Ready to go south of the border

As we were leaving San Francisco, we knew that the next few days would both about enjoying the Californian Coast and making sure we were ready to enter Mexico and the rest of the Latin American world. As we were heading towards Monterrey on the coast, we were mentally going through the list of things left to do and stopping occasionally to make a few phone calls and order the parts we were planning to take into Mexico, in case we needed them on the road.

The Big Sur: a magical drive

For anyone interested in Golf, Pebble Beach brings images of world class golf courses, best greens, overlooking the ocean where stars like Tiger Woods hanging out. We loved the drive around its private 17-mile drive that provides stunning and private views of the coast, while passing big beautiful gated mansions. Even we could not believe it when we learned that we would spend a night there with Todd, the brother of a friend of Chad, and his wife Marianne. We felt very special and these guys gave us private tours of the area and showed us a short trail on a little hill where we had stunning views of the coast. Our next stretch of Route 1 was off a good start.
It was another sunny day and the ride was amazing again on route 1: we could not go real fast due to the numerous curves but it made it easier for us to enjoy the vista. Our first stop was at the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, one of Caroline's favorite spot. A waterfall comes right into the ocean, on a beautiful sand beach and right into the deep turquoise ocean water. It was a sight you can look at for a long time, very soothing and peaceful so we made it our lunch spot. As we continued later on the road, there were so many vista points to enjoy that we were really not making a lot of progress but definitively enjoying the Big Sur ocean spell. Right north of Cambria, we stopped at a beach known for its elephants seals: these are bigger than regular seals and have this weird shaped mouth that looks like they have a mini elephant trump when wide open. Quite unique animals! These giants were taking naps on the beach, a key step for their survival as they can't sleep in the water. Some males were also being more active and fighting in the water, producing big and loud grunts at each other. We stayed there for a while, curious to see their sleeping technique, where they dig themselves into the sandand shovel some sand over their back. The walk of some of them was also a funny sight. These animals are definitively more gracious in the water than on the land.

Visiting family and friends before crossing the border

As we were getting closer to Los Angeles, we realized we had quite a few friends and family members in the area and we wanted to see if we could visit them before entering Mexico. It is always a pleasure to reconnect with people you have not seen for a while, which was the case with all the people we knew in the area. We ended up with a full social agenda for the last days in the USA, which was a lot to our liking as we were unsure if we would be able to see all these people. We started with Don and Diane, two members of Chad's family and that we had not seen since a wedding on the East Coast a few years ago. We had never been to their place before and had heard so much about the nice place they have with a beach view. It was all true story and after a tasty lunch with them, we headed out to Pasadena to visit our friends Secil and Marie-Laure. They used to live in Washington DC and at the time, we were so sad they moved to the west coast. However, not the best timing for a visit: Marie-Laure was ready to give birth to their second baby, and she had her first contractions the day before. We were a little worried about visiting so close to her due date but we had a fantastic time, amazed by how well and full of energy Marie-Laure was so close to giving birth and even stayed for dinner with them and here parents visiting from France. We are thinking about them everyday and can't wait to see the pictures of their little boy.

We left after dinner for Venice Beach, where we would spend the night at Jonathan's, a College friend of Chad's. We slept very well that night and ready to run some errands the next but also enjoy the fun neighborhood and beach just a block away. Chad and Jonathan went for a swim in the ocean while Caroline was reading her book. We also saw our first Californian sunset on the beach, which was perfect. Jonathan also took us out that night and we had a very good partying a little in the street with his friends.

The next day, we left LA for our last stop before Mexico: San Diego. We spent our day picking up some spare motorcycle parts, getting a new rear tire for Caroline and buying other tools and necessity that we were not sure would be easy to find south. We met in the evening Aline, a friend of Caroline's whom she worked with in Paris and her husband Olivier. They were going to host us in La Jolla and they had prepared a wonderful dinner for us, with great wines as Aline has hr own wine business. We went to bed content and happy that we were also to run all our errands successfully. The next day was our chill day: we went to the beach, Chad surfed with Olivier while Caroline and Aline took a walk on the beach. It was a full day of fun, but very relaxing and it was so great to be able to catch up with these guys. The day finished on a super high note as we shared a delicious Frecnch dinner at Tapenade, where we had the best meal aver, treated likes kings as Aline works with the restaurant. A meal to remember for the next fwe months.

Tomorrow, we are crossing the border and feel as ready as we can possibly be. Aline and Olivier shared a great deal of information with us, especially about the border crossing in Tijuana and we feel much more reassured than a few days ago. Hopefully, all will go well. This is also the part of our trip where we may have less frequent access to Internet so nothing to worry about if you see less regular updates on the blog. We are also letting go of our cell phone and no longer able to get phone calls. It is for sure a new milestone in our trip and the opening of a new adventure chapter that we are looking forward to enjoying. Y manana tenemos que hablar espanol.