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Who ever said the desert was hot?!  Or did the southeast just set us up to be wimps?  Our 15 mile jaunt into the town of Joshua Tree, CA was colored by a cold wind and rain.  The quaint but quirky town of Joshua Tree welcomed us with a farmer’s market.  Somewhere in the search for warm beverages to ease the morning chill or in the case of Jeanie to pour on once again inanimate toes, a certain motivation for biking was lost to the allure of homemade cinnamon swirl bread and fresh fruits.  Woops…looks like another rest day!  The better part of the day was spent perusing the book section of the local thrift store, modern art galleries, and loitering (perhaps a bit too long) in the local coffee shop where the specter of life beyond the trip crept in to haunt our conversation.  A town welcoming of hikers, bikers, rock climbers, and travelers alike we were able to find a free place to camp called “The Pit,” and settled down to an early bed following a rousing game of hearts in the tent.

Although we awoke to the sound of pouring rain as if on cue the sky cleared upon exit of our tents setting us up for a relatively nice, cool, but windy day.  I guess if lakes, palm trees, and paradise oases exist in the desert it shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise to come upon the INTEGATRON, a scientific masterpiece at the center of one of the earth’s geo-magnetic vortices. (http://www.integratron.com/)  But per usual, we were blown away and immediately agreed to a “sound bath,” a relaxing and rejuvenating experience like none other we had ever had.  The science behind the structure which was designed and built by the aeronautical engineer and test pilot George Van Tassel and the history of its change of ownership and evolution into its current use is not only impressive but inspiring.  We were lucky enough to get to chat with Nancy one of the two sisters who has co-owned the integatron for 20 years and put hard work into its building and upkeep for many more.  Just a small taste of her wisdom topped off this other-worldly experience and sent us riding into the desert re-filled, synapses firing.

A night out in the desert provided us with a spectacular sunset and sunrise.  A slim dinner of beans and rice brought us back to earth and reminded us that we are still in fact on a camping trip J  A beautiful day of relatively flat terrain with snowcapped mountains in the distance as our scenic backdrop brought us practically flying into Pear Blossom, CA where no answer at the local church left Sarah and Jeanie knocking on doors in search of the pastor’s number.  On their third try Deanna peeped her head out from behind her door and came to our rescue.  Next thing we know Deanna is yanking an extension cord out from the garage to hook up a lamp and toaster in her trailer for us.  As if free bread, butter, bologna and a warm place to stay for the night wasn’t enough Deanna also woke up early to bring us a hot pot of beans for breakfast and wish send us off with heartfelt prayers that will certainly remain with us for many miles.

A long downhill brought us out of the desert (a place our parents weren’t sure we’d make it out of alive), past the beautiful orange orchards and fog covered mountains of the California countryside.  A long lunch left us feeling a little crunched for daylight time in the late afternoon when all of a sudden Jeanie’s tire decided to throw up air.  Jeanie who had stopped to de-layer was biking with Sarah when the fiasco occurred.  Luckily Sarah had all the tire-fixing equipment with her as well as the hand-held (craptastic) pump.  Jeanie did her usual, “I’ll fix it and catch up just keep going” routine and Sarah pedaled off…little did she know she was never to see her friend’s smiling face in the daylight again.  After patching the source of the flat…or so she thought…Jeanie hopped back on her bike ready to pedal madly the 20 remaining miles to Fillmore.  Unfortunately Jeanie made it about 100 yards before her feelings of pride over a job well done were spewed out with the rest of her tire’s air.  At this point darkness was beginning to settle in.  Unable now to see or hear the source of her flat tire, Jeanie sat by the side of the road fending off panic with the reassuring thought…”well good thing I’m carrying the tent.  I could always just set that up by the side of the road here ”  In between thoughts of hitch-hiking (I hear that’s real safe these days…), walking, and tenting out alone, Jeanie concludes the best method would be to focus on the tire, look as helpless as humanly possible, and wait for a hero (meanwhile Sarah is in tears, the guilt of leaving Jeanie eating away at every corner of her conscience as she breaks the news to Rica and Lauren).

AND A HERO SHE FOUND.  Two in fact.  One by the name of Judy, a kind woman who stopped on the side of the road to help the lunatic biker, and Christine, a state and national mountain bike champion who saw the helpless bikers on the road and offered her home up for the night.  Judy dropped Jeanie off at Christine’s where we met her son Ashton and husband Barry and were able to spend a great night getting to know two extremely inspiring people.  Our night with Christine and Barry was full of rich stories from the world of two avid and FAMOUS bikers.  We’re talking serious BIKING, of the most extreme and impressive type.  Mountain biking is a challenge even us three-monthers at this point were captured and blown away by.  Can you imagine a more physically and mentally challenging sport than one that involves hucking your body down dry ski slopes in summer at unreasonable speeds and unreasonable heights?  Needless to say their descriptions were AWESOME (mom and dad… I want a mountain bike from Santa and assurance that your blood pressures are stable).  We were also lucky enough to catch wind of Christine and Barry’s plans for the future which include starting a camp to inspire and empower youth working to get back up on their feet after juvenile hall.  We told them they already have four of their first volunteersJ.  Oh and Barry (one of whose several  kickass jobs is bike mechanic) tuned up our bikes (gears mostly) and the two of them sent us on our way with tons of electrolytes, new spare tubes, and sore abs from a ridiculous workout video called CYCLO-CORE.

It’s been maybe about 4 days since then and our abs are still sore… But we plan on doing the exercises twice a week anyway so we can be really REALLLLY buff (: From there we biked at a brisk pace 20 miles to Ventura, CA, our very first COASTAL TOWN of CALIFORNIA! It was there that we smiled for the first time (on the pacific coast), talked to people for the first time (on the pacific coast), and, best of all, we SAW the PACIFIC COAST!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHWIEUW()$*)#(*$)#(&UJeNJLDF)ASDUF)(A*!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY)(EW*R)(ASDUJSFO{IYSLRHJHWUASJID!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOODKFHSDOY*FHSKDJFNHKSDHU! We had officially made it all the way across the country, atlantic to pacific ocean!!!!! We waded in the water but refrained from dipping our tires; we’re saving that for San Francisco.  It was an epic moment filled with happiness and a delectable fruit picnic.
After we thoroughly celebrated our excitement at the Ventura beach we headed along the coast following an incredible bike path most of the way.  The California coast was absolutely stunning.  We biked through Montecito and Santa Barbara, two beautiful cities filled with amazing ocean vistas, gorgeous mansions, and really darn cool flora and fauna.  The elation of the day was SLIGHTLY dampened (and I mean, very slight) by a mishap that evening.  Somewhere along the way Lauren and Sarah got separated from Jeanie and Rica, and then both groups managed to get lost in the dark in the neighborhoods of Santa Barbara.  Oh well- we were reunited at long last and our separation only made us appreciate each other more!!

We finally pulled into Goleta, CA where we met up with Rica’s cousin Leslie, who let us crash in her apartment for the night.  Leslie took us to In & Out Burger, the BEST fast food burger joint EVERRRRRRR.  We ate burgers, double burgers, fries, animal fries (it has grilled onions, In & Out’s special sauce, and ketchup), grilled cheese, and milkshakes.  And it was AWESOME.

With throbbing abdominals and EVEN MORE to be thankful for HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Love,

The Fab Four

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