vegan muffin.  Then June, Sam, and I went on the mile-plus walk to Sam's summer camp where he would spend the day. We had a good time walking through the bright morning. Sam's natural curiosity sparkled and bubbled along the way with his broad grins.
  I learned a lot during that walk. It seems that Foster City was a planned community, and so has a number of little waterways and parks.  The area was originally marshland.  June declared that she would rather live in a city because of the convenience, among other things, but she was very happy here.
  And I could see why.  The 'burb, at least for my short time here, was diverse in make up, clean, good looking, and engendered a wondrous spirit of friendliness.
  I was proud seeing June's by-line in a national magazine for a story she wrote.
  June was leaving the house right at 11am and we both left at the same time.  It was hard leaving the warmth of that home in the San Francisco suburb…
   From June and Neil's it was exactly 20 miles to San Fran's city limits, and exactly 30 miles to the lip of the Golden Gate Bridge.
   It was typical city riding - but with the enormous hills, of course. The challenge was watching the ragged roadway and staying on course by following the 101 signs, of course. I made a couple lucky guesses and stayed on the right path amid chaos of the cars, trucks, scooters, and pedestrians.  As I moved along in traffic, I enjoyed the quick glimpses of the town that I could squeeze in, and especially that of the San Francisco Opera House.

  The approach to the Golden Gate is always dramatic. And the crossing no less so. I was limited in the photos I could take, of course. But it was a wonderful fresh air feeling in the crossing.
  My most thrilling ride across the bridge was a number of years ago from the north - by bicycle! At night! In great gales of wind.  And then came the dark entry into the city with unending hills to climb and an uncertain place to find.  That was on the Canada to Mexico ride along the whole coast.
  This crossing was much less dramatic, but none the less exciting.

  After the bridge I passed quite a number of horse farms and cows today along route 101 today. The smoke from the recent more than 1000 forest fires all up and down California was evident throughout the day.  Most of those forest fires were ignited by lightning storms.
  I ran into some traffic back ups.  Mostly the miles-long tie-ups were in the other direction. But when I was caught in one I would generally just zip up the highway's right shoulder. I was fearful of "splitting the lanes" as the other motorcyclists did because my cruiser was too big.  The shoulder is always dirtier with flotsam, too, so I had to be wary.
  My friend Mary, in Santa Rosa, CA, who I met in an on-line discussion group for our common affliction, Meniere's Syndrome, invited me for lunch of a fakin-bacon sandwich.  Again. 
  I met her three summers ago in person during the 48-state ride with my friend Karen. Mary is a wonderfully smiley person and she makes (if you'll pardon the expression) a whale of a fakin-bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. I went fifty miles out of my way this year just to see her again, and I was drooling the last 45 miles.
  We spent about an hour together, I gobbled up three(!) sandwiches, and had interesting conversation for which time and energy will not permit me to do any justice in this writing.  I spent a lot of time "MMMMing" while savoring the tastes of those sandwiches.
  It was good sitting across from her sparkling eyes at the dining room table. Her husband is a trucker and drives the gasoline tankers.  He told her to tell me that the tire pieces I've mentioned and been encountering on the highway are called "alligators" by the truckers. And that's because if one doesn't watch out and runs over one, it will jump up and bite you!
  I also learned that it was apparently legal to "split the lanes" for a motorcyclist as long as the traffic wasn't going more than 35 mph. This tidbit was also from Mary's husband.
  For most of the afternoon after leaving Mary's I was moving along swiftly, the tires gobbling up the miles. I wanted to take a shorter day, to regroup and then get an early start, and make a big push north on Saturday.  But the ride was enjoyable and the towns and highway exits just kept floating by.
  There was an extreme in temperatures all day. From the actual cold as I rolled through the big city and toward the Golden Gate this morning, to the warm breathing on me from mountain valley breezes.
   By 6:30pm waves of the forest fire smoke, which earlier were just observed in the distance on the valley walls, now partially obscured the roadway. The somewhat acrid smells began to burn, and make my nose uncomfortable and my contact lenses were clogged up a bit.

   The Days Inn had a little black Pomeranian on the counter at check in. I got good shot of the cute black dog.  The friendly check in lady gave me the discounted rate even though I wasn't able to provide her with a coupon.
  Much to my surprise when studying the maps this evening, I saw that I'm very much in striking distance to Canada - it's probably only two or three days away now.
  I spent too much time tonight working on the organization in the photo program that I use to upload all the pictures. I fear I messed up the images and especially the order of them. Oh well, I didn't/couldn't take the time to fully fix or understand how to fix them.  As it was, I was up too late, and tomorrow was planned to be a big day…
   The genuine kindnesses met along the way have been so uplifting, and the spirit of friendliness so warming - this country is sure not what the daily headlines scream at us!

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To view photos from the trip, you can check out
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141. Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner, by going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html... and/or you can just email me back and I'll put you on the daily send list. 


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