Monday, June 2, 2008

Sunday - June 1st

Dad finally ended up in Leo Carrillo, after riding 77 miles (That included a little side trip). He ended up at his campground to find that the trail to the hiker biker was overgrown. No one was there. It was all overgrown. It was scary, so he decided to go to an RV park that had campsites too. It was going to cost him $60, so he rode back to the original campground. The ride back was amazing, because he got to go by Malibu Beach. It was really wild. He loved it. He ended up paying $25 and got a regular camp site.

Saturday the 31st - Lovin' Santa Barbara

Today was a 43 mile ride to Tarpinteria State Park. The road was really good and there were no hills. Dad fell in love with Santa Barbara. There is a pier that has a bunch of restaurants and a cool ice-cream shop at he end. There were long beautiful beaches. It was a really cool town. He couldn’t check into his campground until four so he went and did his laundry. He had a hamburger in this really cool little shack right next to his campground. He got a little peeved because a fellow piker came and set up his tent right next Dad even though the campground was empty. The man wasn’t very friendly and just sat and drank wine all night long. It was really strange. It wasn’t the best campground, because it was right in the middle of the city and right next to train tracks. There were trains going through all night long. On the upside, he had an apple fritter in the morning from this amazing bakery. It just melted in his mouth.

Friday the 30th - Boring Ride With a Great Ending

Boring ride over a really steep hill. That’s how Dad defined today. He was supposed to go to one campground but it didn’t have hiker biker site, so he rode a little further to Refugio State Park. It was $5 and right on the beach. It was cool to sit there and look at the ocean. It was a hill up and then a fun three mile ride down.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Thursday the 29th - A Very Long Day

Dad rode to Hurst Castle today. He went to the visitor’s center and paid $10 for a piece of pizza and an orange juice. The campground he was planning on staying in was right next to it. It was suppose to be a short ride that day. He ended up going to the next campground in Oceano, making his days mileage 115. Another reason why the ride was long was because he got lost in one of the cities right before Oceana. He traveled down several roads, did a lot of backtracking, and then finally found his way. He ended up gaining a day because he rode to the campground he was suppose to be at the next day.

The Hiker/Biker part of Oceano State Park was right on the beach. Dad didn’t want to take his bike out on the sand or set up his tent in the wind, so he headed back to the main campground. It would cost him $25 to stay at a regular site. The lady told him that a biker had arrived earlier and might want to share his site with him and split the price. Dad found the biker and was delighted to find his fellow biker from Seattle. Dad shared the camp site with him.
Dad walked down the street to have dinner at the Mexican restaurant. He said it was really really good.

Wednesday the 28th - Dad meets a new little friend

Today was a great ride. He rode 61 miles to Cook Creek Campground. It was a real neat campground, because it was right on the water. The ocean was so blue. It reminded him of Hawaii. Unfortunately, it was very very cold. He sat on the beach and watched the sunset. The only downside to the campground was that the water had to be boiled. Dad wasn’t too happy about that.

He was woken up in the middle of the night by some scratching outside. He had seen signs that there were raccoons in the area, so he started making noise to scare whatever was outside away. The noise went away for a little while, but shortly returned. Whatever was outside was messing with one of his bags. All of a sudden he heard it being dragged. Dad jumped out of his tent with his sleeping back around his ankles and ran after his biggest bag being drug by a large raccoon. Dad would have none of this and started down the trail after him. Luckily he got the bag back before the raccoon made it to the bushes. Dad looked back up the path to see the contents of his tent trailing after him. The bag wasn’t damaged and his sacred Disneyland tickets were safe. Dad said that if the raccoon had made off with those tickets he would have made a coon hat by morning.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Latest From the Road…or Not

The first four pictures are from the 26th. That's Seal Cove Lighthouse. He thought it was a cool old-fashion lighthouse. He stayed at New Brighton State Park. There were no signs leading to this campground so it took him a long time to find. After wondering around for a several miles he finally asked where it was. He ended up finding it. A biker from Seattle that he had met a few days earlier was at the same campground. It was nice to see a familiar face.




The last picture is from the 27th. That’s Vet Memorial Park. It’s located almost at the top of a very steep hill. It was hard because he rode all day and had to finish with that hill. He was lucky that he only rode 47 miles that day, so it wasn’t too bad. He met a guy from Britain at this campground. He really liked talking to this guy. The guy had just finished school and got a job offer, but he told them he didn’t want to start until September so he could take this trip.

