Ukiah (not California)

Waking up to frost on your tent and all your stuff makes it hard to get moving but Brent had it worse in that he had to patch his air mattress.

We practically had the whole road to ourselves which makes for a more relaxing ride. At one resting spot we saw two military cargo planes fly low overhead. I will try to post a video.

We rode into Ukiah with cravings for double-cheeseburgers and beers. As we were riding down main street we heard someone say “hamburger”. Like magnets we found the food truck in the park. We met the friendly owner Kirk. He said “everyone calls me captain”. He gave me the scoop on his business and the town. He and his partner retired here last year where his parents have lived for 30 years. He said the town has 200 people and would only be 100 if it wasn’t for the forest service. Captain said Ukiah used to have a thriving lumber mill and shake shingle business and pointed out several buildings downtown with shingle siding including the former owner.

A local puppy, Jade begged a french fry or two and we met a local boy named Andrew. He showed off his Huffy bike to us and asked us “how fast can you go on this bike? I can go 70 on my bike! What’s that on your helmet?” A mirror, I replied. How much does it cost?, he asked. $12.99 I flippantly replied – do you want to buy it? He called my bluff and quickly counted $12.55 from his wallet. He was so full of beans that he challenged me to a race down main street – something you can do in a tiny town like this. I won but he still declared himself the winner. He complained that his rear brake was broken and he would have to get his grandpa to help fix it but he didn’t live in town. He also said “I don’t have a dad – my mom adopted me.” I used my tools and showed him how to fix it. We could see he was a bit sad that we were leaving him to ride to our campsite outside of town.

We rode 50 miles today.