Day 45

We woke up and rolled over for a few more minutes. Neither of us had a great sleep. Shortly Jerry got in the shower and I started packing up. We walked a block or two to go the the cafe the hotel recommend us for breakfast. No pancakes! Their french toast came fried and covered in cheese., saying traditionally French. I’ve never had french toast in France (as I’m not a fan) but fried and covered in cheese just doesn’t sound overly French. We both got omelets. I asked for extra eggs and no meat, however when the cashier asked the chief she asked about switching meat for an egg. Where’d the s go?!?! In the end the omelets were actually really good. The veggies were seared with a gram masala before they were added to the eggs… yum!

Back to the hotel to finish getting ready. I looked at the map one last time. It looks like if we take the most straight forward route we will only ride through about 1 kilometer of the “warning” area. It was a dander area for most of the week but it has been down graded and is still only warning, and it will only be 1 kilometer. We finished packing up, carried our bikes down the stairs and headed toward the exit. 

While I went inside to return the key a group of kids were playing outside on their bikes. When I cam out, the boys were riding to the end of the grass, till dad on his bike said stop, what there. Then when he got close they rode up the driveway till dad said stop, wait there, till he got there and they rode across the street together. As soon as they go to the other side the oldest boy raced ahead, hit a small mound and lost it on the jump. He got up quickly, obviously fine. While we rode out of the parking lot we talked about the kids riding around. This hotel seams like a really nice family vacation spot. On check in we met a guy who said this was his 24^th year! Right across from the lake and a nice family vibe I guess it could be a really nice spot. For us, just the night. 

Two more turns and we’re back on the highway out of town. Less then two miles and the highway out of town starts to climb the mountain. A few strokes and the sweat is pouring off me. It is warm and the hill is mildly steep, but I couldn’t believe how much I was sweating. We rode for a while climbing and sweating. Eventually we got to a crest and took a moment to wipe some of the sweat away. Back to peddling, and climbing. Everything was brown and dry. The smoke was obscuring the views. Where we were didn’t look so bad, but I’m sure from a distance where we were looked just as smokey as over there looks to us. Happily it wasn’t overly smelly. It’s kind of crazy to think how much is on fire and to look around and see that a careless cigarette or a (un)lucky lighting strike and so much more would just light up. 

The vineyards and fruit fields fell away the higher we climbed leaving more and more vast stretches of nothingness but brown grass. There was a scattered huge house or two. I imagine these are ranchers or vineyard owners having a plot of land not too far from their fields. Many of these houses were beautiful, however, at the moment it looked like a scary place to live. At any moment the entire mountain side could light up, what would that do for your beautiful house? No matter how nice it is, trapped in a flaming plot of land does not sound like a good summer. I’m not trying to be an alarmist but I imagine these people spend most of the fire season worried. 

Finally at the end of the ridge we hit the drop, this was nothing like yesterday. However it was nice that the down was long it was nice to rack up the miles for a smaller effort. Toward the bottom of the ridge we banged a right onto the bypass road. This kept us further from the warning area, but not far enough away for the smoke. At this lower elevation the fruit stands and fields started coming back. 

Right on Route 3 and were heading west again. I’m happy we got past these fires that were closest to the road relatively easily. We added a few miles but unscathed is way more important. We’re not out of the wood just yet but according to the maps we are past the worst of it. 

For the rest of the day we followed along the river. It was a very nice view but the hot, dry, smoky air while being so close to such cool, clear, refreshing looking water was almost hurtful. So close yet so far. We passed many cars, trucks and campers pulled over and dipping in the water. Some were in full swim wear with beach toys and others just had their pants rolled up. I guess I was’t the only one looking out at the scene and wishing I was playing in the water instead of just riding past. 

We stopped in the town before ours for some water. The gas station was closed. The two buildings next door looked closed. Was this some kind of ghost town? The unusual gifts for special people store was open. We went inside and found they only had small bottles of water. I asked if they had any bigger bottles else where. He told us about the grocery store down the block. Riding through town we met a few local kids riding their bikes. It was an unbelievably small town. Three blocks by three blocks. We met three quarters of the town and we’ve been here for ten minutes. We had some water in the park right next to the grocery store. The neighborhood kids hung in and around the park. Two guys looking like us riding into town on bikes might have been the most interesting thing of the summer. 

Just 18 miles left till our hotel. More hot dry air blowing on us as we ride along the cool refreshing looking water. It was so tempting to just pull off and jump in the water. More cars and trucks had the same idea. We persevered and just kept it moving to our hotel. 

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

MikeDiazTheFirst

Mike was born in Queen, New York to a blue collar family. An avid self educator, artist, and traveler he’s traveled around the globe three times while immersing himself in the culture of 48 different countries and counting.  Read about his journeys and musings here.

Latest posts by MikeDiazTheFirst (see all)

• Pandemic - April 15, 2020
• A farewell to EJ - March 27, 2019
• The three children - February 13, 2019