Finally at the finish!!!

Saturday, 6. September 2008.
In the morning we see some smoke in the distance and figure out it must be burning somewhere not so far. We pack our stuff and drop by the host's wife who's even more apologetic than yesterday and offers us ice cold water and a piece of advice.
We haven't eaten anything since that Del Taco at 8 pm, so we're in search of some food. The first town doesn't look very promising. There's some Oktoberfest kind of thing going on full with men wearing those funny pants and white shirts and women that are even more funnily dressed and gallons of draft beer dripping from taps. Everything's very touristy and it seems hard to find some healthy food here.
We keep on driving and run into a restaurant. An hour later, our stomachs are full and we feel just as new again.
We take some photos and then hit the road. We ditch Tom Tom and opt for a good ole Rand McNally's road map. We drive to the coast to the sounds of Alkaline Trio. "Oh mercy me, god bless catastrophy. There's no way in hell you'll ever live to see through this..."
The day is slow and I guess we both wish the ride takes longer than it does, but there's no traffic today and we're by the beach in no time.
Out of the car and to the beach. The parking is kind of pricey so we aren't staying long. Just the time to grab a croissant and chat a bit.
Carrie is going back to San Diego and I'm biking to my final destination; my friend Pero's place in Aliso Viejo, Orange County, California.
We get back to the car and I put my bike together again. A goodbye hug with the hope to meet again soon and off we are. Carrie goes back onto Highway 5 and I head towards Aliso Viejo.
Pero and his wife Diana have just returned from the beach when I finally arrive to their apartment. It's been 3 years I haven't seen them, exactly since my last visit to the US in 2005.
We chat for a while and decide to take it easy and stay in today. It feels like home and at the same time it feels strange there's nowhere to bike tomorrow morning. I've finally made it to LA (actually, even a bit further than LA) all the way from Seattle in less than a month!