Day 22 - Arcata to Burlington

Distance - 62 miles

Today we were up and out of bed early to tackle a big day, reluctantly departing the land of hot tubs to view more big trees.

EUREKA! Is the first town we roll through. It's old town streets are lined with red brick. One of the streets is filled with colourful graffiti, most of which is quite artistic and well done.

After one small misdirection in town we find our way to highway 101 again.

Off the highway again we take a side road that looks a little like we're in mini Switzerland with lush green rolling hills. From here we're into flat farm lands with loads and loads of cows. We seem to have a lot of time on our hands when we aren't singing horrible 00's songs or kids camp tunes. As a result the road trip game cows on my side has gotten significantly more complicated. Additional rules are as follows:
- instead of cows on my side, must call cows on right or left
- if you're the lead cyclist you don't get points if you call it because you would have an unfair advantage. However, you must call the cows to 'block' the rear cyclist from getting points
- extra points can be obtained if you moo at a field of cows and manage to get the cows attention. 1 point is awarded for every 3 cows
- similarly, you can baa at sheep and be awarded 1 cow point every 3 sheep
- if you correctly count the number of cows in the field you get 1 point per cow. You cannot change your original number if you miscount, and the number must be verified by the other cyclist

We pass through the cute town of Ferndale and have a cup of tea. The fire dept siren goes off quite loudly for a full minute. We sat there dumbstruck as it went off wondering if it might be the tsunami warning, but nobody around looked alarmed. We ask the shopkeeper who says its just the fire signal, and remarks it's likely just an old person who called 911 - it sounds like it happens quite frequently! They also said that it is the same siren for the tsunami warning, and that during the last earthquake/tsunami everyone was a bit confused. Perhaps not the best system!

From there we're back into cows - and the game continues, but we have no idea who's winning. We decide it should be called "Whose Cow Is It Anyway?" because the rules are made up and the points don't matter.
From cows we launch into three nasty HOT hills before we arrive in Del Rio for lunch. We get invited to the BBQ and cornhole tournament in the park - but the BBQ hasn't started and we are 40 miles in and hungry!

After lunch we have another twenty miles to the campground and we enter in to the Avenue of the Giants!
The avenue is amazing. There are loads of massive trees that line the road, and the temperature in the shade is perfect after roasting in the midday sun. We weave alongside the Eel river, which is a lovely vibrant blue.

With 10 miles to go we're getting pretty tired, and it seems to take forever to get to the campground. Two miles out and it feels like we've been out here for DAYS. In the desert. With no food or water. Okay that's a little dramatic. But we left camp at 7 am and it's 4:15 so we need food and sleep to explore more Giants in the morning!

At camp we find ourselves nestled among the redwoods. We set up camp, eat dinner, and are snuggled into bed nice and early - around 8:45. 

Shortly after that the bed rocks... no no not like that! The ground is literally shaking beneath us! At first we think it's an animal, or a big tree falling - but the shaking continues for a several seconds. The whole campsite is hootin' and hollerin' and the crows are equally as excited.

Turns out, at 8:53 there was a magnitude 5.5 earthquake about 25 miles west of us near Petrolia, California. I've never felt anything quite like it - the earth is alive!!!

The gentlemen in the hiker/biker site with us (who is hiking his way from Mexico to Port Hardy) said he hasn't felt anything like it, and that he felt like he was accelerating out of his tent!

Day 21 Elk Prairie to Arcata

Distance - 46 miles

This morning is COLD!
We are glad the sun in shining.
We leave camp and bike about a half mile - we aren't even out of the campsite yet - then stop to put on ALL THE LAYERS!
Once suited up for winter, we say goodbye to our elk buddies and head back into the redwoods.

In a few short miles we depart the redwoods back to the coast where we tour through several lagoons. Today has lots of rolling hills, and we stop several times to admire the view and peel off our layers of clothing.

We stop in Trinidad for lunch at the Beachcomber Cafe (tasty, but a little overpriced), then head back out onto the scenic route. We are treated to the best coastal views we've had so far in Cali! To add to the adventure, the road is rough and bumpy, occasionally goes to gravel, and is intermittently one lane!

