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Embarking on an Ill Advised Trip
Thursday, March 3, 2005 Day Four I wanted to get a much earlier start today, so I ate leftover pizza from last night for breakfast. The cheap hotel I was in provided the best parking spot ever.
My plan was to take route 101 to 166 at Santa Maria into the Sierra Madre mountains. Somehow, I managed blast by it. I guess the lack of coffee with my pizza breakfast was taking its toll on my level of consciousness. I stopped in Santa Barbara, and found a coffee shop to caffeine up. What I saw instead of the Sierra Madre mountains was a disturbing and sobering site. Route 101 rolls past the tiny seaside town of La Conchita, where 11 people were killed a few weeks ago by a massive mud slide. It can be seen from the highway, and traffic slows there just to get a look. I did more than slow, I turned around and stopped to take pictures. It was a heart wrenching experience.
After taking pictures at La Conchita, I moved on with a feeling of dread and moroseness that took a while to shake. As I rolled into Ventura, I decided the take Route 33 into the mountains, since I had missed Route 166. It was a lovely ride, but unfortunately, the road was closed due to a mud slide and I had to turn around and go back to Ventura and Route 101.
Once I got to LA, I got a taste of what misery LA traffic can really be. Both 101, and Interstate 5 were horrid. At one point, I simply got off of 5 and started using local streets. I finally reached my friends' house around 9 PM. There were some other friends waiting for me at Mother's, a biker bar in Sunset Beach on PCH, but I had to call them to say I would not be there until Friday night. I was tired, and my friends did not feel like going out in the middle of the week. Here is a photo gallery of Day 4. Go to NEXT DAY'S STORY |
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