5-29-08

Good Morning! Well, it's now the afternoon...about 1:30pm. Zo and I just rode into Ferndale, CA, home of the Victorian homes. She's out trying to find them and I'm in here to get you caught up...

We thought Dick, our travel friend, was way ahead of us, but guess who just walked into the library to say howdy...yup! Pretty cool. He took some time in Eureka and that's where we passed him. We had a great breakfast and visited some more and then hit the road at 10am. It was a fast ride into Ferndale. Ran into some truckers, taking a break in Loleta, who told us to definitely visit Ferndale. Nice dudes.

I forgot to mention our stop at Tree of Mystery in Klamath - interesting tourist stop. It's a section of the redwoods that has a bunch of funky-shaped redwoods that resemble things like animals, for example. There's also a huge trunk, called the cathedral tree where many folks have exchanged wedding vows. They also have an Easter service there every year. Interesting and unlikely. Apparently, Paul Bunyan visited there also. We had lunch next to his foot - big foot.

Alrighty...no for some lunch, a few Victorian houses, and then camp at Weott, CA. We're going to ride down a stretch called the "Avenue of the Giants" - an area with some of the largest redwoods ever. Nice.

Thanks, again, to Sue and Harvey, for their fantastic hospitality as well as Kath for having such great parents. I can see now why you're so cool, Kath.

Check y'a later,
M

5-28-08

Hey Everybody - all you good people that we miss so much,

We're back! Please let me begin by apologizing for the lengthy delay between posts - it seems that the Memorial Day weekend snuck up on us and took 3 days of time that we were hoping to spend updating the blog.  I guess librarians need a break too.  

Anyhow, right at the moment, we are visiting the family of Zo's dear and beloved friend, Kathy, in the hip town of Arcata, CA.  We just had a delightful dinner of BBQ chicken and salad with a couple of delicious Lost Coast brews (Downtown Brown - try it!).  Sue and Harvey are fabulously gracious and closely resemble family in that they left the house totally open for our arrival with instructions to shower, wash clothes, eat whatever we find, and even drive around town in their car, if necessary.  Wow, that's family-esque for y'a.  So, once again, we have clean clothes, full bellies, and we ourselves are clean as well.  

Let me catch you up to the miles that you have missed since the 20th of May - seems so stinking long ago, but nope...all the miles and unbelievable scenery will do that to a mind, I guess.

Ok, last Wednesday, 5-21-08, we rode in Waldport, OR and visited the visitor's center over some breakfast and warmth as it was already raining and windy.  This was a good move because we ended up learning about the engineer who designed all of the bridges we had already crossed over and were about to cross over along the Oregon coast.  Conde B. McCullough was his name, just in case you were wondering.  He worked for Oregon during the Art Deco era of architecture, so that's the predominant style of all of his bridges.  Fascinating.  We ended up riding 48 miles, reaching the Oregon Dunes State Park.  We enjoyed sea lions and Zo ran into a classmate of hers from Puget Sound at the Sea Lion Caves just off of 101.  Our views of the coast were getting more and more beautiful - lighthouses and biker-friendly tunnels (you hit a switch that turns on flashers to warn drivers).  The road curved along rocky cliffs, overlooking the rocks off of the shore.  It rained off and on the entire day.  Our meal was huge and sleep began at 9pm.

5-22-08, we rode from Siltcoos Lake State Park along more dunes on the coast to Sunset Beach Park.  The profile for the day was much easier as our miles ended up being 50+.  We had to walk over the McCullough Historic Bridge - the wind was strong and that coupled with the heigth made the mile plus trek exhilarating.  We visited Umpqua Lighthouse and spent a few minutes looking for whales just off the coast - none spotted.  Lunch was eaten on Wildwood Drive - literally.  We made it into camp at 5:30pm.  

