September 25, 2000
We took our time this a.m. and didn't get out of our motel until 10. About 2 miles out, Jess got a flat rear tire, her first. We changed it and then stopped at the Redwood Park Center to wash our hands and begin again.
We passed a marshy area that was filled with coots, ducks and herons. Also watched a kingfisher fishing. Saw a bald eagle and an osprey earlier when we came down a cape to an open bay.
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| Logs stockpiled along Hwy 101 and the Scotia Lumber Company, one of the last where all is self- contained and housing is part of the company plan |
We took one alternate route today from Patrick's Point Rd to Trinidad. Along most of the route we heard loud barking sea lions, but it wasn't until we came to a clear spot that we could look down and see them on the rocks. One had its head propped on a rock like its pillow.
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| A natural tunnel and sea lions on a shelf of rock far below the road |
We ate lunch in Trinidad and then blew to Arcata with a good tailwind. Stopped for at least two hours at a bike store in Arcata. Only one mechanic on duty. Jess wanted him to check out the noise in her cranks, and I needed to clean my chain and derailleur. They set me up in the courtyard with a bike stand, etc. and did I ever remove a lot of gunk from the chain and derailleur.
Craig, the mechanic on duty, was very helpful. Jess and Craig worked on her bike and discovered that the noise was coming from her seat, not her cranks. Craig bent over backwards to explain everything to us and to direct us to the town's best restaurants, etc.
After the bike/backpacking shop we rode up a hill to an organic grocery called Wildberries Marketplace where we bought some food for our evening meal and breakfast. Presently I am sitting in the laundry room at the Eureka KOA, having taken a shower, washed my hair, and soaked in the hot tub. And they call this camping?
We are camped on a small fenced piece of grass behind the check-in and main building reserved for tenters. There's another couple here on a tandem—Jeff and Theresa—who started by crossing the bridge into Astoria. More horror stories. They're from Corvallis, OR.
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| The main Eureka KOA building and the tent area behind it. |
Route: Orick, CA to Eureka, CA; with the exception of our one alternate route, we rode on Hwy 101 all day. At times 101 was a freeway with 65 mph traffic streaming past; at other times it was two-lane (but still with traffic).
Weather: Sunny pleasant undemanding day
General: A lot of logging and asphalt trucks today. The logging trucks farther north at least leave one with the perfumed scent of cedar. These have redwood logs on them and do not have much of an odor.
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