The alarm went off as scheduled, I got up and decided that while Valerie was dilly-dallying as is her morning style (I say we need to be on the road at 5:00 AM knowing that 6:00 AM is when we'll actually be walking out the door) I would head out the door and go to WalMart. We needed a few drinks and some ice for our cooler, and as I have come to expect... WalMart is always open. Except for this one. Great... I manage to find one of the old style WalMarts that actually closes at night (and probably didn't have a grocery section either!
A quick web search for “24 hour grocery” on my cell phone's web browser revealed a store in Oakland... which was nowhere near Pleasanton. I decided to drive past a Safeway we had been to a few days earlier and, much to my amazement, it was welcoming me with open arms (and doors).
Mission accomplished, and now it was late enough (5:00 AM) for the Starbucks close to the motel to be open, so I had one more stop to make. Back at the motel, we got the motivational mojo flowing and were indeed on the road by 6:00 AM. Heading east toward Interstate 5, feeling like a salmon swimming upstream again the solid sea of cars on the other side of the freeway heading west. Slowly creeping, for miles... and miles... and miles they went. I'm so glad that I don't have to make a daily drive in that madness!
We made it to La Verne, California around 12:30 to see Bill McCready at Santana. There were a couple of questions we had concerning our bike, and who better to ask than the people who created it? This is one of those places where I could spend hours just wandering around looking at things that I don't understand. Like a kid in a candy store, I don't know what everything tastes like but I know it's all good! This is the factory where the best tandems in the world are made – and we have one of them.
There were rows of tandem frames hanging from the walls in a regimented order that just lulled me into a drooling stupor. Different materials, different colors... it was mesmerizing for my inner-tandem lover. We also got a peek at a special project that was in the final assembly; a quint. This, for those of you who either don't know or really don't care, is not a bicycle-built-for-two but is instead a bicycle-built-for-five. Yes, FIVE. But if that's not enough for you, Santana built this six seater. (Click on the the phrase "The Bike" under the heading "Menu" on the right-hand sidebar ... and you'll see a slide show of this monster!)
From Santana we continued our drive to Escondido, where our friend was waiting for us with open arms. No, stop the presses... she wasn't waiting... she forgot all about us and thought we were coming in the next day! We were like little unloved orphans standing outside the gate of her condo, with no one to call and nowhere to go. (Except on an evening bike ride... to kill time and enjoy what evening light was left.)
Our friend finally came home and then spent the rest of the evening wondering how she could have forgotten the day we were coming in, and apologizing profusely about every ten minutes! Sweetie...it's alright. Forgetfulness comes honestly for people your age! (Yes, I'll be sleeping on the patio tonight, but it was worth it!!!)
Seriously, we all went out and had a Chinese dinner which was great – I was really craving some Asian cuisine and dinner hit the spot perfectly. We came back home, and it wasn't long before I hit the sack and passed out without any problem. It's nice to be back “home” among friends!
Oh... that picture of the cycling socks? Something I found at a local shop on our ride last night. My “signature” fashion statement!
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