Sept. 6 - Redwoods, Elk and New Friends

Elk Prairie Campground to Eureka KOA Campground

Monday  - September 6
We woke early to a cold, clear morning with just a little fog over the prairie.

It warmed up a bit when the sun finally hit our tent site. We indulged in hot drinks and a Clif Bar for breakfast #1 and visited with our bear box mate Brian hoping for more warmth. 



Brian is between jobs and not sure what is next but he is definitely hoping that the wind dies down today. He is moving back to Portland from Orange County. His parents met him in San Francisco to drive his car north while he rides to Portland. This last couple of days have been challenging with the stiff headwind (our delightful tailwind!)

The elk for which the campground is named - it reminded us of Yellowstone as there were so many cars stopped along the road to take pictures. It was an impressively healthy looking herd - 4 big bulls and 20 cows and calves.

Steve, Dick, Bob, and Artie are from Vancouver, WA on a bike club trip also headed to San Francisco. We met them last night and they invited us to have Breakfast #2 with them at the Palm Cafe in Orick. Erica joined us there. She is from Newark, NJ and it headed to SFO for a meeting.......this is just a "little" side trip. The conversation was lively and the food was really good and we didn't get going again until 11:00!

We stopped at a little market on the way out of town to pick up lunch stuff. We had a nice little tailwind, very little traffic, and beatiful scenery so the miles just melted away.

We were pretty sure this sign wasn't really for us. We would fall over if we went too much slower!

We decided not to take the Patrick Point road but stay on Highway 101. The shoulder was wide and smooth and the traffic was reasonable, especially considering that it was Labor Day. We pulled into a rest area just norh of Trinidad to have lunch. While getting a picture of an artistic trash can by the bathroom, Donna noticed this model train. She decided to ask about it and it turned out to be a delightful encounter. This is John Felt, brother of Jim Felt of Felt Bicycles! He is a machinist by trade and built the whole thing himself at 1/8" scale.

The engine is a work of art and strength as it can pull cars carrying up to 20 adults! It is only 24" high and about 5 feet long.

This is where John sits when playing engineer.

More of the ubiquitous pampas grass that we've seen on the roadside.

At KcKinleyville, we left 101 for a bicycle detour that led us to a rails to trails conversion. The route wandered through a very rural agricultural area before connecting back to 101 in Arcata.

We crossed this river on an old railroad trestle that is part of the trail.

In Arcata we stopped at an RV park store to get some ice cream. It was a good stop as they had a local map with roads that allowed us to avoid a couple more miles of 101. Just before we reached the next interchange, Chris caught up with us and offered to be our guide to the KOA on a route that eliminated even more freeway time. We gladly took him up on the deal. He came to Eureka 30 years age to go to Humbolt State and never left. Just after we parted company at the KOA exit, Bob and Artie showed up at our side so we all zoomed across the 4 lanes of highway together.

The hiker/biker section of the KOA was totally separate from the rest of the campground and right next to the store, laundry room, restrooms and showers....a veritable bike tourist paradise........

....though it is was a bit shady early in the evening. We cooked dinner in the microwave in the Kamp Store then joined the 4 guys for dinner and more interesting conversation. A great day except that Donna discovered that she had left her toiletries bag in the bathroom at the campground this morning. Unfortunately it has her ring and favorite earrings in it. She left a message on the Park's voicemail in hopes someone turned it into the campground host.

Wildlife sighting today (besides the elk) was a bald eagle in one of the lagoons.The sound of the day was a cow elk's bleating call.
Today's miles = 46.9
Total miles - 91.1