BALLE On! The 2007 West Coast Tour

On day 14 we lengthened the ride to make it to a cute little hippie university town called Arcata. Bryan had a friend-of-a-friend, who lives in a co-op house in farmland right outside Arcata. We called ahead and were able to set up our tents in their yard and use their kitchen and bathroom.

Arcata was great. It was a welcome opportunity to shop at the farmer's market. The town was abound with people walking, conversations, children, community, and herbal smoke wafting from cars. We were ready for our daily ride precisely when the Arcata to Ferndale World Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race was beginning.

Derek is back on the road - finally! Bryan, Lisa, and Derek saw about half of the parade out of the town square, and then followed them through Eureka and some Californian farmland.

We have been blessed with several days both before and after Arcata on our bikes taking in the views of the giant redwoods. These massive ancient trees are quite a treat to ride through on the Avenue of the Giants and other side roads off of highway 101.

On our 15th day the weather improved markedly, with sunshine, warmer weather, and drier nights. We were in the right place at the right time when we scored the last camping spot in the beautiful state park! We finally caught up with the Memorial Day campers. We were up at 1000 feet in this beautiful state park and enjoyed hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps for the evening. The girls even went for a morning swim in the clean, not that cold, shallow mountain river, Eel River. A lot of climbing ensued but we got to enjoy the fast curving downhills.

And then it is back to the rugged California coastline and on the tiny Highway 1.