Oh it is so easy to know you are in California. There are clean cars everywhere. I saw two CHIP motorcycle mount policemen on the highway. I saw dozens of windmills for generating power on the hills facing west.
I continued south on Highway 101 which is a very interesting highway as it goes from a four lane high speed thruway to a tight curvy two lane road winding through redwood forests, then back to a thruway, etc .
I did a short visit to a huge redwood tree where I was able to ride through the trunk.
Eventually I made it to the north end of San Francisco and arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge. What an amazing structure to see in real life. It is huge, red and impressive even though the fog blocked out the top parts of the towers. As I crossed the bridge thousands of people were on bicycles, or walking, or running on the very wide sidewalks on both sides of the bridge. I ended up in downtown San Francisco, but decided to get going as it was a very busy place and getting hotter the longer I stayed.
South of San Francisco I joined Highway 280 which ran east of San Francisco to join Highway 5 which is a multilane highway running south towards Los Angeles. The landscape changed from lush to very very dry and very very hot. The fields are dry but interspersed are the water channels that bring water to the farmlands along the highway.
The heat became so strong I needed to find a place to cool off, so in the middle of nowhere is a small interchange called Santa Nella where there are many motels, gas station and restaurants. For an extra $15.00 over the cost of a tent site, I was able to get an air-conditioned room at Motel 6. It is such a good feeling.
I think I will be up early tomorrow to get a start in the cool of the day. I expect I will be able to make it to San Diego by mid afternoon.
Distance travelled: 379 Miles 606 Kms