Today marks my last day on HW 1. I will definitely miss the beautiful scenery and wildlife that can be seen both in the ocean and along the farm country. Along the costal route it was amazing to be riding past seals sun tanning on the beach and whale watching from my campsite in Big Sur. Most of my lodging for the last week has been tenting along the coastal highway as there are beautiful campsites almost every 50kms. Most campsites overlook the Pacific Ocean and there is something tranquil about camping on a beach and falling asleep to the sound of waves. There is a bit of a racoon problem here in SoCal though and I miss the ability to hide food in a car or secure location. I can officially say I punched a racoon in the face and defended my breakfast from an aggressive racoon family with a machete and a few rocks before tying my food in a tree.
I decided to stay in the city for my last few days in SoCal and I am very impressed by the architecture. Santa Barbra has been my favorite city in California offering a beautiful mixture of Spanish and American design. I spent a few hours just walking around and admiring the old architecture and enjoying the beautiful beachfront in Santa Barbra. It’s known for being a college town so the nightlife is pretty good and the beer is on student prices so it’s a pretty cheap and fun place to relax for a bit.
Hollywood is a fun place for a day but I’m happy to be leaving to San Diego. The traffic is crazy in LA and the nightlife is surprisingly dull for a Friday night. I went on a bar/club crawl to check out the best places in Hollywood and many places were only at 80% capacity. After taking a few pictures with superhero costumes and looking at the stars names on the floor I am happy to be leaving the tourist trap and meeting a few friends from back home.
