Day 10 - Tuesday

We woke to another fantastic day. It's getting difficult to describe how great the weather is. The hotel has a rather nice looking laundry facility there so I decide to take advantage. I hang out on the beach until the laundry is done, then we start packing the bikes to head for California.

Morning view from our hotel balcony

While we were packing the bikes one of the locals came up and starting talking. He said he rides and was curious about where we were headed. I told him we were heading for the Redwoods. He starts getting excited and told us about a ride 17 miles from were we were at. HE said to get off US 101 onto Route 197 to Route 199. He said follow it and it will put us back on US 101. It urns out that this is the area where Star Wars was filmed.We thank him for the riding tip and head off. 10 minutes later we arrive in California.

Jamie hooped at the California state line.

We got off at 197 and were in for an amazing little trip. I don't think I can adequately describe the magnificence of the Redwoods, so I'm not going to try.

Stopping for a hike

We parked the bikes to go for a hike in these gigantic trees. Jamie was so excited at the prospect of exploring the woods that she left her bike in neutral, and seeing as we were parked on a bit of an incline, we heard a crash. Sure enough, her bike had rolled back and landed ungraciously on it's side. We got it righted and the bike was fine. Off we went.

Amazing

A little humbling.

See any Ewoks?

After our little jaunt through the Redwoods we were back on 101 heading into Crescent City. We decided to grab a room early and unload the bikes so we could explore the Redwoods National Park in the afternoon without being encumbered by our gear. We found a Hampton Inn on the ocean and they let us check in early, around noon. Kind of unique here, the have a huge wine selection and let you pick out a bottle when you check in. Nice.

Going into the Redwood NP was great. The inland cruising was great but when we got on the ocean side, things were a bit fogged in.

Redwood National Park

We're on the road less travelled now!

Roosevelt Elk lying in someone's yard along the scenic byway.

A couple of young bucs sparring

This was about as close as I wanted to get.

The old bull! He is large!

We found ourselves in and out of the 101 taking all the sidetrips through the redwoods. What a day. Along the way we see an very high number of bicyclist loaded with their gear. It appears to be a very popular ride.

Heading back to Crescent City around supper time we stop for food. I order the surf and turf and much to my surprise, this is what I got.....

I tried, but couldn't eat it all.

Day 10 = 190 miles