Thanks - I have stayed with 5 amazing hosts off the Warmshowers website. Tonight I am staying with a French guy called Christophe and his two children. He made dinner and dessert and is letting me stay for two nights. He has even offered to take me to work on Wednesday. Oh, he works at Steven Spielberg's company, Dreamworks....
I want to thank the hosts, Lee and family from Chicago, Sarah and Beth from Portland. Shirley from San Francisco, David from Lompoc and now Christophe. Hopefully there will be more while I am still here.
I travelled rode and camped with great people from my first day to my last. Nadeane on the train, Brendan and Katt at the first camp, Mike, Julia, Andrew, Scott and his son Will then finally Felix, Robbie, Nicole, Hans, Scott and Naomi.
Los Angeles came into view through the mid morning haze. It goes along the coast for nearly 100 miles. Well known areas like Santa Monica, Long Beach and Venice sit on the shoreline. People look healthy and tanned with their beaming white smiles and their fine clothes. It's easy to see why people want to live here. It's hot almost all year round. The beach is beautiful and the people are super friendly.
I was slightly disappointed though to go along the beach and not see it full of movie stars or porn queens. Maybe if I had got here yesterday I could have been riding alongside Lindsey Lohan or chatting with Leonardo and Ron Jeremy? I know by now though, that its the what if and maybe question that has been with me all along. Even before I got to the USA that was the case. I could've chosen so many different routes around this country, and had different experiences and seen different things. But, I was destined to only ever see a slice of life at what ever time I arrived. Getting to a town in the morning will be different to arriving there in the afternoon. One of the great things I have found regarding travelling lies in this fact. Things happen. You affect them. What everyone does effects what happens whether you know it or not.
From what I have now seen I think I know this country a lot more than I did than when I arrived. You can base what your thoughts of a country are on lots of things. But when you break it down its the people that make it what it is. I have found, despite so many differences, that the Americans I have interacted with across the country are connected by a "bred in them" sense of hospitality and also curiosity. People like to interact. Its what we need to do more of. Conversation is one of the keys to learning. Helping is one of the keys to happiness. I thought when I was sat talking about this trip with Cassie at work that the "being on my own" situation wouldn't be to much of a problem, and to be honest it hasn't been, but I haven't gone a single day without looking forward to interacting with other people. Whether it's been fellow cyclists, general town folk or even the odd nut case. If ever the slightest chance to do something like this presents itself then I advise to do it.
Someone asked today what my favourite part has been, my answer was, all of it.
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