SF:SD Port Hueneme to Santa Monica

There is a large US Navy presence in Port Hueneme.  Yesterday we rode by the Seabees Museum.  We should have stopped – had plenty of time – but didn’t.  On leaving town today we passed the outdoor Navy Missile Museum.

At mile 10 we came across the “famous rock at Pt Mugu.  No one seems to know why it’s famous.  Not even Wikipedia.  And if Wikipedia doesn’t know, then no one knows.  Not even Google.

We had a beautiful morning and the sun reflected on the water as we rode south toward Santa Monica.

(Click on any picture for a bigger image.)

We were riding mostly on Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) which was originally called Roosevelt Highway.  In the early morning, and away from the big cities, it was a fairly quiet and pleasant road.  First stop was Starbucks at Trancas Canyon Road, mile 23.5.  A couple more miles down the road and we detoured to a place called “Malibu Riviera”.  All I can say is I hope you enjoy the photograph below; I had to climb a hill with 15% grade to take the damn thing.

I stopped to take a photo of Pepperdine University at mile 33.  It was here that my daughter Pamela, while in Law School At Southern Methodist University, won second place in the national entertainment law moot court competition. That would have been over 10 years ago.

 

 

 

Also on the Pepperdine campus is a flag memorial for those fallen in the 9/11 tragedy.

We had a great lunch at “Duke’s Restaurant”.  Duke Kahanamoku was a native Hawaiian, a six-time Olympic swimming and water polo medalist and the father of modern day surfing. He was a self-appointed Hawaiian ambassador from 1912 until 1968.

The closer we got to Santa Monica, the worse the traffic. Vehicles frequently parked in what we considered the bike lane. This forced us in the right lane, often with approaching traffic.

We by-passed our hotel and rode to the “colorful” Venice Beach.  “Colorful” in this case means the homeless, hippy, hookah and tattoo culture with sex on the beach (We saw it.).  I don’t relate to this life style any more than I relate to Mitt Romney’s secret bank accounts in the Cayman Islands.

Brenda had two flats today, one on each tire. Both were caused by thorns.  But no problem since she travels with her mechanic.  THIS SHOWS TODAY'S ROUTE.