Berkeley Days

We still had two days of riding before reaching San Francisco. Actually, we planned to stop just short of the Golden Gate Bridge to spend several days with old friends from Atlanta, Keith and Marcia Kreycik in Berkeley, CA.

For Jay, the first day of riding from Gualala to Bodega Bay on CA-1 was much like any other day over rolling terrain with some challenging hills requiring 3,200 feet of climbing. During the ride, Jay stopped at the Fort Ross Visitor Center.  Who knew that Fort Ross was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America from 1812 to 1841?  We need to get out more!

Long Distance Cyclists

Jay has encountered many long-distance, self-contained cyclists, typically young and full of adventure. Today, he met a fellow senior citizen. Steve, 69, is a self-contained rider traveling from Vancouver, WA to San Francisco. Steve's support on his trek was an electric assist bike. His two batteries give him enough “juice” for a 50-mile ride. He charges them each night and begins anew the next day.  Jay shared his "support" was Helen driving the Prius with our gear.

Jay Goes Missing

Helen, who typically sees Jay at the start and end of each day, tracks his progress on an app called Life360. If Jay's icon on the Life360 app keeps moving, he's okay and she's not worried. Today, Jay's icon stopped moving. Cell coverage was quite spotty so there was no quick way to get an update. Helen, who had already reached the end point of the day's ride in Bodega Bay, turned around and began driving down CA-1 looking for Jay. 

On the way, she saw a cyclist coming from the other direction, slowed way down and yelled, “Have you seen a rider in a yellow jacket?” The rider, to Helen's great surprise, responded, “Jay?” It was Steve on his electric assist bike who then surprised Helen again and asked, "Helen?"  He assured her that Jay was okay and resting in Jenner 10-miles down the road. In Jenner, we checked in. Jay then continued riding to Bodega Bay where Helen had booked a hotel with a grassy yard where we lounged in Adirondack chairs looking out over the bay.

The ride from Bodega Bay to Berkely was the last day of Northern California hay and cattle country. After descending a huge hill, farmland changed to coffee shops. Rough country roads changed to well-planned urban bike lands that Jay followed to Imagination Park in San Anselmo. There, Helen sat waiting for Jay in the company of statues of Indiana Jones and Yoda. It is said both characters were conceived in this city. We mounted the bike to the car and drove 40 minutes to the Kreycik’s house, where we spent several days resting, visiting and touring the Berkeley area.

Sailing San Francisco Bay

On our first day with Keith and Marcia we switched our mode of transportation from cycling to sailing. The Kreyciks own a 36-foot monohull sailing boat called Luna in which we spent three hours bounding about in San Francisco Bay. Hardy gusts of wind frequently heeled the boat over to unfamiliar angles and, quite frankly, a bit nerve racking for us landlubbers. Keith, at the helm, was undaunted as we passed under the Bay Bridge to loop around Treasure Island, always within sight of Alcatraz.

The Kreyciks are excellent sailors. Marcia took the helm when we entered the marina. When the sails were lowered, Marcia nursed the electric motor with skillful care and guided the boat perfectly into the marina slip. Once in the slip, she brought the boat to a dead stop as Keith tied up the boat. It was quite a sight to see.

Life in Berkeley

We know Keith and Marcia from our days in suburban Atlanta; they are now Berkeley urbanites. They share their time between living on their boat in the marina and upstairs in the house where their daughter-in-law and grandchildren live. We spent our time with them in that house.

Berkeley has its own eccentric charm. The house we stayed in was first built in 1895, but repeated

renovations have transformed the dwelling to modern standards. An artist has occupied another nearby home for 45 years and has transformed the backyard into a tropical wonderland of trees and plants sharing space with a coy pond, her many sculptures and, of course, a liberal collection of old bowling balls. We're in Berkeley, we are going with the flow. It is hard to fully explain, but it all works to form a quite serene experience in a bustling city.

Even the nearby grocery store, known as The Berkeley Bowl, has its own unique, quirky identity as a former bowling alley turned into a full-service grocery store. There is ample car parking, but in Berkeley there is also room for bicycles converted into cargo carriers.

