California (days 7-8)

Day 7 – Friday, July 6th (120 miles, Palmdale, CA to Santa Barbara, CA):

A fairly easy and short, but hot, day today. My dad and I left Palmdale around 9am and took the highway towards the coast. As we weren’t far from Los Angeles, there was quite a bit of traffic, which made for some nervous riding. Once we got into the Ventura area, the temperature declined quickly and the weather felt amazing compared to the heat we had been riding in. After eating lunch in Ventura, I rode up highway 101 along the coast to Santa Barbara. This was such a beautiful ride with the coast and Pacific Ocean to my left! After arriving in Santa Barbara in the early afternoon, we checked into our Airbnb and then headed into town to get dinner and walk around. Santa Barbara is beautiful and definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in southern CA!

Day 8 – Saturday, July 7th (Santa Barbara, CA):

Today we didn’t do any riding on the motorcycles, which was a nice change of pace from the past few days. We spent the morning watching the World Cup soccer games at a restaurant in downtown, ate lunch, and then headed back to the Airbnb to get ready for my cousins wedding that evening.

The reception for the wedding was at the Sea Center on the Santa Barbara Pier, which had amazing views and even better weather! The cooler weather and breeze was a great relief from the extreme heat we had been experiencing over the last week.

After the wedding and reception, I headed back to the Airbnb to finish organizing and re-pack my things. Tomorrow I begin the rest of the trip by myself, riding north towards Canada and Alaska!

View from the Santa Barbara Pier at night