Day 10: Crossed the state line. To the place you oughta be.

Day 10:  Arcata, California

Distance for the day: 312.0 km

Cumulative distance: 1,862.8 km

Top speed: 117 kph

Moving average:  73 kph

Temperature: 14.4 - 23.0

I know you must be thinking that riding footloose and fancy free going wherever we want, doing whatever we want... drinking lattes, stopping at fabulous restaurants, the very best campgrounds, visiting places most people can only dream about must seem pretty exotic. You would not be wrong. But Arcata is none of that. 

We are just a few kilometres from the beach, a kilometre off the famed Highway 101, a mere 30 kilometres from Agate Campground, where I had a fabulous stay last September and tonight staying in a reasonable Best Western motel. We had initially set out this morning with a view to camping again but I was tired riding today and it seemed a good rest would go further than anything else. The motel is in a little "motel community" on a nice street not directly adjacent to the highway nor too close to a strip mall but close enough that it is walking distance if we want it to be and where we had a good Turkish meal tonight. What surprised us was the large homeless population around the hotels. When we were checking into the motel, a couple came in just ahead of us on a tandem touring bicycle and they wanted to know where they could safely stow their bike. The fellow at the front desk said they should keep it in their room due to the "transients who would love to get their hands on it". I had read online that Eureka, just to the south, had a problematic homeless population and an exposed bike can be a target, so I didn't really want to stop there. Not sure that there is much security here but it is at least sheltered. Nan asked if we could keep our bike inside the room, too.

We were seen off from the campground this morning by a friendly Canadian with whom we had vistied while we all stayed at Bullards State Park and by two turkeys (not related).

Our hearts wept as we rode by the Bandon Coffee House, wanting to stop in and get a latte but our usual M.O. is to be on the road for at least an hour or more before stopping for food or coffee. In retrospect, judging by the way I felt this afternoon, a coffee would probably have helped me. Even when we did stop an hour or so later I eschewed coffee because I didn't think I wanted yet another thing to make me want to stop and ended up regretting that decision. The greater of two evils.

We were treated to endless displays of dramatic coastline and a couple of times we 

stopped the bike just so we could get a good look, especially for me since I need to keep both eyes on the road when riding and gazing off to see the view can cause problems. 

The only gas bar in the town of Orick.

We stopped in Orick to get gas - there wern't many choices - and we saw this notice on the bulletin board at the gas station/grocery store/ handicrafts store. By the "industrious" Will Will. It was not clear how long his Post-It note had been on the board by I had a sneaking suspicion it could be there a while. It was not clear to us whether the last line was indeed an anxious prospective employer hoping to beat the onslaught of other employers expecting to claim the engaging Will Will. Or if it was some qualification of the type of work Will Will might be willing to accept.