Today’s adventure began with a very lovely McDonald’s oatmeal and parfait breakfast. The Econo Lodge looked very sketchy last night so I wasn’t going to go back into the lobby and sit in there if I didn’t have too. We made our way to the lighthouse at Crescent city. It was so beautiful. They were tiny pink flowers lining the rocky cliffs up to the lighthouse. I took a few too many pictures of them and of all the seagulls that were surrounding us. Kelly seemed to have made friends with one of them.
After the photo taking we made our way down to the ocean so that I could do the tire dipping “ceremony”. I was going to wheel my whole bike down to the water like normal people do before they take off on these coast to coast tours, however, the beach was fairly long and wide so I didn’t want to get sand all in everything before my trip. So I just took the front tire and dipped it in. We can pretend that it was on my back tire because at the start of a bike trip the back tire goes into the ocean you are leaving and then the front tire goes into the ocean at which you finish. So everybody pretend with me it’s my back tire and that I’m dipping my whole bike too, thanks, LOL.
We decided to head toward Fort Bragg, CA with a quick ride through the Avenue of Giants on the way since I am no longer doing every mile back to the east coast. On our way to the Giants we saw a cyclist climbing up a very long steep hill and it was so hot today. Okay, it was only around 65 degrees, but when riding uphill forever it could seem like it was 85 degrees. We had enough Powerade in the back of the car to last us over a month of just me drinking them so we pulled over and offered this young man a drink. He said yes please and a ride. I chuckled not thinking he was serious. But he was dead serious. He was a bucket of sweat and so hot that he was finished riding. He said in broken English that we were a gods angels. How could I say no to that! I had my bike on the bike rack so we just threw his bike next to mine. We had no extra seats at all. We were packed to the gills. We still had all Donita’s equipment and about a month supply of drinks and snacks for our original trip. I sat in the middle between the gearshift and he squeezed into the passenger side with his sweaty self. We had about 20 miles to go until Eureka where he wanted to be dropped off. We asked him if he wanted lunch and he said absolutely with a big nod and a smile on his face. He pointed to McDonald’s and we went in and all ate. He hardly spoke English but we got that he is from Japan and between schools. I think he is starting college when he gets home. He is riding from Seattle to Los Angeles. He said the weather is much better here than when he stated in WA. Too much rain for his liking. His name is Toui Hagiya. Great guy. I would be worried sick about my son if they took a trip like he is doing in a foreign country with not being fluent in the language. Yikes! We bid him farewell and the best of luck on his adventure, and then we continued on to the Avenue of Giants in Humboldt County.
When planning this trip months and months ago, I was trying to figure out how I could squeeze in a ride through this forest before starting in San Francisco. Well, here I am! I am thrilled to piece that another dream has come true. woohoo. If all my rides could be like today I will be in heaven! Riding through the Avenue of Giants made me feel like I was cast in “Honey, I Shrank the Kids” I was so small in a big world. These giants framed the windy, gently undulating road. I can see why it is call the “finest forest drive in the world.” I kept saying “Oh my Goodness” inside my head at all these ancient titans. I am just in awe. Another thing I loved about this road is it basically tells drivers to bugger off a cyclist. We have rights to the whole freakin lane. woohoo. I wish I could have ridden the whole Avenue, however it was getting dark in the forest so we left these majestic Redwoods. It was a great place and time to ride. After a “sweltering” day, the forest was a nice escape from the heat. And we picked the right time of day to ride because there was hardly any traffic. It was like I had the whole place to myself. This was a PERFECT first ride for me. Perfect! I even ended my ride with riding through a tree. Yay Me! If you ever get a chance to ride a bike though the redwood forest, do it! Kelly and I both left there feeling the same thing. We are mere specks of dust floating through the Milky Way. I love our world.
We ended up at the Seabird Lodge. It was clean and gets a thumbs up from me. There was a Round Table Pizza takeout around the corner so we treated ourselves to a nice hotel room dinner watching tv, working on the computer with crappy wifi and looking at maps. Tomorrow it will be Glass Beach then a long drive to San Fran. enjoy the photos. Night all! Be Blessed