The most emblematic example of Berkeley's continuous recycling of old to new is Urban Ore.  Urban Ore collects and resells all sorts of urban detritus from clothes, artwork, doors, windows, vacuum cleaners, CDs, bathtubs, and, of course, toilets. Its motto "to end the age of waste" says it all. 

Other trips included a visit to a house on Matthew Street built in the shape of a fish. Helen also got into the Berkeley flow when she joined Keith on a tandem bicycle and Marcia rode another bike to Cesar Chavez Park, the marina, and Fourth Street market, where they looked at some tiny houses on display. 

Golden Gate Bridge

We left Berkeley Sunday morning and resumed our travels south. Jay cycled across the Golden Gate Bridge and continued a 50-mile ride to Half Moon Bay. Before departing Berkeley, Helen searched for Unitarian Universalist churches on our route, hoping someone would offer home hospitality to fellow UUs. Dianne in Half Moon Bay responded quickly and added that she would be attending the theater around our arrival time but said she would leave the key under the front door mat.

We are fortunate that in a denomination as small as Unitarian Universalism, there is a sense of common affection that allows strangers to become instant friends. Diane's daughter in Miami was not keen regarding her mom's decision to welcome strangers into her home. Her mom sent our picture taken at the dinner table with the added comment, "All is well, but you need to send a million dollars in gift cards." Ha! Her daughter's response was, "They look okay." The gift card thing was a long shot.

Marcia in front of the fruit section at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket.

                                           The outside of Urban Ore. It's a huge place!

                         There is an outside section where there are loads of items that don't mind getting wet.

The outside of the Fish House, or Eye of the Sun. Not visible in this photo are some fins on the back side.

In tiny Imagination Park in San Anselmo, there are statues of Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Yoda from Star Wars. San Anselmo claims to be the home of the originators of these two characters.

              

The artist around the corner from Keith and Marcia collected over 200 bowling balls from defunct bowling alleys over a number of years. Many were cracked, but they definitely lent charm to her eclectic collection of ceramic, stone and other materials for outside artwork.

There were strings of ceramic beads hanging from a number of trees.

No mold here . . . these are ceramic decorations.

Plants, found objects and carved art fill every nook and cranny!

Bonus Week

San Francisco is now 150 miles away. This week has been one of slow progress, accumulated fatigue, and a whole bunch of unexpected fun experiences.

Jay’s daily riding mileage typically around 50+ miles has been reduced to 40+ miles. The hilly terrain is the biggest factor. He has also been required to ride long stretches on the “not bike friendly” US 101 which is a four-lane freeway with a median and a speed limit of 65 mph. Road shoulders are sometimes wide and protective; more commonly they are narrow or simply don’t exist. It is a white-knuckle experience when logging trucks, big rigs with their trailers, or long fifth wheel motor homes zip by at or above the speed limit. Yikes!

Land of Redwoods

However, there have also been experiences one can only dream about. Once we reached Crescent City, we began our journey through Northern California’s redwood forests. The long hill climbs are still arduous, but the views are magical. The downside of cycling in redwood forests is that there is no cellphone coverage. We now have a plan to meet somewhere on Jay’s cycling route to reaffirm or update our evening location plans. As Jay entered our meeting point in Orick (a speck of a city), Helen, parked on the side of the road, yelled “Hey sailor, lookin’ for a good time?” or maybe she just shouted “Jay!” We continue to agree to disagree.

Tiny House

Helen secured an Air BnB at a Tiny House in McKinleyville for Tuesday evening’s stay. Finding accommodations during the high summer season has become a journey in itself. With Helen driving the Prius we can work around this problem. At the end of Jay’s ride, we put the bike on the car and drove to the Tiny House located down a number of small country lanes to the top of a very steep driveway. 

The Tiny House was half of a prefab home on wheels that was towed and permanently placed at the back of someone’s yard. It was small but sufficiently comfortable for a one-night stay with a TV, bathroom, stove/oven, sink, couch, and faux fireplace. It was so small you had to go outside to change your mind.

Our next day meeting point was Ferndale, a small town surrounded by cattle and dairy-oriented hay and corn fields. Ferndale is a quaint town with beautiful old Victorian homes and an old-timey downtown. Helen noticed that the Humboldt County Fair was scheduled to start the following day. Events included a pig race. Can’t miss that! More later on the pig race. 

