10/31/11
I woke up at about 6:30am and the first thing I saw was a ranger truck drive by heading for the beach. I figured I should be quick to avoid getting hassled, and packed up my stuff. Everything was dewy and there was some pretty thick fog coming in. As soon as I was ready I headed back toward the road and what do you know another ranger truck drove by and stopped right on the street down the hill from me. Dangit! Did they see me? Maybe they were just heading to the store across the way. I ducked down for a few minutes and didn't hear anybody coming. I peeked over the dune brush a few times and still saw the truck sitting there. I couldn't tell if anybody was in it, but it didn't seem like anybody was coming up the dune toward me. I waited a few more minutes and then decided to head down. The truck was still there, but I didn't see ranger. As soon as I got to the street I rode my bike out of there as quick as possible.
I was hungry for some breakfast so I headed down the main road, Grand Ave, to find a cafe or bakery. Once again I found a cafe next to a train station, called the Station Grill Cafe, which actually had really good prices. I got a huge breakfast, 3 eggs, 3 sausage, a ton of hash browns, toast, coffee and juice all for under $9, after tax. California and their whole tax thing is really annoying, especially after living in Oregon for so long. Either way it was a lot of food, and I enjoyed it.
I ended up spending several hours at the cafe, mostly updating my blog. My only plan for the day was to go to a local bike shop and see about getting some new-used pedals. A few people in town recommended Ira's Bike Shop so that's where I was heading. On the way I stopped at another cafe to even update my blog further, then at a grocery store to get some food. Before I knew it my day was coming to an end.
The town of Arroyo Grande seems decent. A lot of people seem to have pride in where they live, and people generally seem nice. I headed to Ira's which was in a kind of downtown area with cute Victorian style buildings lining the streets. The streets were all closed off to vehicular traffic and tons of parents and kids were out trick-or-treating at all the stores along the main strip. It was pretty cool to see the town and community coming together like that. I talked with the people at Ira's for a while and they were really helpful. I decided to come back in the morning and get my brakes re-cabled as well as new tape put on and new pads put on. I figured I could do it myself, and it would probably take me a few hours since I hadn't done it before, or just pay somebody $20 who could do it in about 30 minutes.
Since I was deciding to stay another night, I had to find a place to sleep. The people at Ira's didn't seem to think stealth camping was a good idea because the city was cracking down on their homeless population. I was also warned earlier that since it was the off-season the rangers were kind of bored and more likely to question that sort of behavior. At one point in the conversation I was actually offered two places to stay, but I felt like they were only offering a place out of sympathy...and they actually seemed quite hesitant about inviting me into their home. I wasn't comfortable with staying with people who weren't sure about hosting me, but they did also direct me to a few cheap places to stay.
I eventually found a cheap motel for $30 a night (almost the same price as camping!) and the motel owner seemed super excited that a cyclist was staying there. He was really interested in what I was doing and that's why he ended up giving me such a good deal. Of course I was happy to share my experiences with him.
The rest of the night I just cleaned out my bags, dried out my tent, and cleaned my bike. It was yet another somewhat uneventful day. I really want to get back on the road, and I also want to figure out a solid plan that I'm happy with. I'm not against something like finding a ride to Flagstaff, AZ and then leaving by bike toward New Orleans, LA from there. I just don't really want to spend any money that I don't have to. I'll figure it out. I think I just need to get back on my bike and ride so I'm at least moving in a direction, rather than stagnating in one place.
Miles: 5 miles?
RRD: Halloween candy
-D
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