Redding to Eureka, CA

I left Redding early on Friday, headed for Eureka, on the coast. The total distance wasn’t that far – about 135 miles – and I couldn’t understand why I kept getting told that the trip would take three and a half to four hours. The reason, it turned out, was because Highway 299 crosses several smaller mountain ranges, and is in nearly constant construction mode. I waited for a total of 45 minutes on the trip in three locations for construction delays. Still, the road was a good one, and fun to ride.

Shortly after leaving Redding I passed Whiskeytown – not a place I felt a need to stop in. Nor did I give the town of Shasta much of a chance, despite the fact that it had several prominently signed Museums and other tourist attractions. The area is mainly a recreational one, but has been devastated by a set of wildfires that have dropped tourism like a stone in the local impounded lake. As a result, there are a lot of board-ups in the small mountain towns on the way to Eureka. It was wonderful to leave the heat of the central valley; by the time I got near the coast I had to put on warmer gear.

Eureka is an odd duck of a town (actually, a twin town, sitting next to Arcata). Home to a State University (Humboldt) as well as the College of the Redwoods, it also has a mixed economy of fishing, tourism, lumber, tourism, New Age products, tourism, and, perhaps most important, the Cypress Grove Cheese Company, purveyors of Humboldt Fog, probably the best domestic cheese in the US (at least, my favorite thus far). I had made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Curds on an earlier trip, and thus didn’t feel the necessity to repeat the experience this time around. Instead, I walked through the historic downtown, looking at the Victorian gingerbread architecture for which the area is famous, and noting the large number of antique stores, pawn shops, thrift stores, and other places where used goods were recycled to the unwary. It seemed emblematic of the state of the local economy . . .

I met up with Samantha and Lisa, from Redding, who were doing a college road trip. (I had stayed with Sam’s mother, Sylvia, the previous night in Redding, and we had arranged to meet at Los Bagles Company.) After a great conversation, I thought about whether to head south towards the Avenue of the Giants or to stay in Eureka. Eureka won out – I spent the evening having a great dinner at a seafood restaurant (baked oysters with chipotle/bacon and aioli). I spent the remainder of the evening walking around Eureka, taking pictures, and later working on figuring out how to blog!