Twenty miles in we depart the highway for a more scenic coastal ride. We love the coastal views, but the wind is still so wild! The hills continue to roll and I am getting progressively angrier at my inability to shift properly... Are we in Arcata yet?

We're back on the highway briefly before we're treated to a rather unexpected paved trail - the Hammond Trail! Here we have an awesome tailwind and feel like we're flying!
We can see the highway beside us curve and go uphill. We hope that our trail continues along the coast and skirts the hill - but that would be too easy! Instead not only do we get the uphill, the trail goes to gravel AND has drianage ditches as an added bonus. California is clearly here to make us stronger. The trail then peacefully takes us the rest of the way into town.
We pass by Humboldt State University on the way, the campus looks quite nice and the bike lanes in the area are great!

Once in town we easily find the bike shop - hooray! We make a short trip to the grocery store while they work, and we're back on the road in no time! My chain and cassette are new, and my derailer is in the proper place (apparently it was bent which added to my shifting fun!). In my defense, I've only let my bike fall over twice in 3 weeks - and one was definitely not my fault *cough* Chris ;)

I have a new front tire that no longer wobbles, I guess I hit enough bumps to destroy the casing - but the wheel itself is fine.

Then we're back on the road and OH MY GOD THE ROAD IS FLAT. As in there are no hills, but also my front tire doesn't thunk with every rotation. I am a new me! Also rather disappointed because the campsite is only 3 miles away. However, tomorrow is a 60+ mile day and although it feels like a shiny new pony I'm sure I will eat my words tomorrow!

We roll up to the Redwoods Coast Cabins and RV Park - it's the only place to stay in the area - and the guide book says the biker camp is just the grass behind the check in building. What it doesn't say is there's a HOT TUB! And showers and laundry and a pool! It may be twice the price but today it feels worth it.

We cook dinner to the sweet sweet sounds of the lumber yard next door.
We caved and paid the extra 3$ to do laundry. Our tent was starting to smell like we've been out here for years - and now it smells like fresh laundry! Now there's a camping smell I never thought I would love so much.

Now if you'll excuse us we've got a hot tub to attend to...

Day 20 - Mill Creek to Elk Prairie

Distance - 29 miles

Dear California, we may have got off on the wrong foot yesterday. Please accept our apologies - you are beautiful!

We roll out of camp and up the first hill with relative ease this morning. Yes, the hill we already climbed yesterday - well half of it anyways! We fly downhill and in a few short miles we're at the Trees of Mystery! It's a tourist trap / trail walk through the redwoods. Back in Oregon we saw the sign that said 119 miles to the mystery trees, then 112, and then we took lots of detours off hwy 101 because we couldn't handle the countdown - and now we're here! We stop to take photos with Paul Bunyan and his ox Babe.

We don't stay long, there's a guy on a loud speaker who greets people as they walk in and hassles people as they take photos. I think it's supposed to be Paul Bunyan talking, but it's a little creepy!

From there we head through Klamath where we find a cute little diner next to some emus. If you're in the area, stop by the Lot Cabin Diner and get the sausage breakfast burrito, it's fantastic!
The highway riding in this area feels a lot like home.

From here it's out to a scenic parkway through the redwoods. The start of the national park is quite an uphill grind, but there's little traffic and it's very beautiful. The trees just keep getting bigger! Part way up we pass a rather cruel message painted on the road that says 'It doesn't get easier', but then another sign appears that says 'You just get better.' Thanks for the motivation, whoever you are!
As we get closer to camp we begin to slowly wind downhill. It's a perfect grade to coast and stare at the fascinating trees! There's only a few surprising bumps that catch us as we stare up. We don't know how to define big - the trees are all HUGE! And this isn't even the Avenue of the Giants.

