The morning dawned bright and clear and we set out again on the next leg of our adventure.  Today’s ride took us along the 101 Freeway for 30 odd miles – a beautiful road through sweeping hills and plains, and not too much traffic.

The group was riding like a well oiled machine, riding in tight formation for miles on end with other traffic keeping their distance and moving around us.  Our first destination was a new Harley-Davidson dealer stop at Santa Maria.  The shopping was great and they took great care of us with discounts and a free hat for each of the girls.

We were running so well on our schedule that we managed an extra tourist stop.  Just as we entered San Luis Obispo, we pulled off at the famous MadonnaInn.  Words can’t really do justice to this monument to ‘50s kitch – every restaurant and room in the motel has a theme, from the jungle room, to the cave room and more.

The most famous room of all at the Madonna Inn, is the Men’s Bathroom, which instead of a standard urinal, has a cave which flushes itself with a waterfall.  We took a group photo in front of the Inn, then went inside to check out the men’s room.  The inside is so convoluted that we got split in two – and both groups ended up in separate men’s bathrooms.

Meredith, Gigi and some of the girls ended up in a smaller Men’s Room which had a copper wall that flushed itself with a waterfall.  It could only be activated with a stream of water so we improvised with a well placed mouthful spit at the right time, to get the mechanics underway!

Feeling pleased with ourselves we headed back upstairs to discover we’d been in the wrong men’s room, and had to do it all over again in the bigger one.  We took some more quick photos of the Madonna Inn’s unique interior, including the very pink dining room, and then were back on the bikes a few miles across town to Utopia Bakery for lunch.

Once again Utopia were great hosts, donating drinks to all the girls, and we took advantage of the free wireless to catch up on the blog.  Then it was back on the road for the last leg to Cambria, back along the freeway and then on to the beautiful Morro Bay Rd – back country hills, great curves, no traffic. 

Mercedes and Lori both took turns today riding as a pillion passenger on one of the bikes to get a different perspective and experience to the van.

We arrived in Cambria a little behind on time thanks to our extra stops, and had a fantastic welcome from Linda Baginski, a rider from our first ever ride in the US in 2004, and who rode in Australia last year.  It was great to meet an old friend and the champagne and balloons she had waiting for us were fantastic!

Our group night in Cambria is always special – a beautiful boutique motel on the waterfront, and we walked down to the park on the water for a barbeque dinner.  Afterwards we wandered back to the hotel to talk some more, and then Mercedes and Lori brought out their I-Pod and speakers and did a song and dance routine to one of their favourite country songs (we suspect they have been practicing in the van).

This led to more singing and dancing, including a rousing rendition of our theme song, “I will survive” by Gloria Gaynor.  A few headed off to bed early, and the rest headed for the hot tub for an hour before calling it a night.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is Big Sur and we can’t wait!