Avenue of the Giants

At the end of the day’s ride, we arrived early enough at our hotel in Rio Dell that we had time to drive a section of the Avenue of the Giants (the giants are California’s majestic redwoods). The “avenue” is surrounded by both private land and the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. On the private 

land, there are trinket and bead shops and redwood-ish based tourist attractions such as House in a Tree in the tiny town of Redcrest. This ‘house’ is a large (20’ across) room carved in the underground remains of a giant redwood felled long ago but still supporting new growth from its root system.

The next day, Jay cycled the full length of the Avenue. The rough road surface in the private lands changed to silky smooth once Jay passed into the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The redwood trees so shaded the landscape that he needed to remove his sunglasses to get a clear view of the road in this environment of tall giants with moss covered limbs. This wonderful world of cycling ended when road construction forced him to detour back onto US 101. Another white-knuckle ride ending with a steep mile long climb. When he arrived at our Garberville hotel, he was worn out.

The Pig Race

As Jay cycled among the “giants,” Helen returned to Ferndale to attend the opening of the country fair. Being the first of 100 people to enter the fair ground, she got an official “Humboldt County Fair 2023” pin. Just before the pig race was an unannounced race of small dogs. One chihuahua stopped to pee before completing the race. Anything can happen at a county fair! Helen “bet” on the pig with the green bandana. Yep, our swine won! Yay! If you make yourself available, any trip is full of unexpected adventures.

Two Days of Rest

Jay had been cycling for eighteen days, typically with a one-day rest after five or six days. We planned to make this a fun trip, but increasing fatigue was starting to take the “fun” out of this journey. He also had to consider that the next 50 miles of his cycling route from the interior to the coast, which was more challenging than anything he had faced before. The route included 20 miles of consecutive hill climbs on US 101 followed by a monster 1,600’ climb for a total climb of 5,000 feet. 

We decided on a two-day break and deployed the Prius on this next section of the bike route. It was a smart decision. The climb, starting in Leggett, was more treacherous than imagined. The 3.5-mile climb was on a curvy road with numerous (maybe all of them) blind turns. There was no shoulder. Just a white line on the edge of the road followed by a drop off the mountainside. The 14-mile downhill ride was another “scare your pants off” experience of sharp turns. 

For our two days of rest, we rented a small camp cabin at the Westport Beach RV Park. Here we had our first chance to walk on the volcanic dark sandy beaches of the west coast and get our feet wet by the cold, rolling Pacific Ocean. An unexpected experience is just how cold summer is along the Northern California coast. People in the RV park walk about in shorts and t-shirts, we wear long pants and don our jackets. 

A highlight of our stay in Westport Beach was a trip into town (at the headlands, which we learned is

a cliff that drops right to the ocean) to attend the annual Westport Volunteer Fire Department’s fundraiser. We enjoyed live music, a vegan Oyster mushroom with carmelized onion sandwich, beer, wine, perusing the craft tables and crowd-watching. A big surprise was the helicopter that circled overhead twice, then landed in the field right next to the event. It was a rescue helicopter from the CALSTAR fire department.

Albion River RV Campground to Gualala Country Inn

We returned to cycling with a pleasant 44-mile ride down CA Highway 1. This coastal highway, so far, has been an enjoyable ride with a smooth road surface and roller coaster like hills that provide some momentum to climb the next hill. As a result, the 3,000 ft of climbing did not feel stressful.

This RV campground is the domain of truck-driving, ocean-going day fisherman. Fish cleaning is common as well as tall tales of fishing exploits lubricated by a bottle of Jim Beam. One afternoon and evening there was enough for us. It was cold and windy, windy, windy. We put up the sides of our canopy to block the wind (we thought we'd need it for the sun). 

In the morning we quickly ate breakfast and packed up, fighting the wind the whole time. Jay was planning to ride to Gualala (pronounced wa LA la), but soon discovered the wind was blowing against him and the fog and mist were thick enough that Helen had to turn on the windshield wipers.  Jay decided this was not a day for riding a bike. We drove to our next stop, the Gualala Country Inn, checked in, settled in, then the power went out. We decided to take a rest and in an hour the power came back on. 

