Ride the Skunk Train

Today we're in Fort Bragg, CA. Their biggest attraction is the Skunk Train which takes tourists over the mountains for a small fee--luckily their town is a tourist hot spot and it's a beautiful California Saturday. Lately the winds have moved in which made the last 16 miles before this town very difficult. After Leggett we switched roads and are now on Hwy 1, a curvy 2 lane road with little shoulder and thankfully light on traffic. At the start of 1 was the highest point on our trip at 2000 ft. The climb was not so bad and the downhill was awesome, but the second hill at 790 ft was tough. Our campsite after these two beastly hills was right on the ocean (beautiful sunset) but the winds were howling so it was not very peaceful.

I have two big firsts to report: first hotel stay and first fall off the bike (no injury). The former was in Garberville. We rolled into town and I had a little sore throat. After checking the town out I was feeling crummier by the minute, and Matt was starting to feel it too, and we decided to take the plunge and stay in a hotel. Of the 5 in town we stayed at the economical Redwoods Inn, a more than adequate place to relax and watch TV. Amazingly it was also the night of the presidential debates, the first town-hall style debate, which was a bonus to see. We are both sniffily but feeling tons better.

The fall happened yesterday on the way into Fort Bragg. I just caught the edge of the pavement and the shoulder was quite soft, and my bike fell! It happened quickly but I was up in a heartbeat and no injuries to myself or the bike. Nice save!

Last night we stayed at a State Park campground and we camped with 12 other bike tourists! It was fun to hear everyone's tale. There was another couple that has done pretty much our exact trip down to the hot springs in Olympic National Park!