Although we planned on getting up really early, we didn't do a very good job of that. It was about quarter after 7 before we rolled out of bed. We had the rest of our cereal and milk for breakfast and got everything all packed up. I took one last shower before we headed out, because you never know when we will get another one. It was so sad to be leaving already, it seems like we just got here. That is how our whole trip has been. We are always thinking about the next town or city and then, boom, we're there, gone and thinking about the next town. I don't know if I'm quite ready to be starting the 2nd to last leg of the trip. San Diego is our turning point to start heading back east, so we had to say goodbye to the Pacific and start preparing for riding in the desert. We had such a great weekend hanging out with Ryan and Marchant. It has been really great to see some familiar faces the last few weeks, and I look forward to more of that. It was around 9:15 by the time we said our goodbyes to Ryan this morning. On the way out of town, we stopped at the goodwill so that I could get a new pair of shorts. My old pair have finally bit the dust. There was a small hole in near the seam that probably developed from sitting on logs and on the ground for so long. At one point I sat down kind of funny onto the futon and I heard a rip... that whole had gotten bigger, much bigger. It was ok though because I have had those shorts for so many years, and the material of them wasn't that great anyway. After that we had our last views of the Pacific before heading inland. Almost right away we started a gradual climb. We went up and up and up, but very gently at first, nothing too drastic. The weather was pretty warm again today and it only got warmer as the day went on. We rode past the Chargers football stadium and shortly after started to climb, this time it was actual work. For the first 15-20 miles of the ride were uphill. As we were coming down the hill off of the first climb we passed the sign that said San Diego City Limit- San Diego was officially behind us now. We took our lunch break in the town of Santee. First we stopped at the Target store to pick up a few things, including ice cream because what better thing to have for lunch on a hot day like today than ice cream!? From there we headed over to the McDonalds to use their picnic tables to eat at and then eventually found the Vons to pick up the last of our groceries before heading out of town. Once we left town we started down the wrong road for about a half a mile before I realized something didn't make sense. It didn't take long to figure out our mistake and get back on track. Somehow we got disoriented when we stopped at the Vons and didn't realize which road we were on or which one we were supposed to be on. For almost the entire rest of the day it was more of the same, climbing. The afternoon seemed to drag on. About 10 miles after lunch I got a flat tire on my rear wheel. At that point it was a little upsetting because we have such a little amount of daylight now that we were worried we wouldn't make it to our intended stop, which was still about 15 miles away. It was already around 3 and the sun now goes down around 4:30/quarter to 5. Although it doesn't really take that long to change a tire, it is more of a pain than anything because you have to take all of the bags off the back and get all of the tools out. As we continued to climb the never ending hill, we passed some spectacular mountains that were just covered in these huge boulders. It was really pretty with the last little bit of sunlight on them. As we were getting close to the top, we could see, way off in the distance, the ocean! We also found a super shiny Arizona plate to add to the collection. It will be fun to hang the plates up in the garage or basement when we get back. As we descended down the hill towards Ramona, our destination for the night, the sun also descended. Once that sun started to go down, it got so cold, so quickly! I had my coat on and even had to get out my lightweight gloves just so my fingers didn't freeze. It didn't help that we were going downhill either. As we were coming down the hill into town, we were just flying by the line of cars that were on their way home during rush hour from the city. It is amazing how far these people drive everyday- I could never do that. Luckily we were able to make it into town before it got too dark. Right away we found a church that had a big field near it along with a few trees and bushes. Being that we were tired and out of daylight, that sounded like the best bet. When we got closer, we didn't find any cars or people to ask, but we did find a little tent/awning thing that had little string lights around the outside of it, and a couple picnic tables inside. It was perfect. We had a table to eat dinner at and we didn't have to do anything in the dark. One of the great things was that the way it was layed out made it possible for us to easily "hide" ourselves from the road. We had a pretty good day today and went to bed really early since it was so cold outside. Our miles only totaled 45.79 today, but we were still pretty tired from all of the climbing.
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