We arrive at Elk Prairie Campground and are immediately greeted by Roosevelt Elk grazing peacefully in the fields. It's amazing how peaceful they are surrounded by tourists. We set up the tent and nap in the sunshine, wander the campsite, take lots of photos of Elk butts (they were not in a cooperative mood), and play some card games. We are back in happy camper mode!
The days here are warm but when the sun goes down we can see our breath! Brr!

Day 19 - Brookings to Mill Creek

Distance - 42 miles

Yesterday I promised you a story.

Today we ventured into the unknown. All we know of the California portion of the ride is
A) we will have to pay for showers again (which means it's back to wet wipes and towels like real campers)
B) it has amazing redwoods
C) there are lots of hills, including the biggest climbs on route

We woke up to glorious sunshine and a perfectly low tide for exploring the many tide pools just a short walk from our tent door. We saw loads of sea anemonies and sea stars and little fishies. We had our final free showers and charged everything we could. For some reason, the phone won't turn on. It just keeps trying to cycle on and going blank. We figure we'll leave it for a bit and it will eventually sort itself out.

In Brookings we find Mattie's Pancake House (luckily, since now we're without our best friend Google Maps). Here we are treated to some massive delicious breakfast platters before reluctantly departing Oregon.

In California we find happy cows. Lots and lots of happy cows. Today is one of the 60 mile days we split into two shorter days. We think we're in for a short flat riding day, but we may have read the guidebook a little wrong. After 27 miles of uneventful flat farm riding we enter Crescent City. We need to find a bike shop because my gears are slipping, my shifter is loose, and my front tire has quite a wobble. Chris wants to ride straight through town but I force him to take the scenic ocean route.
If we thought we knew wind before today, Crescent City proved us wrong. The first gust of wind  took me across a full lane of traffic before I could correct it. Thankfully we had a tailwind for the most part.

On the way there I see a sign for the airport and wonder if I can just get a flight home from here.
The small bike shop is busy, but says if we can wait an hour he'll take a look. We kill time at a nearby diner, and drown our sorrows in icecream floats and banana splits (but they ran out of bananas, so sad).
Back in the bike shop we find that my tire (not rim) could use a replacement, but he doesn't have the right size tire. My chain is so stretched that it doesn't even fit his tool - he has a cassette that would work but he sold his last ten speed chain yesterday.
Nothing so bad I can't ride, so he recommends just limping along the next 70 miles to Arcata and getting everything replaced there.

We blindly set sight for town and find a Safeway with some WiFi. We try the phone again without luck - so opt for the tablet instead. We find the bike shop, which we conveniently would have passed the first time if I had just listened to Chris. It's also 1.3 miles directly into the wind.

Then we're off to Walmart to get groceries and another cell phone. We like Google Maps a lot. And knowing where we are is helpful. Also, without these blog posts we will return with very little memory of this whirlwind tour. We can't even remember where we were this morning!
I sat outside of Walmart for an hour... Waiting. Reading. Reapplying sunscreen. Rereading our guidebook. It was hard to tell how much of a climb we would do before hitting camp for the night. The nice guy at the bike store indicated we would do the entire climb, and that the campsite we we're aiming for then basically dropped straight back down. But the guidebook says it's a flat 2.2 miles... Only one way to find out!

Chris eventually comes out with a new cheap phone - hooray!! But no groceries :(

I rewrite yesterday's blog while he gets groceries (we needed more than usual as the next couple of days are pretty bare). At 5:15 pm we leave Walmart after at least four hours of windy city torture.

With that all behind us, we actually have a pleasant, cool, and reasonably traffic free ride to camp which - you guessed it! - was another 1000' down after the full 2000' climb. We accidentally set up in the campsite beside the hiker biker camp (because today is just one of those days!). On the bright side we realized it on our own and didn't get kicked out!

We're in surprisingly good spirits once fed and in the right camp, after both admitting we were quite ready to call it quits today.

Now we're in the famous redwood forest, and this is only the beginning! There's also road signs for San Fran!! It's incredible how far we've come!

Day 18 - Humbug Mountain to Brookings

Distance 51miles

Our good friend and travel buddy Natasha (wish you were here!) once said it wasn't a trip with Chris and Jenna without a moment where you thought you might die. Today was that day.