Most of his ride was through really cool farm country. There were miles and miles of cool strawberry fields. He stopped and bought a box. He said one of the strawberries was as big as an apple. The strawberries were a nice little treat. It was overcast, but 70 degrees.

So Dad sent these pictures a couple of days ago with a really long message. Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand one word of that message. It went along the lines of “……Light House…..long day…..remote…..no electricity or running water………I’m turning my phone off………..I’ll call you later.” So that’s all I have to report until I get a hold of him.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Sunday – Still in San Francisco

He tried to find a place where he could send me some pictures, but didn’t have much luck. He got more chocolate and pizza. Oh, DAD! He really liked the pizza. He went to a Mel’s drive-in like the one on Happy Days. He ordered a chocolate milk shake. He really liked it, because they bring out the cup they make it in too, so you get the extras. They made it with real chocolate syrup. It was real good.
He bought a one pound round (loaf of bread) to eat on his trip the next day. He also bought a container of dark chocolate malt balls. Goods times in San Fran!

Saturday - Here I am San Fran

He woke up on Saturday morning and it was raining. It was the first patch of rain he had and it happened to be on the day he was heading into San Francisco. He had a hard time making it through the small towns to get in to San Fran, but the locals were nice and helped him find his way. His triumphant entry across the Golden Gate Bridge was a bust. It was foggy and rainy, so his pictures didn’t turn out. You could hardly see the bridge. The sad part was that it was sunny by the afternoon. He said he was going to have another go at it on Monday. Hopefully it won’t be as grey.

The first thing he did when he got into town was head down to Fishermen’s Wharf. He bought a bowl of clam chowder. It was good. You can’t get much better than that. He checked into his hotel and then walked back down to Fishermen’s Wharf for chocolate and pizza. He said it was amazing pizza. He loved it! He went the house of blues that night. He paid a five dollar cover charge and got to listen to great music for a couple of hours. He said it was really loud, but the band was great. This was something he had never done before, and had a great time.

Thursday - Just a little too far.

Since he rode a lot the day before, his next campground was only 18 miles away. It was in Bodega Bay. Dad was looking forward to this part of the trip, because that’s where the film the Birds was set. He said it wasn’t as cool as in the movie, and the store was really expensive. He decided to not stay there and went ahead to another camp ground. He ended up riding 65 miles that day. It was a good ride, because he rode inland a little and on the coast a little. He also went on this really cool section of road that is blocked off by a gate at two ends. The road is cut out of a cliff and they have to have the gates to keep people from traveling on it in bad weather. The scenery was cool.

He ended up missing the campground however, and ended up at Samuel P Taylor Park (where he was supposed to be at the next day). It was a cool campground, but he had to spend two days there. On Friday he traveled 10 miles (to Fairfax) the next day to do his laundry and grocery shopping. He lost one of his gloves in the laundry, so he had to buy another set. There were five or six bikers that came in that night (Friday). He was glad he got there the night before. He finished the book he was reading, the Golden Compass. He didn’t say if he liked it or not.

Wednesday – A really long day!

Today was a long day for Dad. He had planned to stay at a campground, but once he got there he decided it wasn’t safe. It was really scary and he just couldn’t stay there. It was a large field of grass that hadn’t been mowed in a long time. The only structure was a school bus with a vwagon bus welded on top of it. It was painted blue. There wasn’t a host in sight. He ended up riding to the next campground making this a 91 mile day. He ended up at a camp ground called Steel Water Cove. It was really windy so it was hard setting up his tent.

A very cool part of his trip was when he stopped in the town of Mendocino . All the buildings where historical and there were dozens of cool shops. He talked to a few old ladies and they recommend that he try the local bakery. He had a blackberry something. He couldn’t remember what it was, but it was really good.

He met a couple from London (going to Tijuana). They were staying at a bed and breakfast. He liked talking to them. The road through this part of the trip was very challenging and he was grateful for his past experience. The roads were steep and it was very very windy. He went up one of the steepest roads he has ever been on with all his gear. He said it was unreal. Once he got to the top, he stopped to look around. A nice guy from Norway was right behind him. They talked for a little while. Dad really liked him. He was a really nice guy.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Day Five!

