12th May
A beautiful day. I feel confident enough to put the heated jacket in the left hand “won’t be needing that for a while” pannier. I’m on the road, heading south, by 1000, and I’m in California by 1010…
I continue south, through the Redwood forests – at times the GPS loses satellite reception and I get quite cold in the shadow of these huge trees…
I ride past the “Trees of Mystery” museum
The “statues” are of Paul Bunyan, an American folk hero, and his blue ox. Mr Bunyan seems to have been indiscreet in his trousers…
I stop for brunch at Rolf’s Café in Orick – a traditional German café – which serves German food…
…in German sized portions
– Being California, there is a flower as part of the garnish…
As I eat at my outside table, a bird with neon blue plumage steals sugar from the next table...
After finishing the meal (I don’t need to eat again for the whole day – maybe not tomorrow), I carry on down the PCH.
The road wanders inland for quite long distances, often following the Eel River…
I soon leave the highway and ride down the “Avenue of Giants” – truly enormous trees – some are 300’ in height and over two thousand years old…
A few miles further down the road, I find that, even in ‘Green’ California, profit has been put in front of principle and someone has callously exploited one of these 2400yr old trees for a bit of paltry gain – unbelievably, they’ve cut a hole in one and made a road through it…
Well, you can’t pass up a photo-opportunity like that – can you?
Further down the 101, in the town of Willits, I find that the local schoolbus has met an untimely end…
I’m feeling very tired, for some reason (probably not unconnected with eating a half million calorie brunch
), so I search out a Best Western in Ukiah, paying an exorbitant $89 for the night – made worse by $8!! Of ‘Arnold Tax’ – part of Mr Schwarzenegger’s attempt to adjust California’s balance of payments…
A beautiful day. I feel confident enough to put the heated jacket in the left hand “won’t be needing that for a while” pannier. I’m on the road, heading south, by 1000, and I’m in California by 1010…
I continue south, through the Redwood forests – at times the GPS loses satellite reception and I get quite cold in the shadow of these huge trees…
I ride past the “Trees of Mystery” museum
The “statues” are of Paul Bunyan, an American folk hero, and his blue ox. Mr Bunyan seems to have been indiscreet in his trousers…
I stop for brunch at Rolf’s Café in Orick – a traditional German café – which serves German food…
…in German sized portions
– Being California, there is a flower as part of the garnish…As I eat at my outside table, a bird with neon blue plumage steals sugar from the next table...
After finishing the meal (I don’t need to eat again for the whole day – maybe not tomorrow
), I carry on down the PCH.
The road wanders inland for quite long distances, often following the Eel River…
I soon leave the highway and ride down the “Avenue of Giants” – truly enormous trees – some are 300’ in height and over two thousand years old…
A few miles further down the road, I find that, even in ‘Green’ California, profit has been put in front of principle and someone has callously exploited one of these 2400yr old trees for a bit of paltry gain – unbelievably, they’ve cut a hole in one and made a road through it…
Well, you can’t pass up a photo-opportunity like that – can you?
Further down the 101, in the town of Willits, I find that the local schoolbus has met an untimely end…
I’m feeling very tired, for some reason (probably not unconnected with eating a half million calorie brunch
), so I search out a Best Western in Ukiah, paying an exorbitant $89 for the night – made worse by $8!! Of ‘Arnold Tax’ – part of Mr Schwarzenegger’s attempt to adjust California’s balance of payments…
