M/C Raven Trip Report 20 – Riding Through the Redwoods

I crossed into California and headed towards Crescent City and the Redwood Country.

Shane, knowing I was heading this way (and wishing he could be doing this ride with me) suggest I ride through a redwood while riding through the redwoods. Number 1 on my list: find a drive through redwood. When I found one, it wasn’t the drive-through tree I’d remembered. There must be several.

This is to show that the tree is still alive and thriving even with a big hole in its trunk

Continuing down the coast I took the National/State Park route through the forest. Saw herds of elk and lots and lots of big, BIG trees. Also saw a yellow banana slug. 

Remember 'Enemy Mine' and those wonderful slugss they were eating? Yum, Yum

I found Trees of Mystery and the giant Paul Bunyon, Babe the Blue Ox statues and took pictures of Raven there before working my way down to Eureka. 

Still raining, still cold. Where’s that drought that California’s supposed to be having?

By this time, I’ve been on the road for almost 4x months and, except for the 4x days north of the Arctic Circle (back in June) and the 4x days of fire in Northern Washington State, I’ve been rained on every day! I’m heading to the desert!

Ron and Wayne (from the Prudhoe Bay run) had told me how beautiful Southeast Utah is. Right now, all I care about is: Is it dry?!

I spent a night in Shasta National Forest and a night in Lassen National Forest before dropping down to Redding and heading into Nevada.

There was a lot of road work going taking place on the highway and, at one of the stops, a Harley rider joined me while we waited for our turn to go through the one-lane portion. He told me of a restaurant just up the road that was made out of bales of hay. Cool! They served a great breakfast bagel too. This was where I discovered that my newly purchased Universal Adapter gave the “plugged in/not charging” message. 

Just down the highway from the hay house I spotted this wonderful solution for kids waiting for the school bus.

At Redding, I stopped in at a McDonalds and, using some of my dwindling battery power, found the Acer Computers Parts Department number. I called them and explained about the missing power cable. 

Me: “I’m in Redding California: heading to Reno then on to Salt Lake City. Where along that route can I buy a replacement cable?”

Acer Drone: “It’s against company policy to say which stores carry our products.”

Me: “Ok, I can understand that there might be accusations of favoritism. I’ll just order a replacement cable from you and have it sent to my friend’s house further along my route.”

Acer Drone: “We don’t stock parts for that computer.”

Me: Dumbfounded silence

Acer Drone: “I recommend that as you travel along, you ask at the front desk of the motels you stay at. They often have a lost and found box, maybe a cable that works for your machine will be there.”

Me: More dumbfounded silence

I’d just bought that computer new in April. This conversation took place in August. A 4-month old computer and the manufacturer doesn’t stock a common part like a power cable. I’m looking at throwing out a perfectly good computer because of a power cable! How does this make any sense to a company?

I probably won’t buy an Acer computer when I have to replace this one. And, that’s really too bad: it met all my criteria for size, keyboard, and readability.

I hurried through Reno as fast as I could (cities and traffic are horribly difficult for me). Then, about halfway across Nevada I found a campground near a river to spend the night.