Update #18 - April 16th, 2003
Monterey, CA - 2,632.4 miles (4,211.8 kms.)

The past week has been really great. I just wished that the weather would have been a lot better and not cold and damp. I had a good day off with a friend in the Paso Robles area. Mike took me back down to San Luis Obispo so that I could meet up with a very special person at CalPoly. I was the guest of Manny Gentinetto who at age 18 in 1998 became the youngest person to ride the Pan American Highway from Alaska to the tip of South America. Manny has a website called Bike It Solo . I had a great time with him staying the night in his dorm room.

Between San Luis Obispo and Monterey, I rode along CA. 1. This was by far the most trickiest riding I've done this year since the highway is mostly on cliffs and ledges. There were a lot of twists and turns and climbs but also some tricky downhill coasts in this seventy mile stretch. I stayed at several state beaches and parks in the hiker/biker spots, which cost around $2 a night. I met some fellow cyclists but most of them were going south. There was a family of three heading south on a specially built bicycle for three. The youngest was a boy of twelve.

One of the neatest places to see was a elephant seal rookery. There must have been over three thousand seals on the beach. Along the way, I saw a lot of wild turkeys, ground squirrels, and gophers. One night was spent amongst the California Redwoods at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.

In about four days, I'll probably be crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I'll try to post an update as often as I can if there are any changes in my plans.