A Change of Pace

A view from the gravel road 

My home for two days

Elk along the road 

Hundreds of sea lions on the rocks

 Elk pruning a homeowner’s tree After a great night’s sleep in the beautiful redwood forest we headed to our next town. We are going to have a rest day in Arcata, CA. We only had a 46 mile day and we rode most of the way there on back roads and bike trails. Some of the riding was on gravel roads that were in poor condition. There were a few steep climbs up gravel paths. Many people hated this but I felt at home on these roads. I’d rather ride like this than on a highway where cars are whizzing by my shoulder at 60 mph. Also the roads took us close to the coast where I could view sea lions and surfers. While inland we saw herds of elk. It was truly a great ride. We arrived in Arcata in the early afternoon. It was a little disappointing to learn that the church we were staying at was 3 miles from town, however, we’ve been using the local taxis to ferry us back and forth. We don’t like parking our expensive bikes in a town so a shared taxi or Uber ride is well worth it. After getting a lift into town and doing a quick load of laundry a group of us went to dinner at a great restaurant named Humbolt Pie, where they served 15 different types of pot pies. Everything was delicious. It was so good that I’ll probably return there again tonight. I’m now waiting to join a health club using my Silver Sneakers membership. I plan on swimming and enjoying the hot tub. Life is good.