Chris said goodbye at 7.00 am this morning as he left to go to work. We ate a cereal breakfast whilst Weej walked Dutch. Then the farewell pictures and goodbyes before making our way back to the beachfront. At Chris’s suggestion we took a different route to the beach, we rejoined the cycle path at Capistrano Beach.

Couldn’t resist taking a picture 1946 ford

From here we went off route a little making our way along a lovely harbourside (flat) below Dana Point (there is a big clue in the name!) Only to find our mistake as we had to climb an extreemly steep hill at the end. At the top we should have had outstanding views of the harbour but a thick (but nice) sea mist still hung around obscuring everything. At the top here there are building plots of land for sale at $2.5 million or $4.5 million with a house built on it!

Majestic views

It was then on to Laguna Beach, where we lost any shoulder and the cycling was not very nice at all. Once in Laguna (a very arty and musical town), the cycling improved and once we left Laguna the shoulder returned. The ride undulated a little (more than a few hills) into Newport Beach. This is a very wealthy area, lots of gated communities, the car dealerships all seemed to be Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati even a McClaren as well. And of course lots and lots of boat sellers (I say boat, ship is probably more accurate).

Very soon after leaving Newport Beach we arrived at Huntington Beach, this has a lovely cycle path right along the sea front, at least I assumed it was sea front as the mist had now completely blocked all views of everything. This is a huge beach and almost deserted this time of year, here we found a bench and had a snack before cycling away fron the coast to find where we are stopping tonight.

Empty beach

A short time later we found Bob and Karen’s house. Immediately we were warmly welcomed into their beautiful home, meeting the rest of their family including 2 grandchildren. Once showered we sat outside chatting then when it cooled off came indoors for a beer (or wine) and around 6.30 pm sat and had a lovely meal, probably the best part was the mashed potato, when you have not had it in a very long time it is surprising what you find the most delicious.
Not long after we retired for the night, it really was a great evening, a pleasure to be part of Bob and Karen’s family even if it was for just a short time.