5-23-08, we left Sunset Beach State Park at 8:15am for Humbug Mtn State Park - this, again, was an easier day.  We even managed 61 miles!  We had a late breakfast at a coffee shop in Bandon, OR called "Brewed Awakenings" where we also charged our phones, visited with family, and ate powdered sugar donuts.  Nice.  This was all after we tackled the Seven Devils Road in foggy/rainy conditions.  At first, I wasn't sure of the name, but yes, the seven devils are seven climbs - seven, early morning climbs.  These were our "brewed awakenings."  We also  did some grocery shopping - marshmellows!  Humbug Mtn is beautiful!  The road winds landward, just after giving you one more look at the steep drop of Humbug into the ocean.  The campsite was the best yet - the hiker/biker site is tucked up and away from the RV'rs and bathrooms, etc.  We stayed in #6, while our new friend, Dick, from WA and also riding down the coast, was in #3.  We first met Dick in Tillamook at the cheese factory, and since then, we've run into each other off and on.  He's such a kind gentleman, and we are so very happy to have met him!  

5-24-08 was a very difficult day.  We aimed our wheels at Harris Beach State Park just before Brookings, OR and 50 miles and several climbs later, we put up the tent.  The route took us over a 850+ climb and about 5-6 other significant ones as well.  Zo declared this to be the hardest day since day one, 12 days ago.  We feasted on pasta, again, ramen and ate marshmellows.  We had to pack our food in the tent with us as the ranger mentioned something about raccoons.  The park was well laid out - with the hiker/biker spots set apart from the RV'rs again; although, you could hardly tell with all the noise they were making!  One group even brought a karaoke machine along for fun!  Ah, the joys of camping in the great outdoors...heh.  We hung out with Dick some more - even taught him how to play Liverpool - a famous Soueidi card game.  Turns out, Dick is a biologist who works (or has worked) for the state of Washington for a number of years.  His wife's a school teacher and he has 2 daughters, all of whom he speaks quite fondly.  It's been so nice to meet up with him and share our day's adventures.  

5-25-08 - today we rode into Crescent City, CA - California FINALLY! It took us just about 8 days, which was 1 more day than I had predicted.  I'm incredibly impressed with Zo's strength and determination, despite her knee pain and the rash.  Very cool!  We were up early again and on the road by 8:30am.  We decided to camp one more night just north of Crescent City and then "hotel" it the next day to rest, shower, and wash clothes.  The ride was short, lunch at Ray's Food Place (a popular grocer along 101), and the rest of the day was mainly spent finding a hotel for Monday night and then just hanging out before camp. I've rediscovered potato wedges!  And Red Vine licorice has become a normal treat for us.  2 lbs bags do not last long, and with their help, nor do our rides seem so long.  Coffee at this great coffee shop in Crescent City, Seaside Espresso.  Camp was at the Florence Keller County Campgrounds, the absolute worst, most disgusting place you can imagine.  There was garbage everywhere, the sites were run down and filthy, and best of all, both bathrooms were stopped up with poop.  We had a very difficult time deciding on whether or not we should actually stay there or ride the 4 miles back into town to stay at an RV camp.  Since we vowed to avoid the RV camps at all costs, we decided to just grin and bear it with the crappy site.  

5-26-08 DAY OFF! First day off since the beginning - hard to believe.  We were still stunned from finishing the Oregon Coast!  Crescent City didn't have a particular aspect about it to differentiate it from the many Oregon towns we had enjoyed the week before, but the more we spoke the word, "California," the more real it became to us.  After enduring the night in the county "pitground," we woke up, put the tent away and just rode into town - sans breakfast or even changing into our riding gear - straight to the Curly Redwood Lodge.  The kind folks at the lodge agreed to open up a room for us at 10am! Nice! Before we even shut the door behind us, stuff was everywhere and I was in the shower.  We bought some detergent and started the laundry process.  I ran into Dick, who happened to be crossing the street up the road.  He, too, was taking a day off to clean up and rest.  We made plans to meet up later for dinner - it was great to see a familiar face in a strange place.  We went out for coffee again and checked out Crescent City - ok, for our first day off, I guess we had our hopes up.  I think both Zo and I were expecting a college-town type of atmosphere, but instead, we got an old, run-down town type of vibe from Crescent City.  We couldn't even find a joint that served a burger and a beer - we ended up having pizza and a beer with Dick.  He has already ridden from San Francisco to L.A., so he had many good stories and advice to share with us.  Such a great guy - we're blessed to have met such a nice person on our adventure - someone we can call our friend, really.  Zo and I decided to hit up a movie and went to the new Indiana Jones flick - it's ok.  My thumb would probably be down, while Zo enjoyed it for they type of movie that it was trying to be.  Thumbs up, way up on the Curly Redwood Lodge, however!  The hotel was built using redwood from an enormous tree that was cut down nearby back in 1957.  Very old school style with a lamp in each room's window and older, 50's style furniture.  Dig it.

