PCH Day 6

Today started off with fog rolling in. in fact, we spent about 180 miles in cold fog today. This is what we woke up to...

And...it took nearly 2000 miles but we finally ran into some wildlife. These two were in the parking lot of our motel.  The only other wildlife we have seen was a fox that ran across the street infront of us a few days ago.

So....Today was more of the same old boring coastline punctuated with rocks...

With the fog it felt like the temps must have been in the high 40's as we continued southbound on the 101.  We stopped at Whales Head beach and snapped a few pictures and then continued on our way. Because of the fog, they actually look black and white.

Ang in her leather bikini on the beach

We crossed the border of Oregon into California and it was nice to be out of that state.  The state is pretty but they do things a little weird there. Anyway, last night I talked to a guy in the parking lot of our motel who was riding a BMW. He told me about a restaurant in Crescent City California that he always stops at when passing thru and recommended we have breakfast there.  It was about 50 miles from where we stayed last night but it seemed like a good idea to try it.

We finally reached the Chart Room and took a table next to the window looking out over the harbor. The view was nice but would have been better had there not been any fog. The service and the food were terrific so I would say following the BMW guys advice was a good idea.

Crescent City harbor, where the Chart Room is located, was hit by a tsunami back in March following the devastating earthquake in Japan.  They had before and after photos in the restaurant.  The harbor was severely damaged and they suffered million of dollars worth of damage.  I felt sorry for the locals here....

After a late breakfast we continued on our way.  We reached Eureka CA and stopped in at Redwoods Harley Davidson to thaw out. It was pretty darn cold!

After about 45 minutes we hit the road again.  This area is all part of the Redwood National Forest and there is a road that skirts along the side of the 101, criss crossing it back and forth called Avenue of the Giants. The fog cleared, the sun came out, and the temps warmed up.  Things were definitely getting better as we took the turn off to the Avenue. The Avenue of the Giants cuts through the redwood forest and yes, the trees are ginormous!

This beauty went on for 30 miles. Check out a little video from this portion of the ride...

 After getting back on the 101 we headed for Leggit where we would leave the 101 and pick up Highway 1.  The 101 cuts inland while Highway 1 runs along the coast.  The first 20 miles were nothing but switchbacks, or twisties. The road was alot of fun filled with decreasing radius turns and lots of ups and downs through dense thick forests.

And then, you round a corner and this bursts out in front of you...

So, after 300 miles we arrived in Ft. Bragg CA. We were done for the day and wanted to stay there but I got a little nervous when the first 4 motels we passed had No Vacancy signs posted. A little further in to town we some that still had rooms but I wanted to keep checking and see what else was available.

All the motels and Bed & Breakfast places were booked up so now I knew we had to act fast to get a room and that it would not be cheap.  We went back to the first place we saw with a vacancy and got in line behind two other couples wanting rooms.  Luckily we got a room.  Unluckily, it cost us $200 for a room that normally rents for $60-70 per night.

Apparently, Ft. Bragg has an annual Salmon BBQ and fireworks show today/tonight and it draws plenty of out of town guests.  Motel rooms are at a premium.  If we passed this one up and continued further south down the highway, it wasnt going to get any better the closer to San Fransisco we got. So.....We took the room and here we are.....