The next day, I found myself on a multilane freeway with a multitude of traffic moving either side of me, all heading into San Francisco. I crossed a toll bridge and was soon heading towards the harbour. Then the freeway ended and I got lost amongst the multitude of crowded streets. At one point the bike stalled at the top of the steepest hill I had ever ridden up and it was with great difficulty that I held the heavy machine upright while I restarted it. Eventually, I found my destination, the Golden Gate Bridge. I stopped to view the scene. A coach pulled up next to me and out got a long stream of oriental couples who proceeded to photograph each other with the bridge in the background. I got talking to the driver who showed interest in the bike. He told me that he was running a tour for Japanese honeymoon couples. I was amazed and remembered how attentively the men were in helping their brides off the coach. It was incredible, a whole coach of them smiling at each other and holding hands. The driver said that he could speak no Japanese and they no English but he could entertain them with conjuring tricks which he felt were understood universally. The whole situation seemed very bizarre. I found San Francisco too crowded and noisy after my travels in the desert. I quickly left the city and rode south to Monterey. This is a small fishing town on the cost made famous by John Steinbeck's novel 'Cannery Row'. The town became rich through the catching and canning of sardines between the two world wars. Now the sardines have been fished out and there are only a few canneries left. The whole area has become a tourist attraction. I stayed there the night and then rode further south towards Los Angeles. I had left the busy freeway system far behind me and was travelling along 'Route 1'. This is a narrow road which winds its way along the cost. As I rode, the crystal blue Pacific Ocean was on my right and the green coastal ranges were to my left. The landscape was really quiet beautiful and very spectacular. The temperature was much warmer now but no where near the heights I had experienced when I first arrived in California almost six weeks ago. The surfers were all now wearing wet suits. I spent the few days riding leisurely towards Los Angeles. I spent the nights in motels at Morro Bay and Santa Barbara; both holiday towns but very quiet as it was off season. Finally I stopped at a motel in Anaheim, Los Angeles. There I gave the bike one good final clean. The following day would be my last in America. I had been booked into a motel opposite Disney Land. The only really firm reservation made during the whole trip. It was here in the evening that I was to meet Lynne Swann who had rented me the bike. I arrived at the motel with plenty of time to check in and then set off to explore Disney land. I am afraid I found it disappointing. But perhaps such places are more fun in the company of others. I did like the roller coasters which were very exhilarating. But most of the shows seem to entail being locked up in a room, or on a boat or whatever, while a lot of mechanical puppets sang jingles at you in Mickey Mouse- like voices. Once this started you were trapped until the whole process was over. I found it a very cruel torture. That evening, Lynn turned up and we had a drink together in the hotel bar while I recounted him my travels. He readily reimbursed me the forty dollars that I had paid for the new battery. It was with very sad feelings that I helped him load the bike on the back of his trailer and said good-bye. I went back to the bar and listened to a piano player and girl singer while I talked with a travelling salesman. Then, very tired I went off to bed. The next day I packed my luggage into two cases. It seemed strange not to have to load the bike. Then, after breakfast, I boarded the bus for the airport. At four o'clock that day on 19th November 1982 I flew out of America on a Jumbo Jet bound for Heathrow. I had been away from England for six weeks and had ridden approximately six thousand miles by motorcycle. It had been a fantastic holiday.