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People we met in the States 4 |
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Melissa,a friend of Karen (see at "who we met USA 3) is chef in a luxurious restaurant in downtown San Francisco. When we called her from a cycling trip through the city she invited us to have dinner in the restaurant. As if it is absolutely normal, the waiter asked us to come in with our bicycles. We were offered a seat while the bicycles stayed in the entrance until the waiter brought them into the empty backrooms. Meanwhile Melissa spoiled us with delicacies. What a delicious meal! We talked a while about travelling and her experiences in Mexico. Afterwards she had to work again and we dipped again into the trafic of the city. (ma) |
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Sarah and AlexWe met Sarah and Alex on the SolFest in Hopland where they also worked as volunteers like us. They invited us into the center of the Silicon Valley. In Alex' workshop I could do a big inspection on our bikes. We also made a power saving LED-light from my conventional head lamp. When we've been with them, they just found a bigger and cheaper apartment. We got the honour to be the witnesses while they signed the contract for their new home.Good luck in your new home! (ma) |
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David,who is the son of a friend of Sarah (see above) did a big cycling trip with a friend a couple of years ago. He cycled several 1000s miles through the West of the United States, in National Parks, through Rockies and along the Pacific Coast. Now he lives with his brother Ian and another friend in Santa Cruz until he will finish his studies. We just arrived one day before the new semester of University started and had the holiday-farewell dinner together with them and some friends. (ma) |
 from left: Mila, Markus, Ian (Davids brother), David, Sara, their dog Cole and Ian short before the couck broke down. |
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Heidi & Mark, Elizabeth & HansWe met Mark on the bike path to Monterey Mark and talked with him while was cycling home after work his racing bike. After we told him about our day-destination he invited us immediately to his home. And because the street to his house is so steep he picked us up with his van. The next day his family went camping with some other families they know well just 40 miles south along the coast. We followed them and spent a whole weekend with friends, lots of children and dogs at the riverfront among the redwoods at Big Sur. We were taken in like a part of the family and found a lot of new friends: Hans for example, who is a colleague of Mark, and his wife Elizabeth. It has been a long time since we have spoken German, so we enjoyed very much talking with Hans, an immigrated German sea scientist. Mila talked with Elizabeth about writing and fantasy stories while watching the campfire until midnight and longer. (ma) |
 from left: Hans, Elizabeth, Mila, Heidi and Mark. 
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Eckhard,The first time, we met him at a viewpoint while we had a short rest. Eckhard takes his early retirement as chance to bicycle through the States for some months. We met him on his way to New Orleans. He always dreamed about visiting this ciy, now his dream comes true. We stayed the night on the same campground like him, without seeing him. When we met the third time the next day, we decided to stay together for the rest of the day. But Eckhard is very fast, it was difficult to keep his paste! And his bike too weights a lot with all the bags like ours! (ma) |
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Pat and Georgehave had a private Hostel, a so called home hostel that is listed in the official Hostel Directory. They have only one room, but they got so many guests that they could not make holidays for years. Now they are only listed in the Touring Cyclist Hospitality Directory and life became more quiet again. Pat is nutrition teacher and so she cooked us very delicious and unusual meals. We exchanged german and American recipes. From her we got the carrot cake recipe, see at "Lovely food/Nationals:Canada/USA" (mi) |
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Billis a friend of Pat and George. He also had a home hostel ant got all the overage guests of them. Now he is nearly 80 years old and manages his farm, does still triathelons and is a very busy activist in environment protection. At his website you can find all the dates and lots of pictures. We financed our stay by working there. Mila has been in the hostel and I helped in the cot and repaired some things. (ma) |
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Lauri & Chris, Paula & SkipRight at the beginning of our trip we rode through Victoria on Vancouver Island. In a shopping street the four talked to us. They were on a cruis to Alaska and did some sightseeing. Interested in our trip they finally invited us to theitr home north of LA. And 4 months later the joy of reunion was big. At first we slept at Chris' Mother in an orientalic fabulous house. The former owner has built movie settings and made the interiour in a Moroccan style. And with Skip's father we almost did a sailingtrip but the fog prevented hte excursion. (ma) |
 from left: Mila, Skips doughter, Chris and Lauri.  Paula and Skip |
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Paulworked as body guard for Grateful Death. Afterword he helped his mother, who had cancer, for a long time until she died. Since that he travels with his dog "R2D2" in his selve made four wheel-recumbend with trailer in California. When we met him he had a flat tire standing on the othe side of the road. Together we patched the tire. He warned us about the thorns and while we were talking we noticed that Mila's back wheel also has been flat from a thorn. He told us about car driver who only want to scare bicyclists. He was pushed away from the road himself by a car some days before. We are very thankful that we havn't had such an experience jet. (ma) |
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