California Coast – September 6th
After having a full days rest in Oregon it was time to get back on the road. I started heading southbound down Highway 101 in warm sunny weather and was looking forward to more riding along the coast. The fog was thick and it was a bit chilly near the ocean. It wasn’t long before I passed into California.
The drive continued to be beautiful until I reached Eureka, CA. This city was full of drifters and rundown buildings along the highway. It looked very seedy and I was happy that it was early enough in the day that I did not need to stop for food or accommodation. I saw drifters and pot heads mile after mile and for the first time in this entire adventure of mine I was given the finger. Some strung-out looking guy was walking along the highway and giving the finger to every passing vehicle. I did not take his finger personally and found it rather amusing.
I soon came across the “Trees of Mystery” and for a $14 fee I wondered among some of the oldest and most unusual tress in the world. This forest of trees was featured on Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Well worth the price of admission.
Onwards to “Avenue of the Giants”, a forest filled with giant Redwood trees. This was one of the coolest rides I have done. The road is 31 miles long, featuring trees over 200 feet tall which shade most of the area making it almost fell like night in some spots. I am not sure what the speed limit is through here but I was able to do most of the 31 miles at 100 km/hr. Passing these giant tress on a windy road really gets the heart racing. I had to slow down once for a moron in a rented RV who stopped on a blind turn to mount his camera the fender. At the end of the 31 miles was a great little pub called “Avenue” where I had some fantastic chicken wings and watched a live band. The saxophone player was an older “hippie” from London Ontario who moved to California during the 60’s and never looked back. My new hippie friend told the about the “Dean Creek Resort”, told me I would “dig it” and I did. The Dean Creek Resort had a giant hot tub which provided a great spot to relax and conversation with a group of bicyclists riding from Portland to San Francisco.
I woke up early and started to head towards San Francisco where I was going to meet with Denis and Dominic, a father and son who I met in the Yukon. They were riding classic motorcycles through Alaska, we had great conversation and agreed to keep in touch.
Links
Avenue of the Giants – a great detour from highway 101, besides riding fast through it there are plenty of other things to do, check it out http://avenueofthegiants.net/index.php
Dean Creek Resort – they have a motel, cabins, RV park and tenting space as well as a pool and giant hot tub, check it out you will “dig it” www.deancreekresort.com
Trees of Mystery http://www.treesofmystery.net/