Today we biked from Lompoc to Santa Barbara.  The day started out super chilly and gloomy but ended up being extremely extremely hot.  The first part of the day was rather uneventful besides Kelly’s face swelling for no reason and Vera finding a giant Mexican flag in the ditch which she carried along the way.  Our lunch stop was at a beautiful beach about 20 miles from Santa Barbara.  This was convenient because as the trip has progressed our lunch breaks have become significantly more leisurely.  After our meal of gourmet wraps and watermelon we swam in the ocean, built sandcastles and slept on the beach.  While the majority enjoyed an afternoon rest, Laura and Nicole got lost and took a slight detour up and over a 2000 ft. mountain. 

After a few hours we were on the road again and biked the remainder on the day with flames in the distance.  This is the closest we have been to the forest fires.  Biking through a community which had been partially evacuated made it all the more real.  Once we got to Santa Barbara we experienced some culture shock as we a) smell like dirty football players b) look like dirty football players who have been in the sun too long and c) have become incapable of holding meaningful conversations with anyone outside of our group ie. Laird.  However, this did not stop us from exploring the town.  By exploring on my end, I mean eating cheesecake with Karen while many others enjoyed ice cream and Frisbee in the park.  After our ‘snack’ (which would be more of a meal compared to others…) Sonia made an amazing Indian dinner.  We ended our day with a stroll around town enjoying the cooler night.  As the end is in sight, it seems that the reality of saying good-bye is sinking in, making us even more clingy than usual. 

Kailey and Kelly - 2008 riders