Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Patrick's Point State Park to Fortuna, CA



Greetings! This morning we delayed a bit in leaving our campground... Albrecht, our German bicycle-mechanic friend, was out quite early, but we decided to stay and go on a hike to try to see some sea lions, which we could hear barking. We never really made it to the sea lions, but we saw some amazing scenery. The light was absolutely gorgeous.



We left the campground around 9:30 and did a short ride into Arcata, which was so charming that we decided to spend the afternoon relaxing there. We had lunch at this amazing bistro called Brio, which had the most amazing almond croissant I have ever eaten. Chad really enjoyed the coffee!



After lunch, we hit up a bike shop to stock up on GU and powdered drinks for the big climbing days coming up, and I found a cute wrap skirt at a little import store. Turns out that the wrap skirt is a VERY convenient camping clothing peice-- it can go on over anything and is very comfortable and flowy! Finally, we did our grocery shopping at the Arcata food co op, which was incredible. The biggest natural foods selection we've seen on our entire trip, and very eclectic clientele. Great people watching!

We left Arcata in the late afternoon to see if we could make some time and get south of Eureka. Rather than getting back on the busy 101, we went along the water, on a less traveled road, that went across the bay. It was slightly foggy but also a little sunny-- absolutely incredible scenery.

We wound up in Fortuna, CA for the evening at an RV park called Riverwalk-- a little more expensive than the hike and bike's we've been staying at, but they had a HOT TUB. We jumped in as soon as we got there, and it was one of the nicest luxuries we've yet experienced. A better value than Econolodge for sure!

Today's stats: 51.1 miles, 11.1 mph, 1502 feet of climbing.

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