August 8, 2017
Day 36 Harris Beach State Park to Warmshowers in Crescent City: When Does Flat Mean Flat?
We woke to a very soggy tent and campsite, due to a little rain overnight and more heavy fog. I wasn’t too interested in trying to make breakfast, and still thinking we had a shortish day ahead, we decided to ride back into Brookings to find a place to eat breakfast. As we passed one of the younger bikers from the hiker/biker site making his breakfast I found myself thinking, “this is one of the perks of being a little older and not on quite as tight a budget” – yep, being the retired touring folks does have its moments!
We rode into town and found a great little place, the Downtown Coffee Lounge and Café. They had a cool Star Wars thing going on, as well as lots of board games for people to play while there. The breakfast menu had one of my very favourite things – ½ full breakfast! I can never eat the whole 2 eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast thing, but I love all of those things, so when I can order a smaller portion, I’m in a happy place. As well, they made a mean decaf Americano, so Jim and I spend an enjoyable hour filling ourselves up with good food and coffee before heading back to deal with packing up our wet tent.
Tonight we will be staying at a famous (well, famous among cycle tourists on the West Coast) Warmshowers at the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Crescent City, where the clerk, Katie, has been welcoming cycle tourists for about 4 years. She is well known for her kindness and we are really looking forward to meeting her!
However, first things first. Wet tent packed away (hopefully to be dried later), we packed up the bikes and headed out at the unheard of hour of 11:00 – yikes!
In our book, the ride from Brookings to Crescent City is described as mostly flat. Once again, we were lulled into a sense of security by those words and failed to pay attention to the caveat “mostly” – oh boy!
We made it out of Brookings, by (you guessed it) a short, not too steep climb and within ½ hour, came up to the border with California where we had to actually wait for our turn to take our picture with the Welcome to California sign! How silly was that!!!
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We knew there was a fruit inspection station right across the line, and still had a couple of oranges and an apple in our bags, so while we waited for our turn to take our picture, we scarfed down the oranges, leaving the apple to be turned over when we got there. We were actually disappointed when we reached the lineup and they waved us through without even looking! The apple is still with us, having now been smuggled into California!
Once we left the station, we were directed off onto Ocean View Drive. We should have known from the name what we were in for, but blithely followed the directions anyways and soon found ourselves on what we might have considered a lovely country road away from traffic if it weren’t for one small thing – it wasn’t flat! It was rolling hills! Now, I know what you’re thinking. By this time, we have been up lots of hills. What’s a few more? Well, you see, we were promised “mostly flat” and now we weren’t getting it, so we grumbled our way along what was really a very nice road. I kept trying, saying “at least we’re off 101”, but it really didn’t cut it. Oh well, what can you do? Take pictures, of course!
We came upon a huge field of lilies that had gone to seed. I remembered reading that this area is considered to be the largest lily growing area in the world and we could now see why. Massive fields of lilies were all we saw for a good long while. I can only imagine how beautiful they would be when they are all in bloom. I’m not really sure how it all works, if they pull out the plants and sell them or just raise bulbs, but it’s an extremely large undertaking to be sure!
We finally did reach the flat part of the road, and had a nice little ride until we reached Redwood school, where we stopped and used their very handy picnic tables to eat our lunch. These tables and some benches are what my students have been asking for at my old school – I taught Grades 6 and 7 for the last few years, and my kids really just wanted a place where they could sit and hang out with their friends. Unfortunately, right now they have nothing like this. If I could, I’d send some of these their way!
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The last 10 miles into Crescent City were most unpleasant as we were heading directly into a headwind, so even maintaining 10mph was tough going – ugh! Finally, though, we made it to the city limits. As we rode down the highway, along the bike lane, we saw a group of children with adults all dressed in green t-shirts making their way along the same path coming our way. We pulled off to let them come through and it was one of the highlights of our day. These adorable children (aged probably from 5 – 10) happily stopped to talk to us and ask us a million questions. One of them very proudly told us that they had been on a field trip! They were very excited about our Canadian flags and it was nice to know they recognized them. What a delightful group! We all said a cheery goodbye as they continued on their way home and we rode on towards the centre of town. Our pathway led us off the main road though and along the waterfront for a more scenic view of Crescent City. I wasn’t too impressed until we came up to the beach and could hear the very loud calling of sea lions – our first ones!!! We stopped to look and listen for a bit before heading off to find our home for the night.
Despite all our dragging along, we still arrived a little early as Katie volunteers at a local thrift shop until 4:30 on Tuesdays. Luckily, there was a Starbucks just down the road and we stopped in for a quick snack while we waited. As we pulled in, we noticed another loaded bike parked there, so Jim went to chat with the cyclist while I ordered our drinks. I came out to find Jim and Ben, from Baton Rouge, still chatting away. Ben has been on an amazing journey that will put him at over 5,000 miles in the next day or two – amazing! He covers quite a bit more than we do in a day (100 miles), so it was interesting to hear about his tour and what he did and didn’t like. Funnily enough, he is riding with the same Surley frame as we have!
We said our goodbyes to Ben and went off to meet Katie at the church. As I said, she is an amazingly kind and generous person who makes it possible for passing cyclists or travers to stay at the church. There, she showed us a bathroom, complete with shower and towels for us to use, a kitchen where we could cook our food, and a lovely large room where we would be able to sleep. All of this, plus her extensive knowledge of where to go and what to see along the way for the very small price of a hug. We were so tired after what turned out to be a long and sometimes frustrating day, but after meeting Katie and visiting with her, our spirited were refreshed and we felt great.
Once we got settled and had showers, we walked down to the Pizza Hut not too far away for some promised pizza and beer (I had been talking about this all afternoon as a motivation to keep going). Somehow, been always tastes better after a day like this, and the pizza wasn’t too bad either!
Walking back up to our little home for the next two nights, we settled on the comfy couches and checked in with the word before bed. It had been a much longer day than anticipated, with hills and wind to contend with, but seeing those little excited kids and meeting Katie made all of that disappear from our minds. We went to bed warm and content – can’t ask for better than that now, can you?
Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 1,373 km (853 miles)
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