This is a long one, so buckle down...

Three photos lined up above should tell you that there are a great many stories to tell right now, so get set for a long one. Really it should be titled, "A royal arrival in SoCal, Capt Karl's Birthday AND the most hard-core bikers we know" but there wasn't space in the title line. Anyhow, here we go...

First, the details. We arrived yesterday to Kerry and Rhonda's place in Goleta, CA. They had arranged a welcome for us that left us stunned and pleased. For those of you in the know, after our wedding we found that our "nuptial bed" had been a bit mussed up by some unknown and still under-appreciated marauders (you know who you are :). Well, let me tell you that Kerry and Rhonda know how to prepare a nice bed! They had arranged for us to stay in the apartment of one of their neighbors and had made the place up with flowers, chocolate, wine, the whole bit. It was a delight. Not to mention that they also quickly satisfied those constant needs of the touring cyclist - a shower, laundry, good food and fine company.

We plan to be here at least until Monday morning, when we will depart for points further in the heart of SoCal. We are still trying to arrange for our next leg, the boat trip into Mexico, so if you have any boating contacts we could still use them.

On to the next subject. Today, the 13th, is my dad's birthday. Captain Karl is turning a young 61 (though he might throw out a different number...) and I, being the unattentive son that I am, didn't get him anything - not even a card. Until now. Here is my request: The old guy loves being sung to so, if you are up to it, could you , dear reader, give the old home place a ring and leave a little musical birthday message. Knowing that you probably won't know anyone there (at least that well) I don't expect you to carry on any sort of conversation, just call, sing the much-loved "Happy Birthday" and hang up. It would be great. The number is 804 642 9651. If email is more you style hit him up at puzzles4you@hotmail.com. Thanks. AS an aside, the puzzles referenced in their email address are about the puzzles that he makes - check them at www.puzzles-plus.biz. And as another aside, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Father! I love you. I know that he will be seeing this eventually.

Okay, on to the hard-core bikers. I thought that many of you would be interested in the most hard-core bikers that we've met so far. Florian and Rebekah are swiss, and are biking the west coast from B.C. at least as far as Mexico. They are great and we spent a night with them back on the northern california coast. What makes them so hard-core, though, is that they are doing it with their 2.5 year old son Chan. The photos of Rebekah's bike above is just a start. They are keeping a blog as well and you can reference it here.

And, finally, just a reminder that we no longer have a cell phone, so scratch 360 808 1103. We can now take phone messages at our new Skype number 360 312 ROCK. and email is always nice...

- Ian