Day 11...... nature calls

On the coast of California looking forward to a ride through the mighty Redwoods. Its been really chilly the last two mornigs and we had a big debate on what to wear to keep warm. Of course being the macho guy I opted for nothing extra. As they say, "no brain, no pain."

Not one of my better decisions of the trip which is really saying something as I have been a riding bad decision since the first day. Well look for yourself. That just looks cold (and it was for a wuss like me)

At the 28 mile mark we met up with Cheryl for a break. Thank goodness for the water heater in the motor home as I could use it to warm my numb fingers. OK I'm not as macho as I like to think I am. 

In spite of the weather, we put in 45 miles today with a couple of decent climbs. We debated between 30 miles and staying in the Redwoods or putting in 60 and keeping ahead of schedule. Cheryl found a fun RV park at the 45 mile mark so I guess we split the difference!

Upon entering the Redwood forest we decided to do what every 8 year old does and stand in front of Paul Bunyan and get our picture taken. The worst part was actually having to ask someone to take the picture.  Two grown men in tights with San Francisco jerseys on getting there picture taken in front of Paul Bunyan. Hmmmm

The Redwoods really are amazing though and the ride through them was incredible. Greg is the tiny person on the right in the San Francisco jersey (spelled correctly I might add)

We continue to stumble upon these neat places to stay for the night. I use the term stumble (not because of the beer we are drinking) but because we have no idea what we are doing and just decide to stop. This particular RV park had Cheryl sign a waiver that we wouldn't press charges if we saw someone skinny dip in this beautiful lake (huh?) No problem there, but if anyone saw me skinny dip they would probably push for a life sentence. 

As if the giant Redwoods and beautiful lake was not enough nature for one day, there was also a herd of elk crossing the highway out in front of the RV park. Today's experience has been pretty "wild" (not bad eh?).  

Of course chores always need to be done so we decided to catch up on the laundry. We have quite the cribbage battle going on with Greg jumping out to an early lead but I'm in the midst of a comeback winning the last two games. We finished off the night with a wildly competitive game of "go fish" which Greg won handedly.  We are obviously deep into vacation mode now as we took our blue cups into the laundry room and I pulled out the wide brimmed Cougar hat. There's no telling what might happen now. 

Then there was the first bike mechanical problem of the trip. My front derailer needed adjusting. I hadn't done this in a while and with no cell service to pull up a YouTube video (damn!) I was on my own. After a little "trial and error" (thank you Kyle) I think I actually fixed it. 

Tomorrow is an open book (like usual) as we are torn between a short ride to Eureka so we can see another movie or a longer ride and inch that much closer to Willits to meet Krissie. She doesn't arrive until Monday so we are in no hurry. Sounds like movie time!!