Dog Shit*

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I managed to delegate the big responsibilities for cooking last night and just played a supporting role.  Everybody got fed and I heard no complaints so I'll call that a success.  There was a large communal fire pit and, after dinner, our film crew were keen for some shots of us sitting round the fire talking bollocks...so we obliged.  I rummaged around in the woods for some kindling then set fire to a fair chunk of a giant redwood that was sitting in the log trunk waiting.  The night in Redcrest Resort is always a memorable one and I think it delivered again.

Today we did another 26 miles along the Avenue of The Giants ending with a lunch stop in Garberville, a place that distinguishes itself by having more homeless people, hippies and general weirdos than usual.  This despite the bar being set pretty high in Northern California.

If California were a country in its own right it would have the 4th or 5th largest economy in the world.  That is an amazing fact by any standard but in Garberville it seems impossible to believe.  Actually, it is impossible to believe in any of the towns we have passed through since entering California.  Everywhere feels like it is slowly dying....the shops are shuttered, the houses are tatty the cars are piles of junk and there are many people living on the streets.  No Teslas here!  

We are staying in Leggett, a tiny community with a solitary 8 cabin motel.  I have stayed there many times and I think it's fair to say that if there was anywhere else to stay we would.  It was always a little dated but the owners took good care of it and there was a charming garden in which we would do a group bbq.  It now has new owners who don't have the interest, energy or capital to prevent a spiral of decline that will surely see it close for good before long.  The owners have many dogs and the charming garden is now knee-deep in crap.  It will do for 1 night.  

My riders have driven 4 miles to the nearest place to eat, leaving me sitting in the fading sun, surrounded by turds of many vintage, sipping on a glass of wine and reflecting on how much I love doing this nonsense.

*I will confess I had to find this one on Google.  It is by the Wu-Tang Clang...whoever they are.

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