In the morning at Elk Prairie, despite having a long day ahead of me, I wasn't in any real rush to leave, as Thomas was a cool cat and David was talking about hanging back and not going to Eureka. It was in the morning that I replied to his question about writing something about budget travel and philosophy. I had totally forgotten about this book which shaped my idea of travel called Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. I told Thomas about it and he wrote it down in his book. Look how cool he looks when he's just writing in his journal. Some blue birds attacked his table as we talked. Looking for food as the signs on the tables warned. But eventually I had to go.
As I was leaving, I looked at the prairie by yhe canpground and sure enough there were Elk! A while into my ride people were stopped to take pictures of elk.
When I got to Orick, I slowed down but kept moving. Looks like the theme of missing stuff would continue. Events either were a day before or a day later. When it came to BBQs it would be starting in the evening if I happened to be there on the day and couldn't hang around and wait, and when it was at lunchtime it would be for a different date. I also missed the fried Smelt festival by 2 days. Hopefully next trip I won't be on such a schedule and take my time like Thomas. Anyhoo, I missed the Orick Rodeo. The population is in the hundreds, and I noticed lots of festivals in small places. I guess this is typical of small communities.
As much as I wanted to stop and eat, I thought this was the Redwoods day. And Orick seemed like a beers-at-9am kinda place do I kept moving.
This place had the sign for a bar ever. The Lumberjack. Awesome.
Another thing about small communities is harnessing tourist and pass-through dollars. Orick was no slouch with this place... And other small communities should take note. I still didn't stop, except to take a few pictures.
When I got to my first destination, I immediately checked out what's usually high on my must-see list of any attraction. Their washroom facility. The visitor centre was very nice, and they had a lot of cool things to read and see.
Out back they had beach access. I learned about the threat of deadly sneaker waves. Look how concerned the German tourist is, reading his book. He obviously didn't read the sign! There were 4 deaths since 2004! Wake up buddy!!! That said, I think there was 1 death since 2004 of someone tripping down the stairs, but I saw no warning for bring carful of sneaker stairs. But really, 4 deaths in almost 10 years. That's hardly a hazard.
I went back in and got the lowdown on what to see redwood wise. Turns out it would be the day after so I was no longer in a rush. I also got a tip on where to stay other than the Eureka KOA! Samoa Dunes!!! Yeah baby! I decided to have a sit down lunch in Trinidad. This sign needed an update or at least be pulled from the deep woods.
I saw an interesting roadside vigil which made me wonder if this was the site of a tragedy. It was a pretty harrowing hill. I took the scenic detour shortly after.
When I got to Trinidad, I went to a nice place for food. What I thought was a restaurant was a bait and tackle shop, so really I chose the best place, since it was the only place. I found out later there were other places, when I we to check out the lighthouse, but I still loved my choice. They had awesome draft root beer!!! And is it just me of does it taste better when it's served in a mason jar? I ordered two meals. I needed fuel! Ot was a long day of cycling! Both the pulled pork sandwich and fish and chips were excellent!
My meal was interrupted by woman outside checking out my trike. I could tell she was am hanging around tower then owner and I had a lot of food to plow through, plus I didn't want to miss meeting her as she was also on a trike. Her name was Ingrid and she had a Greenspeed Magnum with electrical assist to pull her heavy makeshift cart and dogs.
After eating I checked out the lighthouse! It was pretty cool, not not that out of the way. Panorama worthy!
Being by the water makes tackling hills much easier. The coast is always uplifting. That and bluish skies.
The bike coast signs always gave what I thought were nice alternatives to the bible, although this might have been in the bible. I don't recall. In any case, the country roads I went through were really... Glorious. This bridge looked out of place in such a sparce area. This downhill was awesome.
When I got to the bridge, I found out it was pedestrian/bike only!!! Awesomer!!!
And I saw a nice stork or whatever kind of bird this is...
The barns and houses were true country and I enjoyed every mile. It was flat which made the goings easy, too. I was texting Danny who was hitching to Arcata, which is connected to Eureka. He was going to couch surf.
These cows were curious,but I felt bad that they were scared if me, jumping and moving away. I do find it amusing they always stare and follow me as in ride.
This bull was at the fence, looping over as all the prospects on the other side of the driveway. He was not so easily startled, but I guess I got too close as my turn radius isn't great.
As much as I live the ocean, I do enjoy rustic farmscapes.
When I got to Arcata, I ordered a burrito. I told the girl I wanted her favourite. I ended up with a Korean BBQ burrito. I put it in my bag to eat later as it felt too hit to eat and I wanted to get to camp. The sun going down so I was in a race to get there. Plus, it had been many miles and I was tired.
I only had 5 miles to Samoa, and I counted each mile down. When I got to Samoa, I found out it was another 5 miles to the campground. Luckily it was pretty flat, but the sun was about to set, and it would be a good half hour plus to get through those 5 miles.
There were lots of cool things along the way that made it worth it. There was this pulp mill that had hive stacks of logs piled up. I cant imagine how they ever got like that. I love when I can't imagine how something is done, but someone figured out a way that probably seemed easy to them. Many longs were out in place to keep it from falling over.
Camp was nice, if a bit weird. It was the most expensive Hiker/Biker fee at $8, but you got an entire site. I chose 17, which was one away from George. It was a long day and I was just happy to gave arrived.
George was from Oregon but had to come down to California for work. He was camping to save money, and I guess the pay isn't great do keeping costs down is best. He offered me done hot chocolate. He also told me about his he just bought two trucks. He put bids on these two trucks he hadn't seem, and didn't figure he'd get, but he won both. His son picked them up and said they were pretty spotless. He was really excited. He also told me about a growth on his cheek he figured was an ingrown hair, and he was pissed he had to pay the doctor $150 to jab his finger on it and recommend a dermatologist. He wished the US had health when I described how it worked in Canada.
I had my burrito which was excellent but it wasn't very spicy, so it did not reach its potential. Still waiting to have a real Californian burrito of the standard my friend Andrea described. The texture of the rice told me I would understand when I finally had one.
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