Day 2 started out early again, 6am. I am not a morning person. It must be that we are both so excited for today's adventure!
I woke up in a squeeky, old, brass bed with the overcast sunlight coming through the lace curtains. The sounds of big rigs and their jake brakes polluting the gentle crash of the ocean waves. The ancient hardwood floor squeeked and cracked under my foot. I dawned my robe, which was itchy beyond belief, probably from being washed too many times, and headed for the claw foot tub for a bath.
I am not a bath person. I want the minimal amount of me touching the tub or shower surface. It feels dirty even though the surfaces at a hotel or, in this case, a bed and breakfast, are most likely cleaned daily. Still, I endured and by the end of it I was clean and that was the point.
Blog posting was originally set to happen the night before but a strange combination of tiredness and a sense of adventure took over. So, I sat in the parlor and wrote after my awkward bath. Guests walked by and said hello. I explained what I was doing and people more or less left me alone, which was good!
Breakfast bell rings, oh crap, I'd better get those pictures loaded and publish this thing! Whew, all done as I sit down to eat with 10 strangers for a formal 6 course breakfast. My hair is wild and I'm just wearing jeans and a Long Way Round t-shirt while everyone else is nicely dressed for the occasion.
Each course was very tasty but the highlight of the morning was the conversations we had with complete strangers. Strangers I felt very at home with and who shared stories of their travels, their children, their marriages (after they learned we were on our honeymoon), and other random small talk. In hindsight, I feel a little disappointed they couldn't come on our adventure with us but adventure looks different to everyone.
It is 10:30, breakfast is over, and there are many miles to cover to our next loosly planned destination. Hurried packing and hasty goodbyes and we are on the road again. Destination California!
We stopped for lunch in Bandon at a little train themed American food restaurant called The Station. Ate a giant but mediocre tasting burger and left.
Man, there are some amazing views and even better stretches of windy roads past Brookings! Holy cow as you cross into northern California the roads are just magnificent! Beautiful views of the ocean, tight twisties, and long swooping corners. Heavenly motorcycling!
We stopped at the Tour Through Tree redwood drive through tree attraction. It was a very small operation. It's funny, in my imagination it was going to be set in this vast forest of redwood trees with a fun ride down a moss covered road with lots to see. In reality, it was a little booth with a cute old lady talking your ear off and you can't hardly understand her because of the sound deadening earbuds in our ears and helmets over the top of that and the cars on the freeway whizzing by. She finally stopped talking and we headed up a very short but steep driveway to a U-turn and a lone redwood with a car sized hole chopped into it.
I felt sad for this tree. If we hadn't this odd desire to drive through a tree for no good reason it would have lived a normal tree life. Instead, we hacked it to pieces for nothing other than a novelty. Kris set the camera on a nearby fence and set the timer, ran back to her bike with only seconds to spare, and we got some pictures then headed on down the road.
We continued to ride until we hit the first sizable town, Eureka California. My first thought, this place is a dump! Sorry if anyone reading this is from Eureka and I'm offending you. It's just, not a nice place.
We found a hotel, checked in, unloaded the bikes, and walked over to the nearby Mexican restaurant called Rita's. The food was good but we were both completely exhausted. Back to our room and we fell asleep by 10.
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