Up later than expected at 8:00. Thanks to Amy we enjoyed a delicious egg and toast breakfast before saying goodbye and getting on our way. We went to the Wednesday market where we picked up some fresh food and Ken worked on his Saudi Arabia visa application process. By noon we were on our way. The weather was great with temps in the 70s, few clouds, and a tailwind. We saw some seals, a blowhole, and some more beautiful ocean views.
Towards the end of the day we stopped in a grocery store to pick up the ingredients for chili. We camped at Eel's Lake and enjoyed a delicious chili meal consisting of 4 cans of beans, 3 cans of tomatoes and sauce, and 1.2 pounds of meat for the four of us. A solid day with about 70 miles behind us.
9/29
The day began with a pretty cold morning, a light breakfast, and Ken again on the phone about the Saudi Arabia visa. We were biking by 9:30 as the day slowly warmed up.
After some coastal views we traveled more inland where we biked the seven devils, which was a road consisting of seven rather steep uphills spaced over a fifteen mile stretch. (Arne dog attack). With the morning consisting of talk of dairy queen we were glad to see in Bandon. We stopped there for lunch and blizzards before continuing on to Humbug mountain campground. Unfortunately the ride in required about the last 5-10 miles to be ridden after the sun went down. Although not ideal, the ocean was beautiful with the thumbnail moon, small waves, and large seastacks.
As with the other Oregon campgrounds humbug campground was really nice and well maintained. A 78 mile day.
9/30
We woke up to cloudy skies and made our way toward crescent city. We hit some nice view points on the way and took some nice pictures.
Just before we hit our next town we ran into one of the cyclists named Grady we met from the campground and he rode with us to a grocery store. After our grocery store second breakfast we headed to the public library to research car rentals etc. As usual we spent way too much time there and got out late preventing us from getting to our foreseen destination.
So we plodded along and stopped at a nice lunch spot overlooking the water with a plethora of sea-stacks. Heading out of luck our plan was to go just past Brookings, Oregon to set up camp. However, leaving the center of Brookings an incredibly nice man, Mark Silver in an awesomely hippy flower power van pulled up alongside us and offered for us to stay at his house on the beach.
Arriving at his house we were instantly amazed. He introduced himself as a physician in town and showed us his property. We were greeted by 15+ adorable miniature horses with a small building behind them that we were offered to stay in.
Inside the first building housed a homemade saltwater aquarium which was jaw droopingly awesome.
The large tank had beautifully colorful fish, small crustaceans, and hard and soft coral. We we were all amazed at the genius behind the tutorial of the tank with its construction, LED lights, maintanance devices etc.. Leaving the barn we heard the distinctive sound of parrots and were amazed at the tour that proceeded. The parrot breeding compound was filled with about 50 beautiful macaws, cocatoos, eclectuses, and a few other species. Just awesome!
We soon caught a glimpse of the incredible cliffside ocean view from the property and met Marks amazing wife Lorna. She welcomed us into their home and made us feel right at home. We met their 2 dogs, pet parrots, and even their poison dart frogs. We were already so appreciative to have a warm place to stay, but the Silvers really went above and beyond. They picked up delicious pizza and beer entertained us all evening with fun stories of their life in Oregon.
Having such a neat family open up their home to us was such a great reminder of how blessed we all are and a reminder of how every person you pass along the way has a great story to tell.
JS & KSG
10/1
Redwoods today! We woke up well rested thanks to our gracious hosts. As if that wasn't enough, the Silvers treated us to a delicious and massive breakfast of eggs, bacon, blueberry pancakes, bagels and cream cheese, cantaloupes, grapes , and apple juice - talk about starting the day off in grand fashion. We gathered our things and got on the road about 10 a.m., sad to leave the fantastic coastal house (and zoo) but in a great mood.
We biked an easy 20 miles into Crescent City, which included crossing into California!
We briefly watched the surfing tournament in town for the weekend. Immediately after that we climbed a hefty hill for about 6 miles, while taxing it was the entryway into a section of redwoods so we really enjoyed the ride.
After lots of downhill for the next 10-20 miles we rolled out of one section of redwoods and into another, even more majestic than the first. Big 'ol trees.
We had a late lunch, took some pictures, and really enjoyed the forest. After some consideration we decided to cut our day a little bit short, 60ish miles in total, and stay at a campground in the forest. It was great to get in early and enjoy a few hours of light off of the bikes, and we talked to a variety of other bikers there.
Tomorrow we split with John, so we had our last group meal, including grains that were amazingly still left from Whitehorse.
-AN
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Location:Waldport, OR and Crescent City, CA
