Ranger Rick

Orick, Ca to Salt Point, Ca
Today we had our long drive ahead of us. It wasn’t that far by any means, but the number of twists and turns on the road was a recipe for instant motion sickness. We stopped for a while to relax at the Eel River, and the water was a perfect temperature. It would have been a great place to go kayaking, but we definitely couldn’t have fit one in the car. While sitting on the rocks in the river, Nikki spied a drowning bat getting swept away by the current, and we hurried down the river to push it to safety. It caught it breath for a few minutes, and then while Nikki was telling Mike and Brionna the story it flew over us as if to tell us thank you. With our good deed done for the day, we headed from the 101 to the Avenue of Giants where the road was lined with giant redwoods. Even after seeing them the day before, they continued to amaze us. We stopped to grab lunch at a small café in Arcade, Ca before heading back over to the coast. The coast was a continuous sinuous road combined with the fog made for what seemed like a very treacherous drive. We made it to our campsite at Salt Point just before dusk (even though you can’t ever really see a sunset here with all the fog) and were hoodwinked by some older campers to change our campsite. We wanted the ones across from them, but they told Nikki that the one up the hill was much better. They just didn’t want to have to walk around the long road to use the restroom since the shortcut went straight through that campsite. After we had started making dinner, Mickael noticed a raccoon on a stump at the neighboring campsite. In a few minutes, the raccoon emerged right next to our picnic table, and had no fear as he climbed up on it to see what treats we had to offer him. Nikki and Mike clammered on some pots and pans to attempt to scare him away, but in about 30 minutes he reappeared except this time with a gang of fellow bandits. It was a constant struggle through dinner to keep the animals at bay, but once the food was put away, they seemed to turn their attention back to the dumpster down the road. We fell asleep to the barks of the sealions and the hoots of owls, and got ready to enter back into society and the hustle and bustle of San Francisco.

Day 6 stats:
294 miles driven
78 hairpin turns
13 crazy raccoons
1 wet bat