Ventura, April 14

Larry and Mrs. Gunn

Rudy and Lily at Dargan's in Ventura

We stayed in Motel 6 in Goleta. The check in clerk offered us two different rooms, so we asked for the quietest. No difference he said, so we took the closest, big mistake. Showered and headed across the parking lot to the sports bar, bowling alley etc. Sat and chatted with Bob at the bar. He had worked for the University in Santa Barbara for 20 years. He and his spouse were military brats and lived around the world. He graduated from high school in Alaska and worked at a fishing lodge north of Fairbanks. After he graduated from high school he spent the winter as the caretaker at the lodge. Just him, a bunch of books and the cold and snow. For supplies, he would call by radio to the air force and they would air drop him what he had requested. He said on occasion, the air force guys would land, call the base and say the weather had them grounded and spend the night at the lodge, a little poker a little pool etc. We asked the bar maid about a good pasta place and she said "We serve pasta" and produced the menu,: one pasta dish. Other bar maid said "PastaVino". Close? A couple of miles. Pasta sounded real good, we splurged on cab, $22 round trip, not as close as lead to believe. Pasta is getting expensive. Turned out Pasta Vino was very good and much quieter than eating in the bowling alley/sports bar. Anyway, back to the room. Woke up grouchy as the people above us were moving furniture, bodies, shopping carts or something most of the night. I slept pretty good and missed the guy pounding on the door next to us yelling at the the person in the room. The attendant came down and asked him to be quiet and he paused for 30 seconds and continued to pound on the door. They were all up at 5:30 and not using their indoor voices. We were up and out the door into Santa Barbara. Wonderful bike route through town and we stopped for breakfast at a place recommended by a local rider stopped at a red light with us. Great breakfast and back on the road. Good riding, good bike lanes on the road. Stopped in Carpinteria at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for a bagel. Nice place, young mothers with children in strollers, people on lap tops and a young trust fund girl(in pajama bottoms, a halter top) in conversation with a young skate boarder scam artist and his friend with a nice nose ring and bright pink hair. Snippets of conversation lead us to believe she was donating some money to the young man and it reeked of con job. We held our concerned fatherly tongues and headed on down the road hoping all was well. On down the coast, we saw over a dozen dolphins just off the coast. The trouble with digital cameras is the delay after you push the button, makes it hard to get a photo of a fast moving dolphin. We also saw a seal having what appeared to be an enjoyable swim. We stopped and were counting our blessings, when Bob, a cyclist and attorney from Santa Barbara stopped to see if we were lost etc. He was riding a loop from Santa Barbara that took him inland past Lake Casitas and then down to Hwy 101 (our route) back north, into the wind, to Santa Barabara. He rides with a club and they were getting ready to leave to ride the Natchez Trace in Mississippi. He has biked all over the world including the 104 mile down hill ride along the Kootenay River in Canada, the Blue Ridge Mountain Trail and the Road To the Sun in Montana. He gave us his card and offered us a place to stay should we bike through Santa Barbara again. We arrived in Ventura after 47 quick miles and stopped in Dargan's Irish pub for a light lunch before heading up the hill to Mrs. Gunn's, our hostess for the night. A delightful evening with the mother of my good friend John Gunn. She took us out to dinner at Casa de Soria for some excellent Mexican food and good company. A wonderful nights sleep, so nice and quiet. Up early and Mrs Gunn fixed us a good breakfast and sent us off into the sunshine.