Day Two Hundred Fifty-one, 091106 - Arcata, CA

Day Two Hundred Fifty-one, Date Friday, November 6, 2009

Time in Saddle: n/a

Distance for the Day: n/a

Accumulated Trip Distance: n/a

Altitudes: n/a

Speeds: n/a Weather: low 50s to low 60s, mostly overcast but no rain

Expenditures: $129

We loaded my trike into Pat’s bio-diesel fuelled Volkswagon sedan, as she wanted to show it to someone she knew at Adventure’s Edge, a sporting goods store that had a particular emphasis on kayaking and water sports, besides the usual hiking, biking, camping stuff. I’d mentioned that my rain jacket always leaked, and she knew AE had much more watertight clothes, designed for kayakers. We first went out to lunch at the Japanese restaurant, Tomo. You should have seen her face when she discovered I’d stealthily paid the bill – shock and dismay! That was pretty funny, but she got me back at dinner. Then, we went over to the sport store, and the first thing I saw after entering the door? Joby tripods! I bought one on the spot ($25). Pete showed up a few minutes later, and we looked at the different options for watertight jackets. One was a light-weight, rubberized cloth design went for about $100, which seemed pretty good, and another one I tried on was $400 – much more industrial strength, made with Gore-Tex, neoprene neck and cuffs, etc. Since I would only be traveling for a week or so more, before finishing, I opted for the cheaper, lighter design ($104). It uses Velcro fasteners to seal the rubberized wrist cuffs and neck against the seepage of water, which is just where my current rain jacket lets water in. Of course, it doesn’t breathe much, so there’s the chance that I’ll still get soaked with my own sweat, but I’ve noticed that if it’s cool enough, I don’t sweat that much, and so I’m hoping any rain I encounter will be successfully repelled without eventual seepage, and I’ll be able to remain dry and warm. The folks at Adventure’s Edge had to send someone out to the Kokatat factory, which just happened to be in Arcata(!), to get the model, size, and color I wanted. While we were waiting, Pat had contacted the local small paper, The Arcata Eye, and they sent over Terrence McNally to interview me about my trip. I told him my story, and he took some pictures of me, and I took some pictures of him and Pat for my blog, and so that was the fourth small paper I’ve been interviewed by, about my trip – cool!
That evening, we went out to a really nice steak house restaurant, and then came home where I tried to continue blogging, but was too tired, and just went to bed ‘early’ (before midnight) with the resolve to resume work early in the morning.