Eureka to Burlington Campground, California

Avenue of the Giants

Sunday, May 11, 2014
Eureka to Burlington Campground, California
53.5 miles

Happy Mother's Day to Nanna and Grandma!  We are thinking of you.

We hate to bore you with long winded descriptions of food, but after a few days on a cycle tour food quickly becomes your main focus.  You are always hungry!  So today, we were thrilled to begin our day with an amazing Mothers Day breaky at the Best Western.  We lingered over eggs, bacon, sausages, fresh fruit, yogurt, orange juice, coffee, waffles.....what a way to celebrate Mothers Day and better yet, what a way to load up before the cycle ahead!

As we left Eureka we faced a long, flat stretch and being Mother's Day my mind wondered and I was soon thinking of my "babies" - well, not quite babies any more.  We are so proud of our "munchkins" and so excited about the paths they are taking.  I must confess that often when my legs are screaming and my lungs are bursting, I think of the "kids" and it inspires me to push on just a little further.

We had three chances to get off US 101 today and we excitedly took each and every opportunity.  We visited the little towns of Loleta (famous for cheese), Ferndale (a Victorian village) and Scotia (an entire town constructed by the Pacific Lumber company).  Ferndale was by far our favourite.  It is a quaint tourist town and many of the old Victorian houses have been preserved.  We did pay a price for our visit to Ferndale as the side trip added 11 extra miles to our route and some mean hills.

Victorian town of Ferndale, California

As the afternoon wore on, Rob's bike began to make "interesting" sounds.  We became quite concerned and pulled out at a view point to do some basic bike maintenance on the chain and pedals.  We never did discover the source of the "interesting" sound, but the bike does seem to be running smoother.  I was ready to accuse him of mashing, but I kept my thoughts to myself as we were many miles from a bike store.

roadside maintenance outside of Scotia, California

We finished our day in Humboldt Redwoods State Park riding along the Avenue of Red Woods - an incredible 31 mile scenic roadway through 51,000 acres of Redwood groves.  Today, was sunny and dry.  We tried to photograph the effects of the sun shining through the redwoods, but truly pictures can not do it justice.

Our campsite is in the Redwood grove, and our tent is nestled amongst these amazing trees.  Tonight we will be sleeping with the giants.

Sleeping with the Giants - Burlington Campground, California

Giggle of the day:

As we were cycling along the Avenue of the Giants, a little fox popped out of the forest, stopped dead in his tracks, gave us a good luck and then disappeared back into the forest.  This led to Rob singing, "What does the fox say" for the next 10 miles!  For the record - the fox didn't say anything.