It was a beautiful day starting out, we woke up to hummingbirds and Chipmunks in the campsite. It was the first day where it was warm enough to start our ride in shorts and a tshirt.

The day begins on the scenic coast we left off on yesterday, and winds through some pretty neat rock cuts. Six miles in we take obliagtory photographs with a giant Trex, but skip the forest walk to see the rest.
I guess we must look dead because there are vultures circling overhead already.

We then appreciate the nerdy surveyor who has marked mile 314.15 along the coast.

Ten miles in we're on highway 101 with an awesome tailwind and beautiful ocean views. Here's where we make our first mistake. We miss our first turn off which was supposed to take us winding up a few valleys. After a short stop to check the maps we decide we're okay to continue on the highway, where the only downside is the RVs and logging trucks. Thankfully the shoulder is wide. We see a sign for a scenic bike route down the old highway  and take that instead. That helps add a few more hills into our day.

We arrive in Gold Beach and have some cheese and crackers on the lawn of the local highschool (don't worry they're out for the summer) to fuel up before our first big climb up Cape Sebastian.

The climb isn't as bad as we thought. We get to the top and turn towards the scenic viewpoint, where our guidebook says you can see south all the way to Crescent City, California. What it doesn't say is that the bike after the turnoff it's straight up hill. I turn the corner and can't gear down fast enough, and hop off my bike to walk it up. Chris continues to the top and checks out the north view point while I walk. When I get to the fork we debtae going to the south one as its down and back up another scary set of hills!
We ride down (Chris rides down, I ride my brakes) and I walk my bike up yet another hill. We are treated to a beautiful, but rather windy view.
We turn around and I decide to be brave and ride up the hills. By some miracle I make it, but I have to talk myself up it and at the top my heart is racing like never before! I barely have time to catch my breathe before we're headed back downhill.
On the downhill the wind is blowing so hard we feel like human parachutes. I try not to hit my brakes and keep telling myself if a car can do it, I can do it.
We get near the bottom and Chris says he's turning into the viewpoint (thank goodness for intercoms, they're amazing). I go to shift and lose control of my bike to the scariest wobble. I thought I was going down hard, but somehow manage to correct and save myself. I coast into the viewpoint very thankful to be in own piece.
After a couple of windy minutes watching wind surfers we continue on to the Samual Boardman scenic corridor. We were excited for this section, but didn't quite realise a scenic corridor meant the following:
1- lots more hills, and no cool ocean breeze
2- lots of viewpoints, which are either overgrown or require a hike into
3 - so many more opportunities for steep hills (no thanks)

We do one hike out to see an arch, but decide the rest of the hikes and hills will be for another day!

We arrive to Harris Beach Campground and walk a mike or so into brookings for dinner.
The campground is amazing and right on the water, but Oregon is still determined to hide it's fmsous susnets from us!

Tomorrow - California!
Thanks for the amazing ocean views and hot showers Oregon, we will be back.

SORRY FOR THE LACK OF PHOTOS! The reason, dear friends, is a story for another day ;)

Day 17 - Bullards Beach to Humbug Mountain

Distance - 40 miles

Fun fact for you curious followers (hi Mom!) - we have eaten 1.5 lbs of beef jerky since our stop in Tillamook. A little less than 1 lb remains. We are still loving it.

Today is a cold, cloudy day! Just kidding. Well, it was for about an hour. Then the clouds just magically disappeared and we were left with glorious sun! The amount of sunscreen we use is unreal.

We cross over a little bridge into Brandon and are treated to a cute coastal town with beautiful ocean vistas and lots of rocks sticking out of the water (called haystacks, we think). We see lots of people wandering the beach, several with packs who look like they're hiking the Oregon Coast Trail.

We continue on through rolling hills and farmland. It still seems odd to us that the farmland is so close to the coast.

This morning we made a grave mistake. We had a small breakfast to prepare ourselves for the world famous Langlois Market Deli sandwiches. Yesterday we biked 18 miles to brunch and it seemed reasonable. Today it was not. Every hill separated us from the delicious sandwiches that awaited. The highway was also quite obnoxious with asphalt trucks and RVs which didn't help.

