Saturday, July 20, 2013

Day 14.....finally made it to Willits.

It's a big day today. We have been pointing to Willits CA for days as this is where we will link up with Greg's wife Krissie (boy is he excited). We left the RV park under blue skies so we expected a warm day but wow it got HOT. The jersey cycle brings us to game day again so I'm a Coug and Greg is a Deav (Greg still not showing the side of his jersey)
We got in 60 miles with 5500 ft of climb. Between the climbing and the heat I had flashbacks of earlier in the trip. Previously  we have never went triple digits but today we hit 100! I went through 8 gatorades and 4 waters (that was before the beer) and I still didn't pee. 


We made one last pass through the Redwoods. These trees are simply amazing. 
We still have lots of open road to cover. Traffic is much less than in and around the Eureka Hell Hole which makes riding a lot easier. One new twist is the addition of rumble strips on the side of the road. We haven't seen too many of these until today. If you hit these with your bike they make your bike rattle bad enough to knock the fillings out of your teeth. But the distance between the edge of the road and the rumble strip is only a foot or two. This can get pretty dicey at times (especially doing 40 mph down a hill). Either you lose fillings, ride in traffic or run off the road into a ravine. The combination of these choices results in major pucker factor.  
Another big milestone today....the first flat tire. Unfortunately it fell upon Greg (but I provided excellent moral support) and I was so impressed with how quickly he changed it. Watching the master at work, I felt like I was watching a NASCAR pit stop. I had a hankering to chug a Budweiser and grab a pack of Marlboros.  Here he is in action (still not showing the side of his jersey). 
So we finally made it to Willits and decided to hang our hat at the world famous Willits KOA. This is no ordinary RV park. I'm trying to decide whether its more like Disneyland or Chucky Cheese. 

It as a little bit of everything (except decent WiFi of course). There is a petty zoo (below) frisbee golf, 4 playgrounds, a train and the list goes on. 
Of course there is a pool and even an old town where there is dancing and Karaoke. 
Its great for kids and families (I even got plowed into by a remote controlled car) but where is the brewery!  Believe it or not, ALL occupants of this KOA are required to wear a wrist band at ALL times. Since Krissie does not arrive until Monday I will be sporting this baby for two days. No joke. 
As for tomorrow we will be hanging out in Willits. We will likely ride about 30 miles to get some miles behind us and have Cheryl haul us back to RV Disneyland. This will shorten the distance to San Francisco.  It's getting closer. Less than 200 miles! (and my butt feels it)






2 comments:

  1. Over 800 miles before the first flat tire; that's pretty good. I thought you were going to make it all the way without a flat. What I remember from our car ride from SF to Willits is that there are essentially no hills to climb the rest of the way (assuming you go 101), only downhill and flat. Tomorrow's the Big Day for Greg. Will be nice to have Krissie on board. Good luck the rest of the way!

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  2. Your adjectives are unbelievable! “major pucker factor,” so eloquent I love it!

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