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NEW Update from Ferndale, CA: Rained Out, My Millionaire Dream Dashed, Couchsurfing No More!..and other Ramblings

(See Below **** for new update)

Vital Stats:

Number of flat tires: 0

Number of buffets eaten at: 2

Number of Dairy Queen Ice Cream Bars eaten: 3

Mileage Log

Day 11: 42 miles overnight at Beachside State Park

Day 12: 35 miles overnight at Jessie Honeyman State Park south of Florence

Day 13: 55 miles overnight at Sunset Bay State Park near Charleston

Day 14: 57 miles overnight at Humbug Mountain State Park, south of Port Orford

Day 15: 53 miles overnight at Harris Beach State Park in Brookings (CA border)

Day 16: 70 miles overnight at Elk Prarie State Park, Redwood National Park

Day 17: “Rest Day” (not)

Day 18: 48 miles overnight at the home of a retired couple on Globalfreeloaders.com

Day 19: tomorrow, 51 miles

So once again I find myself at the public library internet terminal, and after taking 10 minutes away to check my emails, that leaves me with 20 to churn out a post for this blog. So so, where to begin??

I’m in Eureka now, and not camping tonight. I’m staying at the home of a retired couple that answered my request on Globalfreeloaders.com. Unfortunately, the other great internet site I’ve used in the past (most recently via my Honda road trip) is now defunct. Sadly, www.couchsurfing.com has shut down, which is a major blog because it brought so many travelers together. Hopefully Globalfreeloaders will be able to absorb some of the couchsurfing member community into theirs. Check out the web site to see the final comments of the founder of this super Non-Profit web site.

12 minutes left already?? Gosh! Okay, Oregon Coast was simply AMAZING! Especially the section from Port Orford south to the Oregon Border. So many pullouts from 101 to view the rocky outcroppings and shoreline. Prior to that, I spent some time hiking the dunes at Honeyman State Park (not a good idea if looking to rest the legs, as it is difficult to hike up and down sand), Bandon was gorgeous, and I thoroughly recommend a detour off of North Bend/Coos Bay to Cape Arago, home to 3 state parks including the Shore Acres Botanical Gardens.

Okay, I finally got rained out! In the middle of night at Elk Prairie State Park. Fortunately I had my rain fly attached to my tent. Unfortunately I did not stake it down properly (because I was missing a few stakes), and when I awoke early at 6am in the morning, my tent had collected pools of water inside the floor area! So, basically where I was sleeping. I was forced out in retreat and used my small hand towel to soak up the water and try to dry out as best as I could. That was yesterday, my “rest day.” Yeah, some rest day. Despite the cold and the rain, I was determined to do a little hiking. No hiking shoes, as I have no room on my bike. Just my sandals, and I wasn’t liking the idea of hiking through mud, but onward I went.

Fortunately, it did not rain for the rest of the day. The hike was just beautiful, through towering, majectic and “Oh Shit!” redwoods to Gold Bluffs Beach, across the sand north to Fern Canyon, and back through the Redwoods to Big Tree (304 feet high with diameter of 22 feet!) and Cathedral Trees trail, and back to the campground. All in all, my rest day consisted of an 8 hour, 17-mile hike. And thus my body and especially my legs, didn’t feel so rested when I awoke this morning.

But at least I filled up on my buffet! Yep, right here in Eureka, Chinese Lunch Buffet, All I Can Eat! And I think I did, topped off with 4 ice cream cones for dessert. My other buffet was in Coos Bay at the Kings Table Buffet, one of my favorites growing up in Portland, but they don’t exist up there anymore.

Oh my, 4 minutes left!

Okay, here’s where my millionaire dreams are dashed…but I have no more time to explain, so hopefully I’ll find more internet access in the next days. Sorry I couldn’t answer your emails to those that have emailed me in the past week, I promise to email when I can! Okay, have a great weekend everyone, over and out for now!

*********************

I now come to you live from Ferndale, CA. I stayed last night at the home of a great couple in Eureka. They made a wonderful dinner of ravioli, brocolli salad, steamed carrots, garlic bread and we had apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert. Just a wonderful, lovely evening spent with them. They are both retired and have used Globalfreeloders to find hosts in Scotland, England, Australia and even in Hawaii. I had a warm and dry bed, hot shower, and they even fed me for breakfast. My oh my I was spoiled, and I can’t say enough good things about Joyce and Darrell, I’ll definitely come back to Eureka to spend more time to explore the town and nearby Arcata.

