Second day out, seems like a MONTH

Here we are at the start of our second day after spending the night at a Warm Showers Host in Lakeside, CA. But it feels like we have been traveling much longer, with what all we've been through.

On our first day we had our first flat (from goatheads, or plant burrs) which slowed us down. We started late and had a horrific day as Ann's blood pressure dropped (below 80, we later discovered) and she got dizzy, nauseated, and weak. We finally limped into Alpine and stopped to check her blood pressure to confirm what we suspected. We called our doctor and got some advice which included lots of fluid, salty foods, and stopping the high-blood-pressure medication she'd started taking until we finish the trip. Finally got to our campground in the dark and had a restful night. Now, we are trying to figure out how to ride through this heat and survive for the next few days.

Backing up, below we are at Ocean Beach Park, the official starting point of the bicycle trip.  The thing to do is put your rear tire in the Pacific Ocean and then the front tire goes in the Atlantic Ocean, eventually.  It was a nice day with gentle breezes.  We hated to leave but had a big day with lots of climbing over the coast range ahead of us.

We spent our first night off the train in this hostel in Old Town San Diego.  Arrived there at 2:00 a.m. from the train station and slept like babies, even with the street noises.