Six Wheels: September 27 – October 2

Monday, September 27. Question: When are we happiest not being on two wheels? Answer: Days like today!

“The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play, so we sat in the pub on that cold, cold wet day. I sat there with Sharon, we sat there we two. I said, ‘How I wish we had something to chew.” Too wet to go out, too wet to play ball, so we sat in the pub, we ate pretzels and all. And all we could do was to eat, drink, eat, drink, and we liked it a lot, not only a bit.”   – The Cat in the Hat (Dave and Sharon style

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Tuesday, September 28. Irrational optimism reigned supreme this morning. Surely, the sun will shine today and allow us to combine biking with some hiking in the Redwoods of Jedediah Smith State Park. That worked right up until it didn’t. We hadn’t even gone a mile when the rains came. Back to camp. An hour later we decided a drive would be nice. Good call as it rained on and off . We still managed to sneak in three lovely hikes.  I can share pics and use a thesaurus worth of synonyms to describe the redwoods…but really, you just need to see them for yourselves.

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Wednesday, September 29. Once again we turned to the Konas to experience the redwoods. We found a loop that included a coastal hiking/biking trail and a scenic highway. The coastal trail was definitely more hike than bike, and became a full body workout. We ended the day though having seen a remote stretch of coastline, elk, and more of the amazing redwoods.

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Another highlight of the day was meeting Ann. An experienced rider,  she is making her way from home in Port Angeles down the coast as far as  time and desire allow. After chatting a bit, we agreed to camp together a few miles down the road at Patrick’s Point. Ann’s suggestion was brilliant. The views were amazing. In spite of the damp and cold, we stayed up way later than normal, talking and trading stories.

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Thursday, September 30. Travel day. Left the coast and headed inland through Redding and Sacramento on our way to South Lake Tahoe. Lots of evidence of the fires that ravaged this area as well as beautiful areas that deserve more exploration.

Friday, October 1. Twenty-nine degrees this morning. Summer, it seems, is well and truly over. Not to be deterred, we donned our down and set off down (or in this case – UP) the road to an overlook high above Lake Tahoe. The lake lives up to the hype. As much as we enjoyed the overlook, and the climb to get there (not), the boats seemed like the better option for enjoying Tahoe. We chose…wisely. An added bonus of biking and a few hours on the water was a healthy appetite. We continued our Great Western Pub Crawl with a visit to the Lake Tahoe Aleworx. Excellent pizza and pints.

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Saturday, October 2. Forty some years ago when I left Prudhoe Bay, I never imagined some day I would return to the Slope. During that original summer I met the most amazing person I’d ever encountered. Suzanne embraced life and adventure like no one I had ever met. I was inspired by her generosity and openness to life. For a few years after that summer, we kept in touch. She and her partner (and eventual husband John) would send the occasional postcard from Fiji, or Skagway, or some other far flung location. As happens though, we eventually lost touch.

On Saturday, we had a happy reunion at Suzanne and John’s home thirty minutes from Lake Tahoe. Not surprisingly, they had spent a lifetime working and traveling the world. It was such a joy sharing stories and finding that time has not diminished their adventurous spirit in the least.

We ended the day in Reno. Tomorrow Sharon will be leaving to spend ten days with her folks. For the past six months, we have been together 24/7. It will be a bit odd wandering around northern Nevada on my own. Not sure yet what I’ll do…the no plan plan is firmly in place. I look forward to finding out along with all of you where this road leads. Until next week…STC!