 Everything in its place! We pack the Prius the same way all the time so it all fits.

We had an enjoyable time at the Westport Volunteer Fire Dept. Fund Raiser. 

    This fire truck did double duty as a beer dispensing piece of equipment at the fund raiser.

 There are lots of interesting signs explaining how some things came to be. 

The sand at the beach was black, a first for Helen. Because the water was so cold, Helen was willing to wade out as far as ankle-deep, but no further. There were others on the beach in swimsuits. Not me!

The inside of our cabin was big enough to set up our little portable table, where we ate breakfast because it was too cold outside for us.

I cooked breakfast on the picnic table outside and we took it inside to eat. When I came back outside, I found this little gift for us! 

Now in California

 Jay has now cycled 800 miles. That effort put us in Crescent City in northern California. As we mentioned in our last blog, this cycling trek has been a challenge to Jay. Every day he faces a series of unrelenting hill climbs. This last section from Astoria, OR to Crescent City, CA, required Jay to climb 24,070’ over the rugged Oregon coast. He averages about 50 miles a day climbing over 2,500’ each day. The mileage and terrain have had an impact. When Jay rolled into our hotel in Crescent City yesterday, he was so exhausted Helen had to help him carry his bike up the 18 steps to our room. He now accepts that at 72 years old he has slowed down since his ride from Seattle to Savannah at the spry age of 67.  

Despite the effort, there are vistas and views that one cannot see while zooming down the coast in a car or RV. Unlike the east coast (America One Spoke At a Time: 2021) that Jay rode with Helen’s support in 2021, the Washington and Oregon west coast is free of multi-million dollar estates or boardwalks with cotton candy and salt water taffy. The west coast is a natural environment. We have learned that legislative action was responsible for keeping the coastline free of development. Rather, the west coast is dotted with large beaches and impressive rock formations. 

At this time of year (July and August), this section of the west coast is free of rain with moderate temperatures. In a conversation with a local bike shop owner, we revealed “we are not from around here” when we expressed how cold it was. Temperatures sometimes reach the low 80s, but all this week the high has been 73 during the day, reaching in the mid 40s at night, which is pretty chilly when you’re sleeping in a tent. Jay typically rides with his neon yellow jacket which keeps him warm and gives him higher visibility on the busy US 101. 

The bike shop owner in Bandon, OR shared, with amusement, that they were experiencing a “heat wave.” Beach goers are typically seen wearing hoodies. You don’t know until you go. This trek down the west coast has given us experiences with our fellow travelers that we couldn’t have imagined if we stayed comfortably ensconced on our back deck in Roswell, GA. In addition to Americans and Canadians, we met two riders from France and a family from Israel. 

Jay took Thursday as a rest day in Lakeside, OR. In the local literature, Lakeside was once the “go-to place for the 1930s Hollywood crowd.” That sheen wore off a long time ago. However, we met two lovely people, Dennis and Denise, who opened the Dune Rider Café in April. Dennis is the cook, and he made the best crispy hash brown potatoes we’ve ever eaten! Coffee is $1. Please stop in if you’re ever in Lakeside. 

On that rest day we went to Reedsport, a few miles north, to see the Umpqua Discovery Center. Umpqua is the name of a native American tribe. The Discovery Center exceeded our expectations and more! The center contained beautifully painted dioramas of American peoples experiences. We are so glad we took the time to visit this gorgeous, educational center. 

Sunday we drove by a Pirate Festival in Brookings, OR. Both Jay and Helen stopped (at different times) to see the attraction. Lots of “beads and trinkets” like the midway at any festival, but the vendors were all dressed like pirates! Quite a few of the attendees also dressed up for the occasion. This pirate has a real peg leg. Aaargh!

While in Crescent City we took the opportunity to visit Trees of Mystery in the Redwood National Park. Wow! What an experience! We walked the trails and saw giant redwoods, spruce, Douglas Fir, Hemlock and Red Alder. We walked on the aerial netted suspension bridges that were 50-100’ high and up to 130’ long. We took a gondola ride up to a large observation deck. One tree, a Redwood over 300’ tall and 19’ in diameter, has a name, the Brotherhood of Man tree. There are lots of signs and wood carvings along the trail, and a 5-room museum full of Indian artifacts, and of course, the obligatory gift shop. 

