August 13, 2017
Day 41 Elk Prairie to Patrick's Point State Park: The Sun Makes An Appearance
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We woke this morning to a sight we have not seen in many days – blue skies and sun! We were able to dry our tarp out in the sun as we ate breakfast and packed up – something we haven't been able to do for days and days.
We rode out of Elk Prairie and down the road a quick 5 miles to the town of Orick where we stopped in at the Palm Café for a second breakfast before heading over to the grocery store across the street to stock up for the day. Service at the restaurant was really slow, so we didn’t end up leaving town until 11. We had a short day planned and even though there were a couple of good hills, with a pretty sharp steep one at the end, we figured we would be able to get there in time to check out the beaches and see some sea lions.
The hills were hills – until we came to more road construction. There was a section of uphill, windy road that was one lane and controlled by a light, not a flagperson. Rather than chance getting caught on the way up by traffic coming down, we opted to walk up this section of the road.
It was fairly steep, and it was interesting for me to see that indeed, its easier to ride up than to walk – wish I’d been able to do that last year! Oh well, we finished the short uphill and then came the down, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Riding along with Big Lagoon State Park on the side, we stopped to enjoy the view before heading up the last hill of the day. I figured it would be one of those hills where we stopped at least 2 or 3 times, but we just chugged all the way up without stopping! We must be getting the hang of these things!
Patrick’s Point showed up sooner than we expected and we pulled into yet another beautiful hiker/biker site.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
By this time of the day, the fog had rolled in, which was a shame, as this park has many places where you can go and look out over the water. Just by our site is a lookout rock, so even though our knees complained bitterly about the further abuse, we climbed up to have a look out. Pretty foggy, that was it!
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We walked up to the Ranger Station to look around (and found a cool t-shirt for our grandson, Ryder for his birthday) before heading back to camp.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
By this time, more cyclists had arrived, some who had been at Elk Prairie with us and another, Will, who was travelling north to see the eclipse and to WWOOF (nope, that's not dog speak, it’s an organization for people who want to learn about organic farming by volunteering their time in exchange for room, board and a chance to learn – cool!). While chatting, we noticed that the sun had come back out and as it was nearing sunset, we set out to find a spot to watch and oh my goodness, what a spot we found! The light was just beautiful and we took a ton of pictures before just sitting and enjoying a stunning sunset.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Once the sun was set, we headed back up to climb into our little abode for our nightly ritual of Gin and fudge. The fudge has come to an end though, and I think we are going to leave it off the menu for a while, as much as we love it. Too much sugar before bed is messing with my sleep!
Tomorrow we are booked into a guesthouse in Arcata for a short rest stop before heading down to the Redwoods. We have heard not so great things about Eureka, so wanted to avoid staying there. We’ll see what Arcata has to offer!
Today's ride: 37 km (23 miles)
Total: 1,493 km (927 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |