August 25, 2017
Day 53 Manchester Beach KOA to Gualala Park: Try to say that 3 times fast!
The morning started out foggy as we headed off, and didn't warm up as we arrived in the small town of Port Arena, the “closest point on mainland US to Hawaii” as every person we met made sure to tell us. Well, there wasn’t a whole lot there to note, so I guess you gotta go with your strongest point.
We were looking for a place to get some hot decaf and found the little grocery store looked promising. The fellow who runs it came out upon seeing our bikes pull up and welcomed us in with open arms. “You’re from Switzerland, right?” He asked. Hmmmm… I guess he didn’t notice the maple leaf in the middle of our flags, but whatever, he was very welcoming so we went it. When asked if they had decaf, in a booming voice he said “Just add more water! You guys need the caffeine to keep you going anyways!” Oh boy. Well, they did have seating and some delicious looking cinnamon buns, so we bought coffee and buns and settled down to warm up – this is a theme with us, isn't it? The owner of the shop assured us that just down the road it would be hot and sunny and that I would soon be complaining of heat. Right on cue, a customer (lady with a very California tan) came in. He asked where she had come from (right down the road) and what was the weather like? Hot and sunny was her answer. Well, maybe we’ll get some sun at last! We finished our coffee and headed out to find this elusive California sun.
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Of course, coming out of Port Arena there had to be yet another sharp, short hill.
We made it to the top and were catching our breath when who should come up behind us? Paul and Scott! Oh my goodness! I can’t believe we keep hopscotching these guys. I thought for sure they had passed us long ago, but here they were. They stopped to talk and we compared notes on the gnarly hill coming out of Elk. It was gratifying to me to hear other younger and stronger bikers thought it was a pretty tough hill as well. It makes me all the more proud that we made our way up! As we talked, the two Swiss guys who had made up the foursome (we never did get their names) stopped as well. While we were all talking, a turkey vulture was hovering just at the edge of a drop-off to the ocean. It must have hovered there just hanging in the updraft from the ocean for 10 minutes! Amazing!
We said goodbye once again to our companions and they set off ahead of us. By now the sun had, indeed, broken through and we had a fantastic view of the coast. There were so many spots that were just stunningly beautiful we kept stopping to take pictures. At one point we walked down near the edge for pictures. Anyone who knows me knows that I am terrified of heights, but I couldn't resist the lure of this sight and made myself sit and enjoy the moment – it really was spectacular.
Coming up the hill from another hairpin turn, we found a little town with two restaurants – Mexican and Thai. We chose Thai and sat down for a relaxing and enjoyable lunch before heading back out into what was now a very warm day. Along the way, we stopped to see yet another structure of Russian influence.
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Continuing on down the road we arrived at the town of Gualala (don’t even ask how to pronounce it – you have to figure it out yourself!). Here there was a grocery store where we planned on getting something for dinner tonight, but right next to it we spied a barber shop. Jim’s hair was desperately in need of a trim, so off we went and Jim got a little bit of pampering for today.
Once Jim looked more like himself, we picked up what we needed from the store and rode the short distance to Gualala Park. We had to go up a hill right before the turnoff for the campground and wouldn’t you know it? Yep, down down down we went, into the trees to the campground. We walked to the back and found what looked like the hiker/biker site, paid our fee, put up the tent and went for a walk to find some sun since it was so chilly in the trees. The trail led us, of course, up up up and we finally stopped at a little bench to enjoy our snack of chips and beer in the warm sunshine with a great view of the water down below us.
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Returning to our site, we noticed a note from the park ranger. Apparently this was not the hiker/biker site, but a more expensive walk-in site. Ours was just next to it. Oh well, we picked up the tent and moved everything over in short order. That done, we made dinner and were soon back in our tent as the temperature dropped significantly once we were back in the trees. Our usual card game and early to bed, thankful for the peace and quiet around us.
Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 1,891 km (1,174 miles)
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