Monday, November 3, 2014

Delicious Fruit and a Surprise Hotel!

We wake up and enjoy a lovely breakfast with Karis and her mom June then say our goodbyes. It has been so wonderful to spend the last few days here with Karis, Bayard, and June. Thank you guys for everything!
First we ride out of Ventura, crusing down the Main Street packed with small businesses. It's still early enough that things are quiet; places are just getting ready to open for the day. Out of town we ride on Telegraph Road, passing through orchards of lemons and avocados. When this road ends we merge onto 126, the road we'll be on for the rest of the day. This is a big road, but we have a huge shoulder with a rumble strip so it's not bad riding. We stop at a small roadside stand to purchase three small baskets of strawberries. They're so sweet they taste like candy!

For lunch we stop in a park in the small town of Fillmore. There are no picnic tables, but there's a really cool playground so we sit under one of the towers in the shade. It's like a mini pavilion!
For the rest of the afternoon we try to ignore the noise of the traffic as we fight against an annoying headwind. Luckily there is some beautiful scenery; we pass many more orchards and farms, and desert mountains are all around us. We stop at one of the fruit stands we see to purchase fresh oranges, a mini avocado, a pomegranate, and some guavas. Everything just looks so good!
As we near the end of our ride we hit a construction zone, which means that the shoulder on our side of the road closes. We have to cross and ride on the other side for a bit, then cross back. It makes for an exciting, slightly stressful end to the day.
Tonight we are staying at the Embassy Suites hotel, a wonderful surprise gift from a family friend, Karen, who lives in the area. Deciding that we should have better accommodations than her backyard, she made us a reservation at this beautiful hotel. We've already enjoyed the hot tub and large quantities of the complimentary snacks! Thank you so much, Karen!

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