He really enjoyed the Tuesday ride, because he could see the ocean the whole time. He stopped at a little store in West Port. It was a little shop run by a hippy. There were peace signs all over the place. It was very expensive. Dad thought it was a very unusual store.
He climbed over the Leggett Hills this day. It’s the highest pass on the Pacific Coast (about 2000feet). It wasn’t that bad, but it was long. Going down the other side was the worst part, because it was so cold. He said he killed his breaks and will have to replace them when he gets back. He rode 5 miles that day and stayed at Mackerricher State Park that night.

Monday Monday

Dad loves riding his bike. It just makes him so happy. Look at him. That is one habppy boy.

Not much to report for Monday. He rode 45 miles this day. He ended up in Standish Hickey State Campground. He was the only one in the campground again. He had to travel up a very windy road to get to the there, but he really enjoyed it. There was this little shop along the way that sold carvings made out of redwood. Dad said the little shop was out in the middle of nowhere.

Sunday Ride

Today he traveled down the Avenue of the Giants. It’s a beautiful road that goes right through the red woods. He stopped at a small town and ran into a very weird lady. He was sitting in front of a store making polite conversation with an older gentleman when this lady came up and just stared at him. Then she stared at his bike. She just had this blank stare for several minutes. Dad decided to try and get her to smile, so he said, “Hello.” She cracked a smile to reveal all black teeth. It was just a very creepy moment. Other activities for the day included a cheese factory. It was out in this tiny little town. He said it wasn’t as good as Tillamook.
He stayed at the Marine Gardens that night. There were two men in the campground with him. One was a biker and the other was a homeless man that lived there. Dad said that this homeless man had a guardian angel. There was this gentleman that came up to the campground and brought this homeless man good and coffee. Dad said he was very nice. The man collected shells and gave one to Dad. Dad thought this was very funny.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

First Day On The Road

A large part of his ride was threw farm land. He said it was really neat country. He hit quite the climb when he came out of Crescent City. There is this hill called the Triple Summit. Quite a climb! He stopped in a small seaport called Trinidad. This is a picture of the Trinidad lighthouse. He stopped at the Trinidad Eater and paid $20 for fish and chips, clam chowder, and shrimp. He said it was really good, but not as good as the little boat fish and chip place in Astoria. He said it was a cool little restaurant that was right on the bay. He traveled 65 miles from Brookings to Elk Prairie Campground. He was the only person in the biker campground, so it was really quite.

Friday, May 16, 2008

My last trip to our Beach lot

Last Thursday I rode my bike from just north of our house to our beach lot, its a 90 mile trip and takes me about five an a half hours. I stayed there in our trailer for two nights and Netty came and got me on Saturday night. We tried to dig some clams that night but couldn’t get any after trying for two hours.
It was a good warm-up for my bike trip to LA this May I will be taking three weeks of work to ride down the cost to LA and finishing up at Disneyland. It’s the best of all three things I like riding my bike, camping and Disneyland.

Re-post of an Old Post!

Ready, Get Set, Go!....And He's Off!

Erika here! Dad started at the California border, but road 7 miles back to Brookings, Oregon to stay the night. He stayed at Harris Beach State park where he met a lovely transient lady. You will have to ask him to share that fun story with you. He spent a long time on the beach and took a nice hike. The weather was great and he really enjoyed himself.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Its crazy but someone needs to camp in the rain.




Erika I didn't get the pictures in the right order but I will get better, anyway I stayed here one night them I went up to our trailer at Long Beach and spent the night with Netty and we got up on Saturday and went clamming. The ride over to Long Beach was very cold, the wind was strong and I was hit with hail and snow as I was riding into a head wind along the river.
It's only three weeks before I take my bike trip from Oregon to LA so I went out this weekend for a short trip to make sure I have everything on by bike and to try out some new things I got for camping out on the road. I will be on the road for three weeks because I'm going at this time of the year rain will be my friend for most of the first week and I didn't want to be out there and not have everything I need.


I started in Longview and spent the first night at Fort Stevens state park, the ride went OK but it was cold and I got rained on but not to bad. It was worth it because I stopped for lunch at Bowpicker's where you can get the best Fish & Chips on the Oregon Coast. They only offer two things three or five piece serving of fish& chips.










I not only like to be out on my Bike, but sometimes I spend time in the kitchen making cookies but this time I was making Easter eggs with Kari. I think I wouldn't have to ride bike so much if I did this and made less cookies.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Sunday, March 2, 2008

I have our trailer here now put the pic. did come out but I will ride my bike down here next week 119 miles.

The Future Home Site

The Future Home Site
Its not as bad as it looks

My Ride To The Beach

My Ride To The Beach
There are not two Seagulls alike