Half Moon Bay
We stayed at Half Moon Bay State Beach last night...we're still here, in fact, because our next ride is a short one, to a hostel at a lighthouse midway between here and Santa Cruz, so we're taking our time getting ready to leave.
We were going to stay at Pelican Point RV park last night. Despite the park's total lack of tents, they were going to stick to their "two person per site" rule, which meant one of us would have to pay in full for a separate site. We thought this was ridiculous, and said so. We decided to move on, which meant backtracking about 3.5 miles. While Tom was changing a flat out in front of the office, the manager showed up and demanded that we get off his property. Apparently his policies are not "ridiculous," they are his "policies." The sullen wench in the office had summoned him from elsewhere on the grounds, after having lied to us about his being on site when we first arrived, so that she wouldn't have to make the supreme effort of calling him to ask for an exception to the 2-person rule.
Just as well: the park here in Half Moon Bay is 100 yards from the ocean, with immaculate bathrooms and showers, and cost $3. We were going to stay at the RV Park to avoid the odd people we thought we'd find at a park so close to the city, but didn't allow for the fact that Half Moon Bay looks to be a well-off sort of place that Doesn't Tolerate That Sort Of Person. Still, it tainted our day to encounter such a hostile bastard, especially when his RV Park is listed on the Adventure Cycling map. I'll be contacting AC to recommend that Pelican Point RV Park be removed from the map, since the owner clearly neither needs nor wants the business of touring cyclists. The day improved when I called Josh, a fellow I'd met at the Eureka KOA a few weeks back who offered me a place to stay in Santa Cruz. Sometimes making such calls can be awkward, but he remembered me and warmly reaffirmed his offer, even though I now have two Englishmen in tow. So we've got a place to stay in Santa Cruz tomorrow.
San Francisco seems a bit dreamlike now...when I pitched my tent last night, it still smelled of the hotel room I had been airing it out in. I slept fitfully, even with the sounds of the ocean filling the air. All around the near horizon, the night's fog was aglow with the lights of nearby towns and roads, so that the tent never really got dark.
I'll be back there soon enough. In the meantime, I'll have to readjust to life on the road...
