The final day of our tour was spent...

With Phil and Joan, whom we first met in Cascade Locks, Oregon way back on 8/22/15!

As you can see, Rose and Charley took an instant shine to them! So did we.

We had so much in common and may plan a bike tour together in the future.

We spent a day touring around the San Diego area (by tram and on foot, mind you). It was a wonderful, relaxing "unwind day" before tackling the 10 hour drive home.

Trudy and I...

Day 62 - to Tecate, Mexico! We did it! We really did it! Canada to Mexico, together... on bikes!! 10/9/15, Thursday

46 miles, 1862 up (including a 6 mile out and back, because I didn't read the instructions... Ahem!)

Well, it was mostly downhill, except my detour and a short, hilly section.

 

That's Tecate, Mexico out there!

We made it over the border!

So did Rose and Charley!

Here are our friends Joan and Phil, who drove from the San Diego area to greet us, meet us, and take us to their home!

We are so lucky! (We first met them at an ice cream stand in Cascade Locks, Oregon!)

Day 61 - Anza Borrego ride, then Julian to Mt. Laguna 10/8/15, Wednesday

26 miles, then 46 miles and 6838 up

In the morning, we ditched the luggage and went for a nice, flat ride with Charlie, Al and a couple of their friends around Anza Borrego. There are sculptures spread through the desert in areas that are preserved from development, so it was like riding through a vast, open gallery. The desert is so beautiful!

Also, Trudy and I really enjoyed riding light bikes on flat roads!

Afterward, Al drove us to Julian, at about 4000 ft., to resume our trip to Mt. Laguna where we would spend our final night camping.

We were on a ridge line, so there were great vistas on both sides at different times.

Our final night, we camped at about 6000 ft elevation with a spectacular, starry night.

Day 60 - Hemet Lake to S2 (beyond Warner Springs) - we stayed with friends in Anza Borrego 10/7/15, Tuesday

54 miles

We woke up to... Wet and misty.

Everything we wore yesterday was wet, really wet! The tent was wet.

But, the sun was peaking through, so we moved our clothes line, tent, and ourselves to a sunny spot and delayed our start until we were becoming warm and dry.

We were still at 4500 ft elevation and would descend to about 2200, then climb again to about 3200 near Warner Springs, where long time friends Al and Charlie would meet us and take us to their home in Anza Borrego for the night!

It was a really nice ride with a lot of changes in terrain and vegetation as rode through the elevations.

Al and Charlie met us around 4, and took us to their beautiful home in Anza Borrego, where we enjoyed showers, laundry, a fantastic dinner, conversation and a glass (or so...) of wine.

Then, a warm, soft bed!

Day 59 - Beaumont to Hemet Lake, 10/6/15, Monday

41 miles, 5257 up

After a restful afternoon and night in a nice, warm, quiet hotel room (we went out for dinner and watched a movie), we stopped in for the continental breakfast, which was coffee or tea and sweetrolls or muffins - I ate about a whole tray of sweetrolls - we hit the road for Hemet Lake.

Via Banning Summit.

Here's where we where...

A as we climbed, we crept into the clouds.

Day 58 - Yucaipa to Beaumont - 10/5/15, Sunday

12 miles, 1140 feet up

Rain storm rolling through...

Yet, we decided to ride on, braving cold, wet and gusty winds!

The place we stayed last night was so charming!

And inviting!

Kinda warm and fuzzy, huh?

Not that we minded the woman yelling in the middle of the night, the loud conversations outside our window, the headboard on the bed shaking when someone went up and down the stairs to the room above ours, or the pickup with the bad muffler that took forever to park!

No, we'd just been too lucky with weather so far and being cold would be a new dimension to explore!

We had breakfast at a restaurant nearby and were talking with another customer about our trip. He offered us a ride if we needed one. The rain had stopped when we headed out, but we found that he'd left a message that he would come get us because the rain had gotten heavier.

I called to thank him - we were already in a warm, friendly, comfortable hotel.

Day 57 - Big Bear Lake to Yucaipa - 10/3/15, Saturday

53 miles, 2919 up and 6942 down!

No photos today!?  Actually, yes. See at the bottom for Rose's input.

We had great breakfast burritos at the Off Broadway Cafe in Big Bear City, then started the climb to Onyx summit. It was a steady climb and pretty, but nothing inspired me to stop for pictures.

The summit was over 8000 feet, so we added layers of clothes for the descent, which went on and on! We did stop to pull off layers as we reached lower elevations, then kept rolling downhill to Yucaipa.

We hadn't found camping because it's the weekend and many of the campgrounds are closed. So, we stopped at a pizza place and ate our weight worth of salad at the all you can eat salad bar. While we ate we looked up local hotels - one was full, the other was way out of the way and the last one didn't answer the phone... So, we decided to ride over to the last one. The next possible place to stop is 15 or so more miles and it's late in the day.

The Sunset Motel has a prominent sign by the security window that says no prostitution is allowed. The fee is $60 per night, plus a $5 deposit that is returned when the key is turned in. Security cameras abound. The TV doesn't work so they gave us $5 back. Well, the shower works, there's WiFi and the overhead light works...

I guess you could say that when we have a choice of one, the decision is easy!

Rose's note: Onyx summit is the highest road summit in so cal, wow!