seattle

Seattle was gorgeous. We had several good business meetings with outfitters in Seattle. Seattle Raft and Kayak will be the first store in Seattle to carry our paddles starting in spring 2009. It was fun to see Amanda and Dave and daughters Hazel and Nora. It was very rainy when we visited but we managed to hike a mountain that was like a rainforest, lush greens and browns, large ferns and tall pines. Our next push south landed us in the town of Eugene, where Roger and his roommate were our first bus riders for this trip.

Early the next morning we headed west to the Oregon coast. The weather cleared enough the following day to allow us to go kayaking. The ocean was wild and Amanda was a bit seasick with the huge swells, but we saw seals, puffins and jellyfish. The coast is much harsher than most of the east coast, except for Maine. The swells were enormous; every dip down in the swell hid the horizon from view. The ocean would have made lunch of the boats if we managed to get too close to the rocky cliffs. We landed our boats safely and packed up for our next drive.

The following day, as our luck would have it, the bus started to run funky. Justin found a leaf stuck in the fuel line and managed to get her running again. We took the short ten mile drive to Redwood National Forest, more like Jurassic forest. These giant prehistoric looking trees tower overhead, darkening the sky. One tree appears to be enough wood to build a modest two story house. Justin expected small dinosaurs to swoop down from the trees at any minute. Actually, the Star Wars fight scenes with Ewoks were filmed in a forest nearby.

We were just leaving Redwood National Forest when the bus decided to quit again, but in a gradual, I’m-too-tired way. Smarter this time, we chose where to break down, which is not always an option. We stayed put on the beach just south of Orick. More relaxed than our last breakdown, we took a nice walk on the beach. The warm winds poured down off the hills toward the surf and we finally had warm weather. We watched the sun set over the National Park instead of an industrial park. The roar of the ocean is a lot more comforting than the roar of a diesel engine. If the police come by we know just what to tell them…we are getting a tow in the morning, right after our second cup of coffee.

Buddy's towing hauled us to Trinity Diesel in Arcata, about 300 miles north of San Francisco. Arcata is a small town right on the coast. Kind of agricultural, a little run down, crunchy, liberal. We made use of our time by promoting the paddle and biking when it wasn’t raining. One day we decided to explore a wildlife refuge on a rainy day on a resident's recommendation. We left our bikes in the forest and walked out on the dunes. We emerged to find a double rainbow and a sunset over the ocean. We continued toward the beach and walked through a pygmy forest. The coast was just as wild as Oregon; rather than cliffs, we looked out on extensive dunes and marshes.

The following day was Sunday which we spent relaxing in the parking lot where we were staying. Our host, the shop owner, had allowed us to run an extension cord out to our little home so we could power our laptop. They also gave us the code to their WiFi, which allowed us to indulge our addiction to Lost and watch episodes on abc.com.
On Monday the mechanics and Justin got back to work on the bus. Monday evening we were back on the road, but broke down again 300 feet from the shop. We managed to crawl back in and had to pump out all of our fuel because it was filled with dirt and debris, bad gas. We made it all of 13 miles that day, staying the night again since we had missed our chance to visit local outfitters. The next day we had some good talks with outfitters in the area and were able to take a nice paddle in scenic Arcata bay. Next stop San Francisco.