West from the flat oil-town of Bakersfield California, the vast fields of California's Central Valley grow every type of fruit and nut and the roads run straight and square and disappear into the dust haze. Our “rest” day in Bakersfield had washed away with our sweat as we spent our time navigating around this spread-out city. Despite a long day we managed only the essential administration and postponed our rest for a better day. Rather than stay in the edge of town, bus-stopover hotel for another night, we rode to the coast to rest closer to our destination for the remainder of the week.

The flat valley ran out at the foot of the coastal range where the cinder of a village at McKittrick marked the first climb but did not entice us to stop. We pressed on over the hills and onto the coastal plain where the temperature was cool and skies cloudy and settled for a cheap hotel close to the honey-pot tourist village of Morro Bay for our much needed and much delayed rest day.

The final destination for the week was only a few miles up the coast near the village of Cambria. We rode up there on Thursday morning and dropped right into adventure motorcycle heaven. Those of us who take long distance motorcycle tours gather on a couple of specialist websites. One of these is www.horizonsunlimited.com. The frequenters of this arcane site gather from time to time in interesting places all over the world. 250 “HU travellers” made it to Cambria. Some were hard-core adventurers, others were there to look for encouragement to start their own travels.

For Team Elephant it was four wonderful days. We gave two presentations, attended many others and listened to the stories of those who had already been to the places we intend to go. For us, these meetings are cathartic. It is one of the few times in our lives that we can open up to others about our experiences on the road and be assured that the listener understands why we are doing what we do and what we hope to find out on those distant roads. For a team that travels alone, it is an important validation of a significant part of our lives.

Interestingly, Elephant, with its unique luggage fit drew a lot of attention in its own right. I was rather pleased with the interest. Even if Elephant's fit-out is a little cobby, at least we have put it together ourselves and not simply ticked boxes in the Touratec catalogue.

On Sunday morning we charged around with our camera trying to record the moment and, in doing so, somehow prolong it. By the time we rumbled Elephant into action most of the 200 bikes had dissolved back into the wider world. Some we will never see again, but others will magically reappear in our lives in some dusty village in some other country. It is this certainty that makes this small community important to us.

Elated and tired after our four days at the Travellers' Meeting, our day wasn't over. Elephant got 25 litres of super fuel and we blasted 60 km over the coastal hills to take up a dinner invitation with one of the firemen we had met at Cambria a couple of weeks before. If we were looking for a perfect end to our week we could not have planned a better one. Blair, Kristen and their children Ewen and Lily were perfect hosts. I was even forgiven, at least I think I was, for getting involved in the kitchen duties. To say that the quiet hospitality of a family dinner, and a little mucking about in the kitchen, was a perfect end to our week is the understatement of the year. Team Elephant is in good spirits.