Day 12: Goleta and Carpinteria

Half the team rides 24 miles round trip to La Patera
Elementary School in Goleta, creating gardens and composting
systems with the 4th grade.

At La Patera School (24 miles round trip) we rolled up in
the morning and got busy on their raised garden beds.
Pullin' weeds, plantin' seeds (in the ground and in minds),
breakin' up clumps and chit chattin' with the 4th grade classes.
Their enthusiasm was certainly contagious and continued with
our composting games too. And we can't forget the worms...
we all loved playing with the worms who certainly
have a very important role!

AND

Half the team rides 24 miles round trip to Carpinteria Middle
School in Carpinteria, teaching the entire middle school
(over 400 students) about the AMBASSADORS OF THE ENVIRONMENT
4 Principles of Nature ....

EVERYTHING RUNS ON ENERGY

THERE IS NO WASTE IN NATURE

BIODIVERSITY IS NECESSARY

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

At lunch our bikes were showcased and our bellies were filled.

Day 11: The last of the Bermuda Grass

An easy-breezy 24 mile round trip ride to Brandon School in Goleta
seemed like a piece of cake. As we pulled up to the school we were
pleasantly surprised to see the bike rack filled with bicycles. Each
Wednesday at Brandon School is BOW-WOW day: "Bike on Wednesday, Walk
on Wednesday" What a cool idea!

When we arrived the 5th grade class was waiting and ready to work in
their garden and learn about composting. Together we pulled out
bermuda grass, amended the soil to plant peas and lettuce in their
garden, and played in compost. We hope the visit not only left a
positive mark on the school community, but also encouraged the 5th
graders to become ambassadors of the environment.

The day ended with a pot-luck dinner with our Ocean Futures family in
the Santa Barbara office (our home base for the next few days in Santa
Barbara). Such a wonderful and welcoming community, and the gathering
left everyone with full bellies and smiles on our faces.

Day 10: Gardening and Composting

Crane Country Day School Gardening and Composting Projects in Monteceito, California.

We woke up on the floor of the Library at Crane Country Day School
refreshed and ready for a big day. Spirits were high as we prepared
for the students arrival because after all THIS is what we do best.

Some of the AOTE volunteers spent their time in Crane's garden working
with the students to build a compost bin and other garden projects.
The rest of the volunteers led a workshop on Greening Your School with
the 6th graders.

The positive feedback we received after our slideshow presentation to
the entire school gave us the energy we needed to keep on pedaling.
Thank you so much Crane Country Day School for your support and
generosity!!!


AND

Brandon School Gardening and Composting Projects in Goleta, California.

We pulled and weeded lots of Bermuda grass and prepped for planting Mr. Ranson's 5th grade native and edibles garden. We also cleaned and prepped the school compost bin so now all of Brandon School's students can actively compost food waste and create fresh compost for their new garden.

Day 9: Warm Welcome in Santa Barbara

Ride 59 miles Lompoc to Santa Barbara.

As our heads were hitting the pillow we could hear the pitter-patter
of rain on our tents. The thought of riding 60 miles in the rain made
us toss and turn in our sleeping bags. But as we unzipped our tents
the clouds parted and provided us with nothing but sunshine ahead.

The climbing started early as we pushed to reach the highest elevation
of our trip at over 1,000 feet. What goes up must come down! We all
loved the screaming downhill where we clocked in at 40 mph!!! We
refueled at sea level with a picnic lunch at El Capitan State Park. We
ended our day's ride at Crane Country Day School in Santa Barbara.
They greeted us with warm smiles and lots of cheers. What a beautiful
campus and wonderful school community!


We were welcomed by Country Day School with a nice library to snuggle up and sleep in tonight and a pizza party to fill our bellies!

Day 6, 7, 8: Lots of Riding and Fresh Air to Appreciate

Day 8: Sunday, November 26th, 2006

Ride 49 miles Pismo to Lompoc.

Camp at River Park RV Campground.

We're getting addicted to biking!!! We're definitely beyond loopy,
which makes our riding even more entertaining, singing songs and
giggling 49 miles from Pismo to Lompoc. Monarch butterflies were
certainly a highlight of the morning, and a nice women taught us all
about the fascinating creatures.

Some of us may have psyched ourselves out after rumors of a giant hill
(the "Biggest One Yet"), but it actually wasn't that bad. More
fields, more agriculture, more pesticides. We're really getting good
at this whole biking thing…although we found out later that night that
our talents don't necessarily transfer over to bowling.

Day 7: Saturday, November 25th, 2006

Ride 54 miles San Simeon to Pismo.
Camp at Pismo State North Beach.

Frost in the morning??? We thought we were in sunny California! Oh
well, back on our bikes early in the morn to ride ~60 miles to Pismo
Beach State Park. We're getting good at this whole biking
business…seems like our legs and spirits are getting stronger every
day.

A nice day of rolling hills led us through the beautiful Morro Bay to
eat a big organic lunch at our good friend Rose's place. A few of us
spent the morning at a farm gleaning organic peppers and avocados from
a nice farmer we met at the farmer's market the day before. The
afternoon seemed surprisingly short with more rolling hills and time
to rest up and take a dip at Pismo Beach State Park.

Day 6: Friday, November 24th, 2006

Ride 38 miles Plaskett Creek to San Simeon.
Camp at Simeon State Park.

Another beautiful 40 mile ride to San Simeon State Park, another day
of enormous up and downs, another day of encouraging each other to
push ourselves and do things we never thought was possible! Wow…isn't
this what we try to teach our student who come out to Catalina Island
and push their comfort zones?

Along the ride we got the opportunity to stop off at a waterfall (some
of us took a quick dip in the fridged water), and we ate lunch along
side the elephant seals at the beach. Not bad for a morning ride!

We got to the campsite early enough to stop buy the local farmers
market where we chatted, informed, and ended up leaving with boxes
full of local organic produce due to generous donations. Yummy!!!
Finally we got some much needed broccoli in our bellies. Big thank
you to the many many people who have supported this trip so far!!!

Day 5: In Gear for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Ride

Ride 38 miles: Andrew Molera to Plasket Creek.
Camp at Plasket Creek.

Thanksgiving was our hilliest day yet. Big Sur left our legs burning
but it was all worth it for the inspirational views of the coastline.
What a great way to see the coast of California!!!

We rode approximately 40 miles up and down, taking short breaks to
stroll through the Redwoods, stop off at waterfalls, and enjoy the
scenery. We ended our days ride to camp at Plasket Creek.

Day 4: Hurray! Monterey!

Ride 63 miles Capitola to Andrew Molera
Camp at Andrew Molera Campsite

Whooo!!! Big day of riding! Little bike computers clocked us in at
over 70 miles to get to Andrew Molera Campsite at the Northern end of
Big Sur.

The morning led us on bike paths through rolling hills of colorful
foliage, leaving some of us reminiscent of East Coast autumn leaves.
We also rode through agricultural fields, getting up close and
personal with the pesticide sprayed crops. We could smell and taste
the chemicals. Can you imagine what that must be like for the farm
workers? Wow! Even our photographer Dan got a mouthful of chemicals
when trying to get some shots of the monoculture. The afternoon
consisted of more bustin' up big hills until a spectacular sunset that
brought us into our campsite.