Getting lost was the best thing that could have happened!

It seemed to have rained during the night.  It sounded weird.  I thought it was Eucalyptus parts falling on my tent.  I managed to get everything packed early enough.  I spoke to Daniel and Paul after I got packed, and they said they'd like to hear about future tours I might do.  Daniel then told me about many of the tours he has done or were on his bucket list.  Many of the places he mentioned were over my head, but I was happy I knew at least a quarter if the cities he mentioned.  He spoke about Jordon, and parts of Africa I was unsure about.  I got his card and was soon off on the road, relatively early.  I wanted to get to San Francisco as quickly as possible.  I took a picture of the sign as it was too nighttime to take one the day before.

I was a little hungry and I skipped past a few places, so I detoured to this hot dog place.  Before I got there, I ran into Jessie whose picture I never took, so I got this one of him as he left a motel.  He had decided to treat himself, and what with his Bivvy, I can't say I blame him.  He said he was visiting family in San Francisco for a few days, so he opted for good rest and showers.  The hot dog place was closed and the espresso place that was open was moving at a snail's pace do I moved on, upset I had wasted my time except to see Jessie again.  He was such a soft spoken smiley guy.  Really easy to love.  Almost of thd pinch cheeks variety.

Many miles later, around lunch, I I got a strawberry shortcake Popsicle which reminds me of my youth.  I also got done sausage thing called a rocket.

As I left I decided to get a cheesecake for when I saw Cathy in San Francisco, but as you can see in the photo, I forgot it on the bench.  You can see the white icing.

Not long after I forgot my cheesecake, I saw a fellow recumbent rider, but on two wheels.  I got the 'bent wave.

The difference between cows that stare and horses that stare is that horses move round, almost jostling for position to get into the perfect stare position.  These guys hopped around quite a bit!

This was the first wind apparatus I had seen.  There are many around on central states, but I didn't see any along the coast. It was kinda farmy though.

I wish there were explanations for how and why people come up with the things they put on their lawn.  There must be a story.  Someone should do the same tour but knock on people's doors and get the story.

Luckily I had reception on my phone do I could see where I was on a map.  The city of Petaluma was a bit too big and sure enough, I had missed a turn.  But I figured I could get on the 101. 

I saw this cool church down the street so I decided to check it out first.  After I did, a girl, quite attractive, smiled at me just as I was looking away, and before I could look back she had turned to sit on the bench outside the church.  I was going to go talk to her, but in the end my turning radius told me I should just move on.

I found the 101 and got on.  Then I took the off ramp at the next exit.  It was like riding onto a 400 series highway right before a split.  I didn't belong in this heavy of traffic.  But then I had trouble navigating properly and realized correcting my mistake would be difficult.  So I texted Cathy to see if she could pick me up.  She could.  I found a place 12 miles away, which would take me about as long to trike as it would for her to drive.  And I would be afforded some extra scenery, like this boat.  This one was unique with rocks under it.

I went through lots of farmland, and I realized I was close to wine country.  Or in it rather.  

After a while, I saw this cow startle a horse.  Really the horse was a statue.  The cow really seemed to like sticking its nose in its iron rump.

Of course the golf course where I told Cathy to meet me was just on the other side of a steep bridge.  Bit I got to the bridge just as she texted me.

When I got there, I was really happy to see her!  Familiar faces are great when you're away from friends and family for a long time.  But then this guy in a golf cart rode towards us.  I didn't think we were in trouble, and sure enough, the guy asked me about my trike.  After we spoke about my adventure for a while, he sped off and Cathy and I packed the trike into the car.

I called Cycle Monkey and Cathy punched in their address in East Bay.  I was having problems with my Rolhoff hub and only had access to 11 of the 14 gears.  the shifter was really loose. cables stretching should not affect the mechanism as the guy on the phone explained, but I asked to drop it off to get looked at, not to mention it would also mean I wouldn't have to lug the trike up the three flights of stairs at Cathy's place. They closed at 5pm and so we only had 10 minutes to spare according to google maps.  We used a bridge to get to East Bay that Cathy had never used!

At the end of our trip, we found ourselves in the least likely place to find a bike shop.  It was the middle of a residential area and the address Cathy used brought us to a house, so we kept going to see if maybe if was somewhere, but we were obviously in the wrong place.  Cathy suggested I call and the guy confirmed we were in the right place.  Just wheel the trike to the back down the alley.

Neil and Daniel confirmed that the shifter needed work and noticed the hub had been leaking oil.  I mentioned a few other problems and they agreed they would fix whatever they could.  It was a great relief to leave the trike there.  Cathy then drove me to a mall where I could buy some jeans.  I could lug them for the rest of California.  We finally headed back to her place and I cleaned up, and we went to dinner. And a beer.

They had so many amazing things on the menu. I ordered an amazing amount of food. Shrimp civiche...

Some platter thing with raw fish three ways...

The salad with edamame I saw at the table next to us...

And a spicy fish sammich...

And then home to sleep... A bed, my first in 23 days.  Nice. Slumber.