5-27-08 - Up at 8am and repacked our B.O.B's for the next week.  Ate the left-over pizza for b-fast and watched our last T.V. before hitting the road.  We had to stop by the post office to mail my glasses to be repaired as I accidentally sat on them the night before.  Rode 47 miles to Dry Lagoon State Park, just south of Orick, CA.  The Drury Parkway was incredible - I felt like we were in a canyon of redwoods the entire time!  We managed a photo with both of us and the bikes in the trunk of one of those big mamas!  Some nice folks from OR took our photo and even gave Zo some ointment from the Amazon jungle for her knee.  The campground was beautiful - just a stone's throw from the ocean up on a hill.  There was a mtn lion warning posted, so I was a bit nervous, but some other campers up the hill assured me that we not to worry.   We played cards again and hung out on the beach until just before sunset.   

5-28-08 - this leads me to today - it's very late and I should be in bed, but I will not leave you hanging...today we got up at 7am and packed up for Arcata, CA - about 32 miles away.  We made it to town at about 1:30 and had lunch outside the Safeway on 7th Street.  French bread, turkey meat, and potato wedges were on the menu.  After making our way to Kath's place, we cleaned up and hung out until Sue, Kath's mom, returned from work.  Her folks are some of the most kind, generous folks - we felt right at home and our bellies felt even better with Sue's hearty cooking! Harvey hadn't returned from a conference just yet, but we finally caught up with him later, after we made a grocery run.  We're ready for San Francisco now, but will not ride over the bridge until next Tuesday...most likely.

Ok, I must sleep...thank you so much for reading and enjoy the photos.  Please let us know if you have any questions.  We miss you all and will update this sooner next time...promise!

Check y'a later!

M

5-20-08

Today we are writing from the Lincoln City, OR public library- one of the more populated towns we've seen in a few days. (This is Zo, in place of Mark). Since Astoria, I have endured and healed a full body reaction of hives with a week's worth of steroids, and Mark is coping with one useful eye as the other was injured in a run-in with the bob trailer bunjee cord. It's been eventful but the riding continues as we cover important miles.

The riding along the Oregon coast has been mainly on highway 101 which has more traffic but follows the shoreline beautifully. We really have seen some amazing views. After the Astoria update on Saturday we rode on to Seaside, OR and stayed in Venice RV park overlooking the Highway and a small river. Sunday, we rode through Cannon Beach and Hugpoint State Park where many of the pictures posted were taken. It was a foggy, misty day but the ocean looked beautiful. Sunday night we stayed in Bay City, OR which is clearly a town on it's way out. Soon- to-be-Ghost. The camping options were the city skate park where kids played late into the night and where we both had trouble finding a place to use the bathroom- very odd. But free. Yesterday, Monday was a challenging day, especially for me. We spent most of the day climbing and conquered some of Oregon's biggest climbs, which is a relief. We made our start at the Tillamook cheese factory after a free tour and a very cheap, very filling, farm fresh breakfast. On our first climb of the day we were passed by a San Diego riding club who were on their spring trip in Oregon. They hire cars to follow them and drive their stuff so they are able to ride 100 plus miles a day around Oregon. Quite the life, I'm sure. After hauling our loads up and down the climb we descended into Pacific City Pub and Brewery where we grabbed a beer before hitting the road again. We met the members of the club and chatted for a while- very nice men. We rode on yesterday and ended the day in Otis, OR after another long climb, a beautiful scenic loop, and 53 miles. The Otis Fire Dept. put us up for the night which meant, yet again, another free stay. As Mark said to me last night as we were cooking dinner between two horse pastures and the quite hills of rural Oregon "I can't tell yet if this is my very favorite camp." It's true. It was a prime spot. We woke up during the night with pouring rain but as we rode southwest this morning closer to the ocean, the sky cleared and it might be a drier day for us.

We are planning on having a lighter day today as it is almost noon and we are still icing the eye, resting the sore knee from the climbs yesterday and figuring out how to enrich our all spaghetti and ramen diet we have left. In the meantime, hope everyone is well and Matey-Mark gives his best to you all. We will write again soon.