Day 16 - Magnificent!

Captain's Log - Day 16 - Magnificent! 238 miles - 3994 total!

[Will be posted later due to a slow internet connection]

Alright. What would you do if every time you looked in the mirror you saw a lizard looking back at you? Really, what would you do?

That is what is happening to me. My new helmet is super comfortable - I mean to tell you my head has not itched one time on this trip. I mean it, NOT ONCE! Dawn and I picked up a couple of GMAx helmets before leaving on the trip. Mine is a GMax 17S and it truly is a very comfortable helmet. Good airflow through it for ventilation, the visor and shield swap out with ease, etc., etc. BUT... I take the helmet off and I have what looks like dual rows of lizard bumps running from front to back on my head! Now they have become permanent! [or so it seems, haha] I suppose that I will be able to live with it. Dawn thinks it's funny - go figure!

So today we left Redding, CA, just after 9am and pointed Black Beauty west. We started out on 44 west then quickly jumped onto 299 west toward Eureka. Simply put, another great motorcycle road! Twists and turns galore! We ran into a few construction areas that had us stop three times, but we never waited more than five minutes before we were rolling again.

We ran into a small group of friends that were headed for the coast to spend the week camping. They were all from the same church in Redding and were already experiencing blessings and answered prayers! Way cool. We chatted for a while and they asked lots of questions about our Great Adventure. It was really nice meeting them and talking with them. I know, I know, "there he goes again - talking to strangers!" I can hear Jackie now, "Dad! You don't even know those people!" Well, Jackie, I do now. Haha. Hope you guys have a great week of blessings on the coast with your families! God bless!

So not long after leaving the rest stop and talking with those folks, we came across this pull off and decided to stop for some pictures. This is the Trinity River in CA, which was flowing next to Route 299 for quite a distance. It was this really cool shade of blue-green and really clear! There were fishermen up and down the river but it was flowing so fast, I don't know how they could have caught anything.

We talked with a couple Canadian bikers at a rest stop along 299 and they were really friendly. They were experienced riders and log thousands of miles a year on various adventures of their own and they offered some suggestions of roads to try out. Of course, we all came to the same conclusion - there could never be enough time to ride all the places we would like to see! They definitely agreed that Crater Lake is a must see! Jerry was the first to highly recommend that, and he was right on with the Durango-Silverton Railroad so off to Crater Lake we go!

Anyway, after quite a ride on 299, we hit the Pacific Highway 101 and headed north. When I got a chance to jump off on a public beach, you know that I couldn't resist! Oh, what a feeling! Did you know that I love the ocean?


We ran into a guy at this beach who lived in the area and claimed to have personally seen five bigfoots - he was quite serious. He told us that the last one he saw was within 30 feet from him. When it saw him, it grunted and took off running. In just three strides it was moving at about 30mph and bounded up a huge incline with no problem! When I asked if he had gotten any pictures of them, he said no. It seems that he never had a camera while he was out looking for them. Seems unfortunate. I think he was hinting that he could be a guide to go find a bigfoot or something. Yeah, right!




Dawn said the water was freezing! I walked in it and it wasn't freezing, she is a bit crazy. It was a chilly ride again today, so she put on the chaps for a while but was confused as to why they felt funny and were long enough that she was walking on them. That's right, she was wearing mine! Sometimes I have to worry about that girl! I'm gonna keep her though, so Mel, you don't have to worry about getting her back. Haha.






The Redwood Forest. Simply magnificent! It is so hard to capture how big and majestic these trees are but we gave it a try. Check out the video, "Swallowed by a tree." Maybe that will help give you a feeling of how huge these things are!





Quote of the day: Dawn was talking to a couple from Michigan and they asked how much longer it would take to get around the Lady Bird Roosevelt hiking loop. Dawn said, "I don't know," then pointing her thumb at me said, "he's like a dog. He has to stop at every tree... to take a picture!" Haha - real funny, Dawn, real funny!

So, if you consider how big the base of the tree is that Dawn and I are standing in front of, then look at this stand of redwoods you might start to put the image together in your mind. The redwood groves here are simply humongous! With all the ferns and undergrowth it seems very prehistoric. In fact, many of the ferns grow four feet high or so and the rhododendrons grow like trees well above my head. Crazy! But definitely cool.

"Swallowed by a Tree!"

[Will be posted later due to a slow internet connection]

To cap off the day, we got to see a bunch of Roosevelt Elk in the parks meadows. They really don't pay a lot of attention to people so it was kind of like seeing the elk in Pa., but hey, I got to see some wild Roosevelt Elk! They are beautiful creatures, especially when they are still in velvet.


God is good all the time. He has richly blessed this Great Adventure from the very beginning right down to the smallest of details. Tonight we are staying at the Travelodge in Crescent City, Ca., and the owner/manager is simply fantastic! She told us that the weather has been crummy the past couple days with really high winds, but today was great. In fact, all the way through the mountains was really nice. No surprise, really, God has done that for us all the way across.



And His creation - WOW! Tomorrow? Crater Lake. The adventure continues!