Day 18 2021 – Follow the Green Dot to Santa Cruz

It was the usual gray, misty morning start from Half Moon Bay. We got on the road at a reasonable time. I was glad there was a restaurant next door. I was loaded with carbs and caffeine after my pancake breakfast.

Very soon we came across a vast field of an undetermined agricultural product. We’d seen it yesterday as well. Ron thought it was Brussels sprouts. I had no idea. He had pharmacy training which trumps my electrical engineering in this situation. The sign said pumpkins, so I was clueless. Finally, we popped off the road for a closer look. Ron was right.

Below is the first of many roller coaster rides. We’d go downhill only to come back up to the same height or higher. The first picture is typical of what we just traveled, looking back at our climb. The ocean wasn’t the only thing that gave an impressive view. When we looked left we’d have the mountains.

This was typical of the bigger roller coaster climbs we made today. Ron is just a tiny green dot in the distance.

Some of the ocean scenes when we rreached the top.

It was going to be 35 miles from our start in Half Moon Bay to the next town, Davenport. I was certainly getting hungry. I stopped after 25 miles to do a nature break by the roadside, snack on some trail mix, have a bite of Clif bar and drink some more water. A quarter mile down the road, I saw Ron here at the Pie Ranch and farm stand. I was surprised he hadn’t noticed the Highway 1 brewery earlier. I got my first one of three servings of ice cream. This was the smallest.

Back to the ocean views.

And various wildlife.

Do you see what I see?

When we finally made it to Davenport, we were both hungry. I had my second ice cream. Ron chose differently. Different strokes for different folks.

We did finally make it to Santa Cruz. One more interesting ocean shot before we did. I am not holding up the sign. I just had touble getting into the frame before the timer went off on my camera.

There wasn’t as much climbing today, but there were still a few big ones. The details are here.

It could have been a wild night here in Santa Cruz, but we called it a night after dinner. Well, maybe after the ice cream sundae. That would be the third of the day.

The Not So Lone Rider