I have arranged for another Globalfreeloader stay near Fort Bragg for Sunday night, but the couple live about 20 miles away off my route and from the sounds of their email, they live waaay out in the country surrounded by acres of land land land. So this will be an interesting experience, and it will come at the end of the day of the legendary Leggett hills. Apparently these hills are THE hardest part of the Pacific Coast Bicycle route…I experienced a little preview just past Crescent City, when I pedaled and pedaled and pedaled up triple peaks, taking over an hour to go 2 or maybe 3 miles. But I’ll be ready this Sunday for the Leggett hills. I should be into San Francisco by next Friday, where it will be a weekend of bad movies, greasy food and then a little basketball. And if I live through the Sunday basketball scrimmage with Ezra’s friends, then it will be back on the bicycle to continue down south towards Monterey and beyond.

About my Millionaire Dreams….

So there I was, hiking through these majestic Redwoods.  They are simply awe-inspiring…so high.  I had some pretty tall trees back at my home in Tigard, but these Redwoods, man oh man oh man, just unbelievable.  Many times I would just stop in my tracks and gaze up, up, up towards the sky to see how far those trees stretched.  And during one of my moments of being mesmerized by Mother Nature, I caught the glimpse.  Something flashed by my eyes in the distance.  Elk?  Bear?  Cougar?  I was a little scared, I’ll admit that.  But curiosity got the better of me, and I followed off the path to where I glimpsed the animal.  Scrambling up a little hill, grabbing hold of roots to pull myself up, I now stood above the trail and looked down the other side of the ledge….and there he was.  Or maybe she?

Sasquatch.  AKA Bigfoot.  Yep.  No lyin’.  Bright as day, right there below my eyes.  Looking up at me.  Huge, hairy, like a man in a suit, but this was no hoax.  This was the real deal.  You want proof?  Of course you do.  The proof is in the pictures.  I grabbed my digital camera.  But….herein lies the problem.  2 days ago, just before Gold Beach, my camera went out.  No explanation.  Just died.  The digital zoom lens just froze open.  Doesn’t close.  New batteries do no good.  It just makes a horrible noise when I try to power it on.  And thus no photos of the Southern Oregon Coast, no pics of the Redwoods, and certainly no proof seeing Bigfoot.  No chance of selling my pictures of Bigfoot to the local and international papers for a cool million.  And thus, my millionaire dreams dashed.

But take my word for it.  I saw Bigfoot.  For real.  He looked at me.  I looked at him.  He sized up me.  I sized up him.  And then he ran.  And that was that.  I didn’t dare tell anyone at the park what I saw.  They’d think I was lying.  But you know I wouldn’t make that up.  I’ll just have to draw a picture of what I saw when I get back.  But it does suck to have my camera out of commission.  Maybe I’ll end up buying a disposable for my next few weeks.  Oh well, at least my brakes still work.

Gotta run now.  Still have 50 miles to go.  One thing though before I go.  Why is it that people, when driving along, deem it okay to just throw trash out the window?  It is not as bad here as it is in Guatemala, but riding the roads each day, I am apalled at the amount of garbage I see strewn by the sideway.  Styrofoam containers, plastic cups, pop cans, food wrappers, etc. etc.  During one section in Washington, in a mile stretch I counted 30 pop cans.  That’s $1.50.  If that holds true, then for 100 miles I could make $150.  But that would be a lot to carry on my bike in addition to all the weight I already have.  Just one of the many things I think about while just pedaling the miles away.  So that does it for this short update, until next time!



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4 responses to “NEW Update from Ferndale, CA: Rained Out, My Millionaire Dream Dashed, Couchsurfing No More!..and other Ramblings”

  1. Mike says:

    I lived in North Bend/Coos Bay for a year. Your mention of Kings Table brought back some great 9 year old memories. Kings Table used to be located on 99 in Tigard by I-5. Thanks for the memories.

  2. Jonas says:

    Are you sure it was Sasquatch that you saw and not Robin Williams going for a hike with his shirt off? It’s easy to mix those two up.

  3. Mon says:

    Glad to hear that you are still a pedaling fool and you are safe and sound. Oh and sorry, not gonna fall for the ol Sasquatch story, nice try on that one buddy. Take care and happy trails 🙂

  4. Mike says:

    Guys you don’t understand. I really believe Edwin on this. About 10 years ago, he came back from Scotland with these unbelievable photos of the Loch Ness Monster. He pulled them out of a plastic case and as we looked, a wind gust knocked them out of his hand into a puddle. Too distorted, he knew he could do nothing with them. I understand he didn’t want to bring this up as this must have been another huge disappointment. Before you dismiss this, ask yourselves, doesn’t he attract weirdness?

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