Our lodging, the Curly Redwood Lodge on Highway 101, was built in 1957 from a single giant redwood tree that produced 57,000 board feet of lumber. It is directly across the street from a marina. Last night we thought a neighboring room had a phone that kept ringing and ringing and ringing. We called the front desk and were told that muffled noise was the fog horn at the marina!

The sign in front of our hotel in Crescent City, California, directly across from the marina.

Riding on the gondola at Trees of Mystery

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox at Trees of Mystery

Face carvings at Trees of Mystery

Info about Redwood bark

Helen and Jay

Four foot high fire engine red geraniums in front of the bike shop Bandon, OR

One of several lighthouses along the Oregon coast

In Oregon Traveling South

 

We are now 530 miles into our 1,800-mile trek down the West Coast. Our good fortune has been good weather. It is not all sunny skies, however. Some mornings we find ourselves inside a low hanging cloud, but by late morning the sun either peeks out or takes full control of a blue sky. Another challenge is finding hotels or campsites. August is high season when hotel rates hit the stratosphere. Helen found a potential vacancy at a small hotel in Seaside, OR. When she contacted the property owner, he shared with great encouragement that he indeed had one last vacancy that we could have for $319.00 for a single night. Yikes! Helen continued looking and found an RV campsite for $30.00.

We deployed a strategy for securing a hotel or campsite in this high season, high rates, low vacancies situation. We found a campsite midway on Jay’s bike route. In the morning, Helen drove Jay to his starting point and retrieved him at his endpoint in the afternoon. We got to avoid the high sticker shock of hotel rates and Jay got to ride his full route.

The cycling reviews of this West Coast ride stressed that this route is very hilly. Jay booked 16,221 feet in the first 400 miles. The next 400 miles will require 24,000 feet of climbing. Hills on major roads like Route 101 are long graceful climbs. Others on backroads are sharp, steep climbs requiring Jay’s lowest gear, a firm grip on his handlebars, and very determined strokes on his pedals. As a result, Jay plans to ride between 45 – 55 miles per day, fewer miles than originally anticipated. 

The rewards on this trek are great vistas and wonderful experiences along the way. Three highlights of the past week include going to the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center, camping on a dike at Elochoma Marina in Cathlamet (pronounced cath LAM et), WA and visiting the Tillamook Creamery in Tillamook, OR.  While we were in Cathlamet we ate lunch at The Spar restaurant and bar on Main Street. It’s an old dive where the locals hang out, but we found it fascinating! There were a number of interesting signs on the walls, and they have an electronic juke box! Six plays for $1. The food was so-so, but the atmosphere more than made up for it.

The Tillamook Creamery Visitors Center was recommended to us by our friends Keith and Marcia. We arrived on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 and signs on the doors let us know they were closing at 3:00 that day for a private event. We immediately got in line and spent our 30 minutes waiting to get ice cream. Fortunately, they didn’t kick us out and we had time to sit at a table and eat our delicious frozen confection. 

On Monday morning we packed up our gear at the Paradise Cove RV Park, Helen drove Jay 26 miles to Tillamook where she had picked him up on Sunday afternoon, and then drove two miles back to go to the Tillamook Creamery again. This time she took the self-guided tour, took lots of photos and a couple of videos, and bought some cheese to enjoy along the way. We ended the day at a KOA in Otis, right outside Lincoln City, OR.

         Jay sitting in front of The Spar restaurant and bar.

                                           

We took the ferry from Washington to Oregon.

A sign in a campground restroom. 

       Some people are so creative! These posts were painted to look like minions.

            This David statue replica is at the end of a driveway on Route 101. You never know what you're going to see! 

A typical camp breakfast. 

  

We laughed out loud when we saw this cemetery and recycling center sign!

 The sign on the restroom door at the Spar restaurant and bar.

     

Another sign at The Spar with double entrendres.

  An electronic juke box!

Starting point for Jay one early morning.

 

Beautiful vistas all along the way. 

  We're at the bottom of this map.