Day 5: Limekiln, Big Sur coast

The ride into Limekiln at the southern end of Big Sur was just as scenic as the first half. We had a hard, three mile climb first thing in the morning. It was nice to get it over with right away while we were still relatively fresh. We did have to stop part way up to stretch my back.  We stopped at the Coastal Gallery for coffee and a sweet. The gallery had the coolest bird houses painted in bright colors with steep tin roofs and things like bent spoons, door knobs, or water faucets just under the hole for birds to land on. We bought a beautiful birds-eye maple travel size cribbage board at the gallery. The guy laughed when I said he could keep the box & didn't need a bag - too much extra bulk & weight to carry.  We did a side trip to Julia Pfeiffer-Burns SP for a hike overlooking a waterfall that spills onto the beach below. There are a few walk-in tent sites on the bluff nearby. We made note of them for a future trip.  The last major climb of the day ended just past Lucia. We stopped for our ice cream there and also found a sticker with "I survived Hwy 1" on it. Bought it for our bike tool chest. Everything was expensive at Lucia. Our two ice cream bars & the sticker were over $12; Jan bought us a 6-pack of beer there for $14. It tasted great by the time we found her.  Limekiln campground is on the chopping block next week due to the state budget problems. There were only a few spaces available near the beach when Jan got there. Three fourths of the campground - the part in the redwoods - was already closed. We did get to hike a bit and saw the limekilns for which the park is named. Rob & I crisscrossed the creek a few times to go see an amazing waterfall. We did the same hike with Kendal several years ago.  After dinner (yummy shrimp scampi) another cyclist came by looking for a campsite. We offered him a place to pitch his tent for the night and heard stories of his travels. Cale is much younger than us & is doing the same trip in just one week. We watched the sunset on the beach before returning to our campfire for s'mores.