"The Land of The Rising Sun"

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Now before anyone thinks I have gone completely off my rocker, the title, I hope, will make some sense later.

Last night was quite the night. It started to rain about 3:00 pm. Thank goodness it was after we were set up. It just got gradually heavier as the evening went on and even harder overnight. We dined on bagels and peanut butter...again...two meals of that in one day is a bit much. It is too bad that the Oregon and California State Parks are not like Washington's. In Washington we ere always able to find a covered picnic shelter to cook supper and to pack our gear in the morning if necessary. So last night it was raining too hard to cook...so peanut butter it was...again! We were in the tent from 4:00 pm for the duration. Fifteen hours in a small tent is a bit much. But our tent withstood the 'barrage' of rain and we stayed dry. We even survived the thunder and lightning that everyone was talking about today. Thunderstorms are a rare occurrence on the west coast we have since found out.

We were on the road by 7:40 this morning. It was still raining. We had not had coffee...a really serious matter...and we had not had any breakfast. That was remedied 11 kilometers down the road in the 'dying' if not 'dead' town of Orick. We stopped at the Palm Motel/Cafe for breakfast. The diner was right out of the 1960's with the stools at the counter and a juke box over in the corner that the cook kept feeding quarters to so that we could be entertained...I guess. While having breakfast the rain stopped and the sun came out. Just as we were getting ready to leave the song "The Land of The Rising Sun" came on the jukebox. Do you think I could stop singing that song for the rest of the day...not a chance. It is a good thing I now ride behind Sue so she did not have to listen!

Now for the rest of the ride. We had some climbing again today up into the redwoods again. But the majority of the day was spent with great views of the coast. We were, however, pounded by our first really strong headwind. Even downhill if you did not pedal you stopped. This lasted for the last 40 kilometers. It took it's toll on us. As a matter of fact for the first time on this journey my legs did not feel overly good...constant pounding into the wind (and yes I was leading trying to shield Sue for this) will do that to you I guess. The bonus today was that the sun shone all day. It was supposed to rain all day.

We are in the Econo Lodge in Eureka. While sitting in the parking lot of the motel posting yesterday's blog (it is the only place that the Wi fi works) a car crossed a raised median filled with rocks crossed two lanes of traffic and came to rest in our motel's swimming pool building just shy of the water. I guess we will not be using the pool tonight!

Trip Distance = 79.93 km. Time on the Bikes = 5 hours 14 minutes. Average Speed = 15.26 km. Maximum Speed = 50.37 km. Wildlife Sightings = Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Bald Eagle, Turkey Vulture, Black Tailed Deer, Roosevelt Elk (by the dozen).

Roosevelt Elk at The Campground

California Coast