August 26, 2017
Day 54 Gualala Park to Stillwater Cove Park: The long and winding road continues
What was that I said at the end of yesterday? Peaceful quiet? Oh yes, it certainly was that until 6:00 in the morning when we were awoken by the voice of a surly child not happy about being at the campground. I’m sorry, kid, but what the heck, can’t you keep your voice down? Apparently the idea of thinking of the other campers did not occur to this child nor to the adult with her/him as they talked on in voices that did not take into account the hour or location. We tried hard to go back to sleep, but the grumpy voices outside were soon joined by other voices and the sound of lots of gear being dragged past our tent. Remember that site we had to vacate yesterday? Well, it appears that a youth group of some sort was scheduled to be there and had decided that their day had to start early! Who the heck plans something like that????? What is wrong with these people??? There were a couple of grown ups around, but they clearly had no control over their charges, much to the dismay of everyone else camped around there – ugh!
We dragged ourselves out of bed at 7:00 and quickly ate a cold breakfast before packing up the tent and heading back up the hill we had come down the previous afternoon. I had noticed before turning into the campground that the park had a headquarters across the road where they had wifi. I convinced Jim to make a detour over there so we could make ourselves some hot coffee and catch up. Jim, being the awesome travelling companion that he is, said sure, and we managed to have an enjoyable ½ or so of coffee/internet time before heading out for the day. We are more and more sure that we will not continue into Mexico this year and are looking at finding a little town in California to ride to and stay for a while. It really isn’t so much that we are worried about our safety as it is a feeling that we need to be in the same place for an extended period of time. The thought of being in a foreign country right now, with the language barrier is just a little too much. So, internet time is spent catching up but also looking forward. We will see how it all pans out, I guess.
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Moving on from Gualala, we rode past the very very long and ultra private community of Sea Ranch. It runs for about 10 miles and all the roads within it are private – keeping you away from the ocean except for little spaces where the regular folk can get to the beach. Seems kind of mean to me, saying that only a select few get access while everyone else has to share a small portion, but that’s just me.
Along our way, Jim noticed the sign for a chapel. By the time he realized the building that was the chapel we had ridden past, but we both quickly turned around at the sight of this lovely structure. Luckily for us, it was open to the public and so we rode up and spent some time just admiring the amazing workmanship that went into this beautiful little building. It is non-denominational, so anyone is able to use it. We found it to be very peaceful and enjoyed our short visit immensely.
Moving on, the morning was once again enveloped in fog, so the views were nonexistent. When we reached the very quaint Stewarts Point Store and Bakery, we happily jumped off the bikes to go in for coffee and the most delicious treats. This is obviously a popular hang out as the line was long and the place was full, but it was worth the wait! The store has an interesting array of things for sale, from copious amounts of alcohol to equally copious amounts of candy – catering to the needs of the community I guess!
Outside, we were admiring the old farmhouse adjacent to the bakery where behind the fence cattle roamed freely. A security guard for the town on his way for coffee, stopped to tell us more about this place. Apparently much of the land around was held in the hands of the Stewart family. When the owner passed away recently, he left a portion of the land to the original owners, the First Nations people of that area. He gave them back their traditional abalone hunting grounds. A nice gesture.
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As we left Stewarts Point, the fog was finally lifting and we were gifted with more stunning ocean views. This section of road is very hilly, with many of the hills coming after hairpin turns. Its kind of annoying because you can’t just gain momentum as you head down, knowing you have a sharp turn at the bottom, but also knowing that you will need to climb again on the other side. The presence of ocean views, though, makes it all worth the work and we continued to enjoy stopping to take pics along the way.
The afternoon continued in this fashion until we reached the town of Ocean Grove where we stocked up for dinner before heading down and then up again to our stop for this day, Stillwater Park. Here again, we were departing from the usual cycle touring schedule and so had the hiker/biker site to ourselves.
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We had time to walk down the trail to the beach below and spent some time just enjoying the warmth of the sun and the waves and sand – bliss. Back to our site it was dinner, clean-up, showers and bed. Hope the people camping nearby are quiet tonight!
Today's ride: 33 km (20 miles)
Total: 1,924 km (1,195 miles)
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