We first met Lisa and Markus Gastl on a dirt road in Arizona.

The young German cyclists had just spent the past 21 months on the road. Starting in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, they were making their way to San Jose, CA, of all places. We invited them to stay with us if they came through Sacramento.

In mid-April, Lisa and Markus rode to our home in pouring rain. They traveled more than 20,000 miles to reach our place!

For the next few days, we showed them the sights of downtown Sacramento, fed them, did laundry, fed them, heard their dramatic stories of life on a loaded bike, fed them, and took them to dinner with the Saurs and Coopers. It was a grand time.

When they were ready to move on, Lisa and Markus decided to tour more of California -- this was, after all, their first trip to the United States. They rode through the Napa/Sonoma Wine Country to the north coast, and then headed down the coastline to Markus' sister's home in San Jose.

In late April, they flew home to Germany. Ever the vagabonds, though, they expect to return to the States soon to continue riding to Alaska. Happy travels, Markus and Lisa!