First day (kinda) and the tan lines are phenomenal!!

So last night was spend in a Holiday Inn, the maid was not used to people answering the door in their boxer shorts..o well..needless to say I was off around 11am with thanks to Cindy and the manager Dennis who let me store my gear in their maintenance shed. I spent the day adjusting to the altitude, this turned into a 2000ft climb up (aptly named) Big Mountain. At the turn around point I was above the snow line and had an adrenaline filled descent, reaching 35mph at points. Lunch consisted of a turkey and meat candy (bacon) panini, garbanzo bean salad and a mayhem bar (coconut, chocolate, oatmeal, walnuts and mayhem). A restock of (on sale) energy bars was much needed, each packing 280 calories. A quick stop at the local supermarket turned into me buying a brick of sugar, I had intended to pre-mix this with the oatmeal but it turned out to be a source of entertainment rather than nourishment. Kathleen picked me up around 5 and we headed for Eureka. On the way we saw a Partridge with two chicks, very nice to see although they were in the middle of the road. Hope they ended up safe! We found my motel and took a quick look at the road to the border...all in all a 46.1 mile day for tomorrow. The local laundromat had closed so I stocked up for the next 3 days and am all set to leave tomorrow. Tomorrow's ride is through Tobacco Valley with my destination being Tuchuck Campground..