Days 1 & 2: the journey begins

Our tour began in true foggy country fashion. Launching from Crescent City on October 8, we pedaled 80 miles through redwood groves and by coastal terraces to reach Arcata, CA.

We pedaled uphill

We pedaled downhill

We pedaled past many large lagoons that support lots of birds on their path south.

Can you find the great blue heron?

In two days we will be at our first elementary school in Whitethorn, CA, near Garberville and the Lost Coast.

In the meantime, here is a species list of the birds we've noticed along our ride.

Oct. 9, Del Norte County, Hwy 101:

 Pacific Wren, Northern Flicker, Western Gull, American Robin, Belted Kingfisher, Steller's Jay, Common Raven, Western Meadowlark, Turkey Vulture, Brewer's Blackbird, European Starling, Brandt's Cormorant, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown creeper, American Crow

Oct. 10, Humboldt County, Hwy 101, Big Lagoon, Clam Beach, Mad River:

White-tailed Kite, American Kestrel, Red-shouldered Hawk, Brandt's Cormorant, Northern Flicker, Mallards, Ruddy Duck, Common Merganser, Belted Kingfisher, Trumpeter Swan, Brewer's Blackbirds, Great Blue Heron, Osprey, Great Egret, Red-winged Blackbird, Turkey Vulture, White-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrows

New Logo, Packing Adventures, and Departure...FINALLY!

Our New Logo!

With a successful season with the Wilderness Orientation at UC Santa Cruz behind us, we are finally ready to start this adventure! 

While we were out in the wilderness, Darrow celebrated his birthday in quite the hailstorm. But, while Darrow was out hiking around, his sister was back home working on the ultimate birthday present--an official Bird School Project Logo! Thanks to her for setting it up and to Jay Vigon for the artwork. It looks great! We have been visiting bike shops and talking to fellow cyclists and we believe we are all set for take-off. We got some gear donated to us from our dear friend, and Wilderness Orientation alumnus, Danny Sommer, purchased 24 pairs of binoculars thanks to the help of Mackenzie Price, and visited Patrick, the bike guru, at Sprockets bike shop in Santa Cruz who helped us creatively attach our new front touring racks. We loaded up Darrow's minivan with bike gear, camping gear, and rafting gear and are now on our way to the Rogue River in Oregon!

We'll be doing a 4 day river trip up there with some friends and then our friends will drive us down to the Oregon/California border and we will start pedaling on October 8th! It has been a total whirlwind trying to get this all set up. Between wrapping up with Wilderness Orientation, buying gear, and scheduling with teachers, we have been learning a ton about bike touring and about organizing a unique project such as this one. One thing is for sure, we are ready to start!

Here is one recent interesting story for your reading pleasure: Today, we stopped in San Francisco to pick up binoculars from Mackenzie at her school called Brightworks. Upon walking in, we noticed ourselves become filled with wonder and smiles and giggles because we walked into a truly magical learning environment. Students were building things in the wood shop, playing chess, doing yoga, and learning about cameras and videography. We were slightly taken aback when she mentioned to us, "It's good you guys are here, because these two naturalists just showed up. They're cycling the California coast and visiting schools to teach about sustainability." Kevin and I looked at each other with a sense of astonishment and disbelief. Really??? Could there be other people out there, as crazy as us, doing something so similar? Apparently so. We met Cory and Marika from Schools Of Sustainability They are cycling the coast, teaching classes about sustainability, and creating a film about it! They were super friendly and excited about our work and the success of their own project. They gave us tours of their bikes and trailers and some tips about the big hills in the northern part of the state. One could say this meeting was a simple coincidence, but we think we were meant to meet these folks. Check out their website and follow them--they are doing great work!

That's all for now. To the river we go. We'll check back in once we get rolling. Thanks for all of the support!