May 28, day 25 Salt Point State Park to Bodega Dunes Beach

May 28, day 25 Salt Point State Park to Bodega Dunes Beach

Starting odo 7280

I get up, pack quickly and ride the 3 miles to stillwater cove county
park, where they have showers. Riding in, I see a sign that showers
are for campers only, but I continue on.

The showers are 1.50 for 5 minutes, so I shove them in and start. I am
just starting to wet the towel when it stops. After pulling on my
shorts and tights I go outside to finish dressing.

A little girl and her mom are there using the sink. Immediately she
says: "mommy, that man is NAKED!".

We laugh, Shyam is there waiting for me. I put on my testosterone gel
and wait for it to dry, and then I continue dressing.

As I dress, Shyam tells me the campground host came over and said that
I wasn't supposed to use the shower if I wasn't a camper, but she
didn't care. She said the ranger might care...

Sometimes, I think our society makes it as hard as possible for
homeless people to keep themselves clean - if you ain't got the money,
you don't deserve a shower!  Or, even if you do have the money.

As we leave, some people come out to talk to us.  They are very
interested and excited about what we are doing. One of the women comes
over with a plate of doughnut holes and puff pastry with cheese, and
offers it to us. Another tells us about some hostels farther south
that we might be able to use.  We talk for a while, and finally leave
to enthusiastic well wishes.

This is a general pattern for most interactions where people are
asking us questions, the most usual being:

Where are you headed?
Me: San Diego, Shyam, I tell them, is headed for Antarctica, which is
not true, but he would like to get to Tierra del Fuego, which is
pretty close!

Where did you come from? Vancouver, to simplify things, although I
started at the Canadian border in Blaine, WA.

How far do you go every day?
This depends greatly upon conditions, headwinds, how pretty it is, and
how many picture I stop to take, so its usually 40-68 miles.

I think that for a lot of people, we personify some element of their
own dreams of travel, or unstructured life, or adventure.  Many say
things like: "oh, I could never do that!", "I wish I had the time...",
"I'd be tired just going around the block".  Sometimes they are pretty
wistful when they say these things.

We get back on the road. After we finally get to Jenner, we eat
breakfast, and afterwards it starts to rain lightly. We ride in this
rain all the way to Bodega Bay, where we stop to eat at the restaurant
next to the surf shop.  As we try to park our bikes next to the
entrance, a woman comes out and tells us not to do that, as people
with their baby strollers (in the rain) will not have room to come in.
 As she tells us this, a few customers come out through the door and
walk to their cars.  We try to find some other sheltered place to park
the bikes, and when we do Shyam expreses some resentment towards the
woman. He says that she was abrasive in the way she told us to move
the bikes.  I agree, and I think her message is clear, they would
rather that we not eat there.  So we go across the street and eat some
fish and chips.

I am unsure about what to do. There is a campground nearby, but we
will have done only about 20 miles.  On the other hand, there is a
long stretch before another campground, and motels will likely be full
since it is Memorial day weekend.   I want to go on, but it's a
stretch, perhaps 35 miles, and traffic is heavier, and it's  raining.

Essentially, what happens is that we spend so much time eating the
fish and chips, that there is no time to ride further that day, even
if we wanted to. We attempt to find a motel that is reasonable (for
this day, defined as <125).  There are expensive ones, about $170, and
nothing else.

Luckily, it has stopped raining and its even clearing up with a little
sunshine, although I'm sure this is only a trick. We pedal back to the
Bodega Dunes Park, about a mile back down the road.  It is at this
moment, during the ride back to the park, that I think is the most
dangerous moment to date.  As we are going up the last hill to the
park, the sun is shining in our eyes, right down the road.  The danger
is that drivers coming up the hill will not see us as they will be
blinded by the sun.  Nobody comes, and the road veers away from the
direct sun.

After setting up camp, we ride back to town to do laundry and eat
dinner.  When we return to the camp, it is almost fully dark.  I go
down to the showers (there are three individual rooms) and select the
best looking one.  After getting ready, I put my first quarter in, it
comes right back  out.  In again, out again. This shower is broken!
Putting my clothes back on, to go to the dirtiest and wettest shower,
and get ready, then I see a quarter is stuck in the machine.  I give
up, and put my clothes back on again.  I am not willing to test the
third and last shower, it just seems too much to undress and get
ready, just to find it broken too, and if I just try putting quarters
in it, I will loose them due to the time it takes to undress, get soap
out, etc.  I am not happy about the state of California's parks.  On
the other hand, they are going to close the parks in a few weeks due
to budget problems anyway!

The next morning, I decide to go back and test the third and last
shower.  When I get there, someone is using it, so I wait.  When he
gets out, I ask how many quarters he needed to use.  He  says, none!
It just works if you turn it on!  There is another guy waiting with
me, and we both laugh, and he goes to try the shower with the stuck
quarter - and it works!