On Saturday, we shuttled straight to Crescent City, CA from Grants Pass, OR due to smoke coming from wildfires. We made it to our stayover in the early afternoon and had the evening to explore the town’s farmer’s market, cheese factory, thrift shops, and the beach! We finally reached the pacific ocean and got to see the sunset over it, which was absolutely unreal.

The next day was our scheduled Crescent City rest day where we went to breakfast, the beach, coffee shops, or just stayed inside and slept. I had a great time trying out surfing/boogie boarding with Nathan! I also got to try some freshly caught seafood. Being on the coast is still unreal and so beautiful! Huge thanks to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for letting us stay for two nights and for providing us with warm showers.

It seems like we are (hopefully) in the clear from forest fires for the rest of the ride. We have been very cautious and are monitoring the air quality throughout the day. Biking is important, but our long-term health and returning safely to our friends and family is even more important.

This morning we dedicated our ride to Diane Godek. Diane is Nathan’s neighbor and is like a second mother to him. She is currently battling stage 3 cancer and is experiencing some complications. He has always been thankful for her kindness and positivity throughout her life, and still is thankful for it today. We were thinking about her and Nathan as we biked today. We were thinking of Nathan extra today as his grandfather passed away over the weekend. It is hard to be away from home during a time like this and we are thankful to have Nathan around for this last leg of the ride.

We were excited to get back on the bikes today after a few days off! It was no easy day, 85 miles and quite a bit of climbing. However, the ride along the coast and through the Redwoods made the time pass so quickly. We are in Eureka tonight where we are staying at the First United Methodist Church. We also got to shower at Planet Fitness (which has REALLY nice showers that we are SO thankful for)!

I once again have two amazing riders to shout-out in this post! I want to tell you all about two of my very good friends, Kirby and Anisha.

Kirby has been my friend for several years now and we both encouraged each other to apply for this experience. He has some biking experience under his belt and truly enjoys being on the bike each day! He is very speedy and efficient and could probably ride for 100+ miles every day. Kirby does a wonderful job with all of the social media accounts that hopefully you all have seen :) he gives the best ever hugs and is always there to listen to you on the good and bad days. I’m thankful to have done this trip with such a wonderful friend!

I did not know Anisha until we began training together this past spring, but I feel like she is a friend I have had for a long time. My favorite training memory (one of my top memories from this whole experience really) was with Anisha as we learned how to climb the huge hills of Illinois. I still laugh about that day and will always remember it. I remember talking about how each day is not a race, and how we wanted to take in every moment we could on the trip without rushing. I still enjoy that attitude about her so much. We all have hard days, and she does too, but she still talks about them with a smile on her face and a positive attitude. I know that if I needed anything at all. Anisha would help me out in a second no matter what. She will be applying to medical school soon and will make an excellent doctor one day, that is for sure.