California Day 11 - Santa Maria to San Luis Obispo

I've made it to San Luis Obispo. Here I am in front of what I am pretty sure is the exact same hostel I stayed at 20 years ago.

Twenty years ago, my friend Jim and I decided to ride from San Francisco to San Diego. I only made it to San Luis Obispo, when I had to abandon the ride because I came down with with the flu. That trip report is here: https://viciouscircle.us/spring2006/Day04SanLuisObispo/index.htm

So now, 20 years later, I am going to finish the ride.

It was a pretty easy day today, just 30 miles from Santa Maria to here. It's very beautiful here. I got my first glimpse of the ocean at Pismo Beach.

From there, I headed inland to SLO, which was a nice ride up a canyon. Check out these hilltop houses at Pismo beach! 

I bet the people live in these houses don't ride bikes much. I hope the view is worth it.

I had lunch a few miles before here, which constituted a huge lifetime bucket list accomplishment.

I had an In-N-Out burger.

This is generally considered to be the best fast food hamburger. It's pretty good. Fixings are super fresh and crisp. It is not a greasy gloopy mess. (I'm talking about you Whopper and Baconator.) But it's not as good as a Culver's Butterburger, or Five Guys. The fries are nowhere close to Five Guys. If I never have another In-N-Out Burger, I won't care.

The hostel won't check you in before 4:30, and it's only 30 miles, so even though I slept in, and took my time getting going, I had a couple hours to kill.

Good thing I'm out of clean clothes.

And I still had another hour to kill. They would let me drop my bags at the hostel, so I did, and rode a couple miles to the REI and replenished my supply of electrolyte powders.

I am back in affluent, civilized areas. There is an REI.

The hostel is about six blocks from the main commercial strip in town. I walked over for dinner, to a BBQ place, which happily has a special Sunday special on Electrolyte Replenishment.

I so replenished my electrolytes. I had the "Tri-Tip Sandwich" for dinner, with a side of ranch beans.

                                            

What are Tri-Tips? This is a new one for me. I asked the bartender. She helpfully informed me that it was a part of a cow. OK.

Is it pit beef? Nobody here has ever heard of pit beef. "Well, we do slow roast it in a pit..." I think it's pit beef.

San Luis Obispo is really nice. The people at the hostel think it is really expensive and really boring. I asked them what people do here. "Nothing. It's all retirees."

I get a vibe that is very much like our the neighborhood of Wyndhurst, where our second home in Baltimore was. The houses are all from the 19-noughts. Everybody plants flowers and landscapes their yards. Except here, the landscaping can include giant agave plants. Which are cool.

I'm now relaxing at the hostel, watching this evenings film entertainment, which is "Wall-E", projected onto a bedsheet hung over the fireplace. This is great.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/17822490776