Day 3 - Ride to Monterey

Day 3: Santa Cruz to Monterey. Jan was supposed to race ahead and grab a campsite for it was first come first serve. Well one tire on the camper was low so she beat us out of camp and went to Costco. Two hours later she was back on the road. Stressed that we would not get a site she "raced" to Monterey. Plenty of spots. No problem. She spent the day in Cannery Row and went to the  aquarium.  Strawberries are not all grown in Oxnard! We rode past miles of strawberries, artichokes and Brussels sprouts. It hurt my back seeing all the farm workers bent over gathering each crop. We were on Hwy 1 for awhile even when it was a freeway. Soon after Castroville we finished the rest of ride on bike paths! There were a couple of small climbs but most of the day was constant rollers until the end.  We ate in Moss Landing at Haute Enchilada. Funky place with great food. We had artichoke soup and split a steamed artichoke with sundried tomato tapanade as appetizers.  We met up with Jan, had ice cream and then headed to the laundromat while she and Doug went shopping. After laundry we headed up to Vets Memorial Park. Up is an understatement. Over a mile climb with some sections around 10%. Granny gear all the way. We only stopped once to take our jackets off. Big Sur here we come! No fire tonight but we could BBQ. We are all cold so we are off to bed.  (the weather today was again amazing)