Update #19 - April 25th, 2003
Point Arena, CA - 2,950.9 miles (4,721.4 kms.)

The past week has been wet and cold along the coast. According to the weather reports on the radio, April has been twenty degrees colder than normal. It has still been a good ride along the coast on CA 1. I spent a lot of nights camping in either state beaches or parks. For the most part, the camping fees was just two dollars a night. Most of the campsites were okay but some were really bad.

I stayed at two churches along the way (in Monterey at the First Baptist Church and in Bodega Bay at the Community Church). The Catholic church in Castroville helped me get a motel room and the Baptist Church in Gualala got me one there also. This was great since the following night I had gotten really wet while staying at Salt Point State Park. I had camped out in the rain on what I had thought was flat ground. I woke up early in the morning with a big puddle inside the tent up by the door and a mini-stream flowing underneath the tent. It was really miserable trying to get some rest scrunched up in the top half of the sleeping bag with cold and damp feet.

People have been really helpful along the way. I got a ride between Salt Point State Park and Gualala. My ride also slipped me $10. When I had gotten lost a few days earlier in the San Rafael area since the bike trail was closed along the Redwood Highway, a Good Samaritan on a bicycle took me over the mountain along dirt mountain bike trails to Mill Valley. Before he left, he also slipped me some money in a Green-Handshake.

I've got about seventy miles left along CA 1 before I have to get on U.S. 101. The biggest obstacle will be getting over Leggett Hill with it's three peaks north of Ft. Bragg and south of Standish-Hickey State Park. I've got about ten days left in Californai before crossing into Oregon. North of Leggett, I'll be riding through the California Redwood forests.

I'll try to post an update as often as I can if there are any changes in my plans.