Circling the U.S. Chapter 48: Salem's Lot

Tuesday & Wednesday, October 22/23, 2019 

As we were leaving Arcata on a bike path through marshland Rob said, "Do you see all the spider webs?"  I hadn't been paying much attention but when I looked I realized they were everywhere.

I'm happiest when Rob rides right behind me. I often have my head down and my thoughts somewhere else and miss the beauty right there in front of me.

We picked up another bike path in Eureka where we ate lunch on the waterfront in the Old Town area. I thought Eureka was a lovely town, but Rob was put off by all the homeless people. I try and be more charitable, but have to admit that I worry about leaving our bikes when there is a homeless person hanging around. We have too much gear that they would be very happy to have.

The bike path took us along the Elk River.

The Adventure Cycling route we've been using pretty much has been following Highway 101 through Oregon and northern California, with scenic and back road detours whenever possible. In Fernbridge our route took a major turn away from 101, across the Eel River to the historic town of Ferndale. In fact, with its plethora of Victorian homes and storefronts, the entire town has been designated a historic landmark.

As we rode into Ferndale my head kept turning as we passed one beautiful Victorian home after another. I knew that if I stopped to take pictures we'd never get to our motel.

The Victorian Inn is not where we stayed, but almost. We checked in here, ate the breakfast included in our stay here, and Rob insisted on having drinks here later in the evening, even if the first World Series game wasn't over. He's such a romantic. 

Rob hasn't been following baseball while we've been on the road, but he wanted to watch at least the first game of the World Series. It worked out great that we'd be in this beautiful town that night. He found a room at the Redwood Inn & Suites for $145 - pricey, but we'd cook our own dinner and breakfast was included. Our room was in the one-story building on the right.

After 33 miles we arrived in town around 3:00, checked in and showered, then Rob went to the library to take care of work stuff and I wandered about town. Ferndale doesn't disappoint. 

Just one example of the many ornate Victorian storefronts.

A friend's son is a serious blacksmither so this shop caught my interest. I was impressed with the variety of metal objects inside, both functional and purely artistic.

Years ago I read the Stephen King vampire novel Salem's Lot. It creeped me out so much that I never even considered watching the movie. It's been 40 years since the movie came out and evidently much of it was filmed in Ferndale. I saw posters all over town advertising the showing of the movie on October 19 and 20. We just missed it.

I settled into the bakery for tea and a chocolate chip cookie and talked with the owner, who is fifth generation from the area. He told me that Ferndale was isolated from the rest of the world for much of its history, until the bridge was built across the river. The timber industry was big for most of that time.

During the hour or so that I was wandering around the clouds rolled in. Evidently this happens often in the afternoon.

The next morning we had breakfast, included with the price of our room, in the elegant Victorian Inn dining room. We both had eggs, bacon, yogurt with granola and fresh berries, orange juice, and tea. Whenever we spend money to stay overnight I figure we should get our money's worth so why hurry off? I worked on my blog while I finished my tea, then we went for a walk down main street. 

Noah told us about this saloon. We could have had a beer in the westernmost bar in the continental United States. But Rob preferred the ambience of the Victorian Inn.

We visited the local history museum. The artifacts were not as interesting as what we learned from the gentleman who worked there. He told us that the town was built on the dairy business, that San Francisco restaurants would advertise butter from Ferndale. He said that the town cemetery was used for the movie Salem’s Lot and was the place most visited by tourists. He said the view at the top was spectacular. We had to go visit it. And as soon as we arrived we saw someone we knew.

That's Nick, the young bike mechanic from Wisconsin who we met back in Oregon. He'd come to Ferndale planning to stealth camp in the cemetery, but a shopkeeper in town offered to let him stay in his workshop. He'd been having his own adventures. His mother joined him for a few days and they explored the Avenue of the Giants together. His original plan had been to ride just south of San Francisco and be home in time for Halloween when he and his friends throw an extravagant party. But he's been having so much fun on his first bike tour that he postponed his return for a week or so. Now he was planning to take the detour to the Lost Coast, with limited services and a 20% climb. We wished him luck. That was the last time we saw him. Another cyclist reported having seen him, also in Ferndale, the following day.

We climbed up into the cemetery. Now I want to see the movie.

Ferndale from the top of the cemetery hill.

After Ferndale, we rode through farm country for about 13 miles. Then the Avenue of the Giants, riding through the old growth redwoods to Burlington Campground in Humboldt State Park, for a total of 36 miles for the day.

We camped under a giant redwood. There were a number of other cyclists in the hiker/biker campsite, including a couple of young guys who pretty much kept to themselves. Then around six o'clock Will pulled in. It was already dark, but Will had already told us that he doesn't mind riding in the dark. Rob and I hate it. Will joined us at our picnic table while we ate our dinners and shared tales of where we'd been since we'd last met.

When we first met up with Will he'd told us about riding down a rugged dirt road along the coast. That turned out to be the downfall of his rear wheel; he needed to get a new one in Eureka. It was fun talking to Will. He says, "It's not about the bike." He's in no hurry to get anywhere; when he enjoys where he is, he stays put.