best rest day ever...and the best trees ever!

No pics in this entry, unfortunately...reliable WiFi has been scarce!

After our first redwood adventure, we hit a day that was long, cold, sleepy, windy and tiring. We spent the day fighting to gain distance and wakefulness, none too successfully. When we finally pulled into the Eureka KOA, we were all sorts of happy to learn they had a hot tub. Just the thing our sore, tired muscles needed. We soaked for close to an hour with some other bikers and went to bed, happy in the knowledge that we had a rest day at the KOA to look forward to.

And you know what? BEST REST DAY EVER.

We spent the day reading, blogging, playing silly games on our phones, enjoying the hot tub (again...), and revelling in the knowledge that for one day, we didn't have to pack up, go anywhere, set up camp, anything.

And right around dinner time, the day got even better.

How?

We happened to be standing out by the main entrance at the right time...in order to see our favorite group of eleven teens and their two counselors pull into camp!!

After we ate, we joined them for an evening of trading stories and giggles and mostly just laughing. It was sorely needed. Zac and I certainly enjoy each other's company and occasionally get into giggle-mode, but nothing quite like we did with the apogee group. We went to bed in even higher spirits, ready to tackle the road again.

The next day was...weird..in that it was utterly unremarkable and routine. I never thought I'd see the day when biking for 6 or 7 hours, eating chef boyardee out of the can and sleeping in a tent would feel routine!

But the day after was anything but ordinary. It's not every day a couple of Midwesterners get to frolic in the Avenue of the Giants! For 30 miles, we got to ride in the cool shade of the redwood forests. When the opportunity arose, we dismounted and frolicked to our hearts' content! Usually, this meant whenever we passed a tree with a hollow base...

We stopped at some tourist-trip-ish places, like the immortal tree and another drive-thru tree. But frankly...they were REALLY fun tourist traps! And provided some great photo-ops!

Yup. It's official. The Redwood Forests have been (and will probably remain) my favorite part of this trip!