Day 30 - Santa Monica to Huntington Beach

The hammock experiment went well.  Fortunately for me I initially tied it to a tree and ants took over, so I moved it to a couple of columns under an overhang.  It poured rain in the night, so I dodged that bullet.

Easy beach cruise dodging mobs of people for labor day today.  Not quite the right track for a speedy road bike road.

Good for pictures though.

Volleyball everywhere and tractors regrooming the sand.

Heres an example of the sandy path.

I'm thinking this will be an excellent background for my phone.

Sometimes they made us walk the bikes through congestion.  Most of the beach path was marked 8 mph.

Where am I going again?  And where have I been.  I'll have to reread this blog when I'm done.  Everyday it gets harder to remember.

The scummy L.A. River, I was hoping they'd be shooting a chase scene for some movie.  No dice just transients.

Long Beach harbor was beautiful.

We went slightly off route to stop by Gisseles house, a woman passionate about supporting and raising awareness for MS.  She offered up an iced coffee, a popsickle and cold watermelon.

At our destination we are being treated to beds, music, food and drinks from a rider who coordinated the effort with the help of local neighbors.

Sweet bike valet he set up in his garage.

I also met up with longtime friends Aaron and Angie who are here to celebrate my finish.  Aaron is riding tomorrow with his base training of 87 miles.  They generously treated eight of us for dinner and beers.

The crew I've been hanging out with.

Paul (California), Mike (Illinois) and Richard (New Mexico)

A stroll on the pier found this guy.

And a early evening goodnight photo.

Two days left and only hours until I see my sweetheart.  Bittersweet to see the end of my adventure so close, but I'm eager to be with my family and friends again soon.

The message was on the ceiling of my host family's guest room, kind of perfect.