Stage 4, Day 6--Morro Bay to San Francisco, CA

     I met these two gentlemen (both of them locals) at Morro Bay Coffee Co. while I was eating breakfast. It was great talking to the both of them. The one with the cap is an avid rider. He told me about his stories traveling Alaska on his bike. He gave me some great advice; we will be traveling to Alaska in Summer of 2016, so we need all the advice we can get. He mentioned how in the summer there are huge mosquitos and he also warned us about the wildlife. Apparently, some bears and elk just like to sit on the warm tarmac and won't move for bikes or other vehicles. But his best advice was on how to get to Alaska. He recommended that we take a ferry, that departs close to Seattle and then travel all the way to Anchorage on the ferry (this is a 4 day ferry ride, not for the faint of heart). Then ride our bikes south and back down to the United States (this ride is still very long, about 2,700 miles).

    

I love the view early in the morning of the California hills. The coffee shop was located next to a roundabout, a rare sighting in the USA.

Here are the bikes outside the coffee shop. Jorge is getting ready to go.

It was a beautiful morning and we had a long day ahead of us. As you can see, the sky was overcast and there was some drizzle. A couple of hours north of Morro Bay on Highway 1, we stopped to see the "elephant seals" that were lying on the beach next to the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a spectacular sighting. Seeing these mammals in there natural habit was the first for me. There were hundreds of them on the beach. There was no real barrier that prevented anyone from going down to pet them, but nobody dared tried. The noises they made were unbelievable. The noises were loud and strange, somewhat of screeching sounds. It also seemed like they were talking to each other.

This picture of me is one of my favorites; with the seals and yellow flowers in the background.

We continued our journey on magnificent Pacific Coast Highway. They say this is one of the best roads in all USA, perhaps in the world. I believe them. The views are spectacular. These pictures of our helmets are pretty cool. We're going to take one during each trip.

Here's Jorge on a quick stop to replace the batteries on our GoPro cameras.

We stopped at this restaurant that had some breathtaking views (and some good food as well). As you can see the weather had cleared up and the sky was blue and the road was dry with lots of grip. It made for some fantastic riding. 

This is the last picture I took during the trip, right after we passed the Golden Gate Bridge (the goal line, indicating that Stage 4 was complete). Overall, the California coast is everything it's hyped up to be and then some. We rode some of the best roads and saw some of the best scenery out there. We can't wait to go back and see what northern California, Oregon, and Washington have to offer.