Crescent City, CA

On our rest day, I got a massage, Hap got his haircut and then we did alittle shopping. Sometimes it would be nice to have a car because then I could actually buy something! We walked back to Mary's house. Her house overlooked the ocean. The views were great. We noticed from the flag out the front window that the wind was out of the south today. Mmmm....maybe THAT'S why we took the day off. After we got back I saw that they had this really big bathtub and it was calling my name. I haven't been able to take a bath since we left home. So it was really great. We decided to go out for dinner. The food was incredible. I had salmon (of course) and Hap and Mary had halibut. What a great meal. When we got back to their house we both just collapsed. For some reason we were both tired even though we didn't ride today. We were up early the next morning, packed up, said good bye to Mary and went into town for breakfast. One of my favorite breakfasts is crepes. It is hard to find them though. But they had them so I got strawberry crepes. Before leaving town we needed to mail some things home. Remember the "shopping" the day before? Also, it is time for our map exchange. We are sending our Oregon stuff home and having our California stuff mailed to us. By the time we got out of town it was almost 11am. We really enjoyed the little town of Bandon. Thanks Mary and Mark!

The ride from Bandon to Gold Beach was much better than our ride into Bandon. There was a better shoulder and far less traffic. The weather was perfect for riding. About 70 degrees, sunny and a tailwind. We had wonderful views of the ocean. Most of the time we were right along the water. There were lots of ups and downs but no terrible climbs. Traffic seemed to give us alittle more room and there was less of it so we were very happy. We stopped in L.... for hot dogs. Apparently these are the best hot dogs in the world. And if you ever go through L... you need to stop for one. While we were there we met a young couple from Washington DC who were cycling the coast. They had started in Missoula, MT and headed to San Diego. When they left he forgot to take his jar of jam. So we grabbed it up and caught up to them, several miles down the road. We said here is your jam. He said oh, I just bought another one. I handed it to him and said well now you've got two! Riding the coast again brings back so many memories of our other two trips down the coast. Especially the first one. It was our very first tour back in 1986. We had no idea what we were doing. We borrowed a tent, bought some panniers (bags) for the bike and got on a plane to Portland, OR. We visited Gail and Walt and then headed south. Bobbing and weaving as we went because we didn't know how to pack the stuff on the tandem. We had so much fun, that is what got us hooked on cycle touring. We met an older couple (they were in their 60's---Hap's age) on that first trip who rescued us. We broke a spoke and didn't have a spoke or any tools to fix it. He showed Hap how to fix it and even gave us the spoke. They traveled by bicycle every year from Michigan to Colorado to visit their kids. I think they were our inspiration. At one point we saw them (remember this was 21 years ago!) sitting by the road, staring out at the fog! When we stopped and asked them what they were doing. They said there's a good view from here and we are waiting until the fog lifts to see it. We could tell it was going to be a long wait for the fog to lift. We haven't gotten to that stage yet. But we're just gettin started!

We ended yesterday's ride in Gold Beach. We stayed at a RV park on the Rogue River. There was an old historic bridge over the river that was very long, but the traffic must be used to bikes. Everyone was very patient while passing. We got the tent set up, had a great HOT shower (the fog was moving in and it was getting chilly) and fixed dinner. We had vegetable minestrone soup with spaghetti in it, pears, and milk. After dinner we watched a movie. I had bought a movie at the grocery store but did not realize it was a previously owned DVD. Almost at the end of the movie, the DVD quit playing! Now we don't know what happened! So watch what type of DVD you are buying. This one looked like it was a brand new one until I opened it.

Today we walked up to the cafe for breakfast before taking down the tent. The fog was really bad so everything was pretty much soaked! I had crepes again and Hap had pancakes. He also ordered bananas on top of them. When we got the bill we saw they charged us $1.50 for that banana! So we are two for two. Me with the DVD and Hap with the banana! By the time we left the fog had lifted and the sun was out, but it was still chilly. We rode by the bridge over the Rogue River again and noticed all of the fisherman at the mouth of the river. I don't think I have ever seen so many "stacked fisherman" in one place. I suppose the salmon come into the river from the ocean. Hap said that the fisherman must have to take a number or something. Leaving Gold Beach we immediately started climbing. And that was the theme of the day. We did have a nice berm. But once again when there is a passing lane where you would think it would be safer. The berm goes away and the cars stay in the lane closest to you even though no one is in the left lane. On the very first climb three logging trucks passed us. The first one did not move over at all and just as he went by just layed on the horn. I just don't get it. He had two lanes to work with and we are balancing on about a foot of berm. But the good news was that all of the other trucks that passed us today were very good. The traffic wasn't too bad until right at the end of the day. We stopped just alittle north of Crescent City just because the traffic was picking up and it is a holiday weekend. Time to get off the road. Today's ride was really interesting with the fog moving in and out. One minute we would be in sunshine and the next a very thick fog layer. We had some spectacular views. We stopped to put our THREE (two white and one red) flashing lights on the back. The way everyone moved over I am sure they could see us. It also got really cold when we were in the fog, then we would get too hot. We had one three mile climb up and over into Sebastian Cove. We remembered this climb from before. The last time we came down it, we out ran a motor home coming up behind us. So we were moving! This time though the fog was so bad, Hap had to keep the brakes on. The view in Sebastian Cove is awesome. Unfortunately we couldn't see it. Oh well. Just before Smith River there was a sign that said detour all pedestrians and cyclists. We ended up on a road that ran parallel to Rt 101. It was nice to be away from traffic, but it was hillier than Rt 101. Tonight we are in the Redwood RV Park. A very nice park, with HOT showers, a laundry and WI FI connection.