Day #10 and Day #11

Day #10 Gold Beach to Redwoods Youth Hostel
The ride on Day 10 took me to the Southern tip of Oregon where the scenery still holds its own and does not disappoint. In the morning I left Gold Beach and rode up a big, big hill. When I got to the top I thought my typical big hill is over thought, "you ROCKED that girl!"

I stopped in Brookings, OR for some fish and chips and an ice cream sundae. I debated the sundae, but figured that it was ok. And then a few miles after lunch I came across this fantastic sign!
Oh yes, I successfully crossed in California! I had planned to stop in Crescent City for the night, but upon arriving there I decided that it was NOT a place that I'd want to stop. It was pretty run down and not that friendly. So I took my chances and rode on. The road started to go up. "Ok, I can do this!" I thought to myself. The road continued to go up. And up. And up 1200 feet above sea level. And reading those numbers on a screen might not mean much, but let me just tell you - it was a wicked tough hill. A long one. It went up more than I have ever seen a hill go up before. And then it went up some more. And finally when I thought that maybe this would be the first time on my trip that I sat down and cried, I pushed on and eventually...started to go down. And what did I find at the bottom of the hill?The Redwoods Youth Hostel. Awesome. Totally awesome. There was a 100 plus years old house that was built by settlers in California. And it had been turned into a hostel. Where I booked a bed, cooked dinner, and promptly fell asleep at 9 pm.
Day #11 Redwoods Youth Hostel to Arcata, CA

Today was a moderate day that took me from the hostel to Arcata where I'm now staying with Beth! Her house is super cool, as is the town of Arcata. On my way I passed through the Redwoods National forest. Incredible. The forest is magical. The trees are...bigger than any trees I've ever seen before.

This is a whole new part of the country that I've never experienced before and it's amazing! The next few days will take me up and over a huge hill, and then down closer to the Bay area. I expect to be in San Francisco in about six days! I'm looking forward to the places that the road will take me until then...