San Francisco, California

August 7th - August 13th, 2012

Fort Bragg to San Francisco to San Jose to Pacifica to Oakland to Redwood City to Berkley to San Francisco to Fort Bragg... 570 miles driving.

It's been almost two summers since Blake and I had our trip down the West Coast. It feels like a dream again as I discuss this adventure with new people I meet who ask me how I ended up in Dana Point,  California. But NO ONE else has this story to tell. Let's get back to our West Coast adventure in the summer of 2012!

Blake and I were staying in Fort Bragg, California, waiting for the next move. A week into switching between camping spots and motels our friend, Beth, was heading out of town to see family and asked us to take her to the San Francisco airport and keep her car until we picked her back up a week later. So 2 am on a foggy night in the northern California town we packed up our tent and gear, locked up Pearl, the Honda Ruckus I had, and packed into Beth's Jeep for the four hour drive south to the big city. The road out of Mendocino County was narrow, windy, and surrounded by huge red wood trees. Just as the sun was peaking over the horizon we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. Blake and I sent Beth off and headed back into the city. It was too early to check into the hostel we had found so we parked in the Albertons parking lot, blew up the air mattress in the back of the car and tried to shut our eyes for a while. After the failed attempt of a nap we headed to the Green Tortoise Hostel in downtown San Francisco and checked in.

 Neither of us had been to San Francisco before this trip so we headed right out and started walking in any direction we could. The vast differences between blocks in the compacted city were extroidinary. We'd be in the dence business district, then the museum district, then Chinatown, then Little Italy, then the Wharf. I'm pretty sure we ate at every bakery SF had to offer us! Pastries and coffee and bread bowls with clam chowder...

One of the problems we ran into in the larger cities during the summer was that the campsites, hostels, and motels were sold out because of events. The week we were in SF there was a huge music festical going on in Golden Gate Park and everything was either sold out or over-priced. Because of this we had to move around every night and scavanger for a place to stay. Once we checked out of the hostel we headed south to San Jose. I wanted to check out the Winchester Estates I heard about from a friend in Santa Fe, NM. The tour was incredible and informative but it was long and we were beat by the time we got out. From San Jose we headed to Pacifica to find the last room in town at a motel. The next day I cleaned out Beth's Jeep and we headed into Oakland. I still to this day feel like we should not have been there. Not just because I am a born and raised Broncos fan, but also because we had no idea where the "good" and "bad" neighborhoods were. I'm pretty sure we picked a "bad" motel to stay in for the night and that's because it was the cheapest we could find. We were in this hideous room with bright pink walls (yes, all four of them) and no air-conditioning. It was too hot to go outside so we just got food and watched Harry Potter in our hotel room.
We were able to go back to the Wharf on the last day and celebrate Blake's 24th birthday (even though he was sick, again.) We had a picnic in Ghiradelli Park, fed the birds, and people watched. I stood in the long line at Ghiradelli's for a well-worth-it chocolate covered strawberry and got my mom some chocolates and sent them her way for her birthday.We were waiting for Beth's plane to land and head back to Fort Bragg. It ended up being another long crazy night because she thought she was landing in Sacramento so we headed over the Bay Bridge again towards Sacramento but then her flight was changed and she ended up coming into the San Francisco airport so we headed back over the bridge, to the airport, picked her up at 1am and then headed straight up north for the four hour drive back to FB.

Dream Big, Ride Far! 

Welcome to California

July 23rd - 28th

Bandon to Gold Beach, Oregon to Cresent City to Arcata to Eureka, California...193 miles.

While Blake and I were still in Bandon we rode around the neighborhoods on the moped together. We wanted to explore some of the towns we were in, and jumping on Pearl together was the quickest way to do that.
Yesterday I recalled those little trips together because we had to get something done and jumped on Pearl for the first time since our trip ended. It was rainy and moist out and we were both wearing our rain jackets that were always out while we were coming down the coast. All the memories of riding on the back of the moped with Blake came flooding in and despite riding 40mph in the rain on a cold morning, it was sentimental.

 *These logging trucks were a nightmare. They were huge, loud, fast, and frequent the entire time down the coast. I'm glad I got a picture of them because they were very much a part of the trip. 

 *Stopped for construction, this guy on his bike offering ME water... so sweet. 

In Gold Beach we stayed at a little cottage-type motel. We walked into town and grabbed dinner. In the morning I went for a run on the beach and Blake made breakfast. This day was the day we'd ride into California! The state border was about half-way down the coast.

*SUCH a stud.

I feel more emotional about the moment we got to California because after living here for now eight months (not including the month on the road) I know that I love California. I know that crossing that state line on that day in July we had no idea what was ahead of us. We didn't know if we'd even settle down in this state. We didn't know that we'd make it nearly all the way through it. NorCal could be it's own state. It's so drastically different then the south. The people, weather, buildings, roads, atmosphere, and beaches are all so different. It took us less then one month to get through Washington and Oregon and we weren't looking back!

We stayed in Crescent City for three days! The first time we stayed anywhere for that long. Blake needed to rest his body and I needed to rest my anxious brain. We set up camp at a large campground next to the water and chilled out! The fog was heavy and quiet. We saw two movies at the theater, ate sushi, grocery shopped, explored, and rested in the tent. There was nothing special in Crescent City other then the campground being decently priced and quiet and it being a home base for a quick day trip into the Redwoods. Blake rode his bike and I took the moped in, wanting to avoid getting pulled over. At one point we just locked up the bike and rode throught the giant green trees together on Pearl. With a  lunch packed and hiking trails to explore, we were happy to not be on the road travelling. This was the first time either of us had seen the Redwood trees. Talk about putting your ego into check. They were monsters. I imagined George Lucas seeing them and envisioning "Return of the Jedi." Riding on my moped felt like I was riding through the trees zipping by like they did in Star Wars. Jurassic Park was also filmed in these woods located in Northern Humbolt County, California. Being in it felt dense and dark. You feel so small in the world when you have to crank your neck all the way back just to see the tops of the trees. It was incredible.

Aracata, California...The first hippies and palm trees I saw on this trip. Before I left Santa Fe, a friend told me we would love Arcata and he was right. It's like Santa Fe, NM, Manitou, CO, and California combined. There was a farmer's market going on when we arrived. We grabbed some bakery foods and produce and explored the little town. There we saw a group of biking tourist hippies putting on a music show in the park. I got a few crafty items and sent them home. We ended up having to ride to Eureka to find a place to stay for the night.

Thanks for reading about this trip we took last summer! It's hard to believe we are one month shy of 1 year leaving everything behind in Colorado.

Dream Big Ride Far!