The Snozzberries Taste Like Snozzberries!

Day 31: New Brighton State Beach to Salinas

Today's Distance: 42 miles

Total Distance: 1,483 miles

I woke up so sore this morning.  So sore.  As uncomfortable as I was sleeping in my tent, I still did not want to get out of bed.  When I finally did get up and going, I realized that the outside of my tent was covered with baby spiders!  Maybe an egg hatched overnight or something?  The Brandon of a couple months ago probably would have just holed up in his tent for hours until the spiders went away.  But after all that i've been through and experienced so far, a few hundred baby spiders crawling around my domicile isn't so bad.  I'm like a straight up outdoorsman now bro, come at me.

I finally left camp around Noon and headed to see my Aunt & Uncle in Salinas.  Today was going to be a shorter day, so I could get away with such a late start.  Most of the day was spent on back roads and bike paths riding through endless farmlands.  The scenery was not normal, but I was actually very interested in all the different fruits and vegetables they were growing.  Brussel sprouts, artichokes, strawberries, snozzberries, kiwi...it was neat.  And I was amazed by the prices at the various fruit&veggie stands I rode by.  4 avocados for a $1, 10 kiwi for $1, 10 artichokes for ONE DOLLAR!?  Seriously?  The markup on these at the grocery stores back home are incredible.

Maybe the most interesting part of my day was riding through Castroville, "The Artichoke Center of the World".  I didn't see or eat any artichokes in Castroville, but then again I didn't stop and was only in town for a matter of minutes.  It was a short and pretty easy ride to Salinas all in all.  My aunt made me enchiladas for dinner and I just spent the rest of the night catching up with them.  It is only going to be a short stay, but a warm shower, a comfortable bed, clean clothes, air in my tires, and a full belly are definitely going to help me get through the rest of this trip.  Good night for now!