Day+15+Journal

=Colin's Journal= 15 January 2006 58 miles Murrieta--> Laguna Beach 11 miles run, 47 biked

Slept on a queen sized inflatable matress with Rogo last night. Woke a little before the alarm again, at 5:50am, then went and made breakfast. Eighteen scrambled eggs, plus buckwheat honey glazed canadian bacon a la Bill. There were also croissants, but thanks to Grant, none for me. We got rolling around 7:30am, with Stephen running 12mi to Lakeland Village. Then I started my leg, going by Lake Elsinore, then onto Rt. 74, the Ortega Highway.

It felt like running in Puerto Rico again (when we ran in the center of the island) except we only went uphill. It was a beautiful mountain covered in green foliage. The highway wound around the mountains, slowly making its way up, occasionally cutting through sections, so I would be running through little canyons, in and out of the sun. There was no shoulder, so I was zig-zagging back and forth across the road to get a better view of cars coming ahead, or to make myself visible from behind. As I climbed, there was a better and better view of Lake Elsinore below, and once I was able to see the entire group riding on a switchback far below me. Stephen on the Kokopelli was the only one who could keep up with me running, and once I crested the summit (2,633ft.) I started walking downhill- yesterday's descent left me very, very sore. Soon Grant caught me and took over the running duties.

I had a good time bombing down the hill for the next bunch of miles, right next to Corey for a while. We met Aunt Joan (Burgess) for lunch at the Cedar Creek Inn in San Juan Capistrano at the bottom of the mountain. She gave us each a $15 budget for ordering, so I had a big burger with tomato soup and garlic bread. Grant's aunt drove well over 100miles to pick up the cell phone Bill left at the house last night, so we all gave her a big hug when she joined us. The mission at San Juan Capistrano was a little too steep ($6 each) for our interest level, so we passed on it.

We hit the road again, and six miles later spotted the ocean as we hit the Pacific Coast Highway. Eight miles later, we made it to the trailer we are staying in, which is inches from the water. It was pretty cold, but we took some pictures and had mimosas on the beach. We all dove into the water, my first view and swim in the Pacific ocean, then came back and showered and took more pictures of us sipping at sunset. After this little party with crackers and cheese and mimosas, we all went out to a Mexican place for dinner.

It was a group of about the size of the one in Yuma (~11) and Grant's mom gave us a $30 budget for dinner. Corey had been drinking some champagne earlier and was pressuring me to buy him some margaritas. Unfortunately for him, I wanted some too, and ordered a "Cadillac margarita" at Lindsay's suggestion, which has a shot of Grand Marnier in it.

For dinner, I had pork tenderloin medallions in a chipotle cream sauce. They were very tender and moist, even if my plate was the only one not overloaded with food. Stephen and Grant split "La Tablita", which was a big wooden board loaded with chicken and steak and taco fixings, which they were not quite able to finish up. Corey had carnitas, which were delicious- just slow roasted pork, crispy and flaky. Also at dinner, Stephen was sitting next to Sez (sp?), one of Grant's relatives who is about our age. He ended up getting her number, as she said she might go out to Colorado to ski. We gave him and Grant a suitably hard time about this.

After dinner, we were left alone in the trailer. We did a load of laundry, tried to fix a "clanking" noise from Davitian's bike's pedals, and watched a made for tv movie featuring Tom Selleck. I felt like I had eaten way too much, and even felt like throwing up a little. So I stopped writing in the journal (finishing up this entry and tomorrow's two days later on a beach in Malibu) and laid down, falling asleep almost immediately.

Line of the Day: Katrina, Grant's 7 year old cousin: "Bill, do you have a girlfriend?]] Bill: "No..." Katrina: "Well... do you like younger women?"

Day 15

Day 16

Day 16 Journal