We finally, and I mean FINALLY, get to Langlois!

We are greeted at the deli counter by a cheerful young man who explains that all the pictures hung behind the counter represent the sandwiches, and that they've been there since before he was born! They also have a delicious homemade mustard that he urges us to try, and says the burgers are fresh from his cousin's farm next door. We order a burger and a pulled pork, and they do not disappoint! We debate ordering another one, but today we have some self control...

Ten miles later we roll in to Port Orford, the only open water port on the Oregon coast. Here we stock up on groceries and re-apply sunscreen yet again.

We decide to take a short detour to a state park to see some more haystacks. What we don't know is that the detour is a full mile straight uphill. The view was not worth it. However, the bakery we happen by on the way down is!! Ice cream sandwiches with freshly baked cookies are amazing. I am never coming home. I guess the biking is pretty cool too!

Speaking of cool biking, as we leave Port Orford we are treated to stunning coastal views. They may be the best we have seen so far! We're disappointed that our campsite is nestled in a valley and not on the ocean.

We arrive at our campsite to discover it's beside a beautiful creek that flows out into the ocean, and even though it's tucked in a valley it's only a short walk to one of the most stunning beaches so far!

We are very spoiled. This coast is stunning!

Tomorrow is our last day in Oregon... California here we come!

Day 16 - Winchester to Bullards Beach

Heat, and hills, and wind - oh my!
Distance: 47 miles

This morning we depart our campsite up a hill yet again, except for some reason it doesn't feel as bad as it did yesterday. We are thankful for that!
We roll up and down a few hills in similar terrain as yesterday, surrounded by pine trees and lakes.
A short 18 miles in we hit a beautiful bridge over Coos Bay into North Bend. It's another one with beautiful scenery where the cross winds try hard to push you into traffic as you desperately try not to overcorrect and smash into the side wall. But it's soooo pretty! But don't look up!

Almost every side street as we go through North Bend has a cross wind strong enough to make Chris yelp a warning. I look up to see him swerve as I launch in and wobble myself. Weeeheheheee!

We stop at another local cafe called Top Dog Coffee Co and get amazing breakfast bagels. We did not go back and order another one..... I swear! ;)



We finally turn south and hope to have the wind at our back as we wind our way up

Seven Devil's Road. This is a detour from Charleston to Brandon, as bikes are encouraged to stay off hwy 101. Unsure quite what to expect, we launch up a hill that has us in our granny gears right off the start. It's a narrow winding road with no shoulders.  The uphills are cruel and our quads burn, but this is the biking we live for and both of us are a bit too jolly as we make the ascent. At the top  (of the first devil) we are treated to rolling hills much like we're used to on the gulf islands, some of which are made even better by a tailwind pushing us along. When we get views they're created by clear cutting, but we can see mountains for days! The low clouds are blowing so fast overhead it feels like we're chasing them.

Halfway-ish through the seven devil's (we forgot to count) we lost our marbles. We think we're on the final descent but another uphill smacks us in the face. Chris takes the uphill while singing a raucus rendition of the Devil Went Down to Georgia. It's like he doesn't even notice it's an uphill! I'm 200m behind him, losing ground quickly as I pant up the hill. I don't even think he stops to breathe. He gets to the chorus and shouts HIT IT! In my defense, I tried. I got a few words out that morphed into I can't sing on this uphill I'm breathing too hard.... How did you even do that?!

The descent is a super flowy fun winding joyous one. Chris takes off so fast I nearly lost him.

We arrive at Bullards Beach, set up camp, then discover the wonderful danger of push button showers! Just one more push... ten pushes later. These Oregon campgrounds spoil us!

Before dinner we walked the 3/4 mile to the beach along the board walk, while swatting at the first real mosquitoes we've encountered this trip. Despite what the guide book said, there was no scenic Oregon sunset to be had. Instead we were greeted by mist and a cold wind.