Cookie Dough

As anticipated, today was a non-travel day and as result I knew the likelihood of having much blog-worthy material would be pretty slim. Then again, that’s rarely stopped me from writing long updates in the past so we’ll just see where we end up. That’s somewhat fitting as hat’s kind of the theme of this adventure.

The better part of the morning was spent sorting through photos and writing updates. And while it took longer than expected, I was completely caught up by early afternoon. It felt great to be completely caught up again and it also meant that I was officially free to go outside. And I did. With the ocean only four blocks away, how could I not?

Leaving my bike in the garage, I set out on foot for a leisurely walk around the area. Yes, I could’ve taken my bike but I knew I’d be heading to the beach at some point and my bike really doesn’t work particularly well in the sand. We all have our limitations.

The shops and restaurants where all the beach goers frequent was only about a mile away along the promenade so I figured that would be a good direction to start. As you might expect, Seaside is a pretty typical beach town – souvenir shops, clothing options, novelty stores, and of course restaurants. But all very nice. However, not being a shopper, I walked past the stores. Not being hungry, I also walked past the restaurants. No, that wasn’t a typo. I wasn’t hungry. And yes, I was a bit surprised by that too. Maybe it was all the Celebration Mix that I ate while writing … which wasn’t very bright as that was supposed to be food for the road and, to the best of my knowledge, it’s only available in Canada. Oh well. It’s gone now.

Ironically enough, I was only interested in going into one particular shop today only to find that said shop had closed early for the day. The shop in question was Barber Bob’s. I guess the shave and a haircut will have to wait until the next non-travel day.

With a haircut no longer on the agenda, I pretty much wandered around somewhat aimlessly for much of the afternoon. It was another beautiful sunny day so it was nice to be outside – although, the wind coming off the ocean had a definite chill to it.

By the time I returned to the house it was late afternoon, at which point I started plotting my route for the next couple of days. Generally speaking, the route is pretty straightforward. Follow highway 101. However, there are a few sections that apparently aren’t particularly cycle-friendly nor particularly scenic. As such, I wanted to see what the recommended alternate routes are.

While doing that, another touring cyclist arrived at the house. Javier from Spain. He’s also heading south but he started in Alaska and is continuing south beyond San Diego. Good plan! We chatted for a bit, discussing not only our trips, but also routing and camping options which we hope to available along the coast.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the day though happened just moments ago. I mentioned in yesterday’s update that I had a nice chat with Jeremy, the owner of the Subway in Raymond. I also commented how I should’ve asked for a free cookie. Well, I just received a donation from Jeremy with the specific purpose of “Buy a cookie for Mark’s Midlife Crisis”. I have to say I definitely didn’t anticipate that! Thanks very much Jeremy. I’ll be buying a cookie (or two) a day for the next few days!

Ending a day knowing there will be cookies tomorrow is a pretty good feeling. I anticipate sweet (and chocolatey) dreams tonight.