Sacramento Californ eye ay

Howdy from Sacramento California,

Here's a bit of an update on how things have been going. Phaedra has done a fantastic job keeping this blog up to date, so I'll add what I can.

After arriving in Redding at 9:30am we spent a about 2 and a half hours putting our bikes back together and then another 2 hours fiddling around (shopping, bike shop, losing our toolbox and then going back to find it where we left it, looking for a campsite). We finally ended up going to a place about 10 miles south of Redding at an RV place. Although we had phoned ahead and confirmed their willingess to accept tenters, when we got there the desk person said the tenting sites were kind of wet and that it wasn't really the season to be using them. We checked them out and decided they were fine (we also did not have many options at this point!!!). The desk person turned out to be from Edmonton and was very kind to us.

Later that evening we were informed that there was a major wind and rain storm headed our way. We decided to ride to Red Bluff (40 miles) the next day and find a motel.

The next day turned out to be extremely wet. It rained on us the entire trip. It was very cold. Additionally, Taran got our first flat about 10 miles from the destination. Not fun. As we were riding along the I5 we chose to ignore the sign that said "no bicycles beyond this point" because the alternative route would have added 10 miles to the trip. We did not experience a lot wind at this point.

As soon as we reached the hotel room we strung up three lines and hung almost all of our possessions up...and then we cranked the heat. We watched TV, did homework, wrote in our journals and just hung out. The wind reached 50 miles an hour and lasted until mid afternoon the next day. We chose to spend another night at the hotel. Luckily the front desk person was enamored with our adventure and gave us a 17 percent discount on the cost of the room.

Once we were on the road again the only noteworthy things that came up were 9 more flats on Taran's rear tire (yes we need a new tire) and we hit our first 50 mile day. It did not physically drain us but it did leave us with little time to set up camp in daylight.

We hit Sacramento on Thursday afternoon and headed to Shawn and Cathy's house. Cathy calls me her husband's brother in law but Shawn calls me his cousin. I don't really care what they call me because they have treated us like royalty in their home. They have been extremely generous the past two days. They have fed us very well, Taran has had free rein of the TV and I was able to pick up a new bike (used) for Taran and get it ready for continuing our trip. It was a great deal and I couldn't pass it up. Their house is very nice and we (I) have enjoyed getting better acquainted with Shawn and Cathy.

Shawn has a tandem recumbent bike that he took me on a quick 10 mile ride on. It was amazingly comfortable and if you are the "passenger" it's very simple...all you have to do is peddle. I think Phaedra might be able to handle such an animal and will investigate upon my return.

Shawn tells me that we hit Sacramento at the perfect time of year. It is very warm, skies are clear and there aren't many bugs around. Score one for Taran and I cause the frost and frozen water we experienced earlier in the trip gave us pause to think it was the WRONG time of year to be doing this.

Luckily the shoulders were wide enough to allow Taran and I to ride abreast before we reached Sacramento and therefore allow us to chat while riding. We've discussed a number of projects that we might want to take up upon our return. I believe he enjoys riding because he intends to ride his bike to school every day and might even ride to Duncan to work at Nana's store. He's even considering convincing his friends to go on bike trips with him. He's suggested going across Canada but I've suggested he start with a closer destination. I know Wyatt is interested in going across Canada, so maybe they can go together....

We've been a bit pampered here in Sacramento. Our next destination is San Francisco. We'll be staying in a Hostel near Fisherman's wharf. It should be fun. On our way to SF, we will be staying at a KOA camp in Petaluma. This coincidentally is the place that Phaedra and I stayed while we were on our Honeymoon.

We are both healthy and relatively happy. I've still had trouble sleeping but Taran can sleep through anything. The homework thing could be better however both of us are keeping our journals up-to-date. We will be stretching the daily distances out a bit now that we have 400 miles under our belts. I'm thinking 50 to 60 miles per day will become the norm.

Til next time,

Fireball and Fireball Jr.

PS. We've not taken very many pictures. I've sent some to Phaedra whom I'm hoping will post them for us.