My Life

Yesterday, we rode a short 20 miles from Seaside to Astoria to officially bring our route to a close. We got into town, rode up to the Astoria Column, the landmark which marks the end of the ACA's TransAmerica route and which commemorates Lewis & Clark's journey,, since Astoria was where they ended also.
Then we went to the bike shop and did what we needed to do to have them pack and ship our bikes; after mulling around town for a bit we took the greyhound to Portland where we found our hostel destination full and all the other hostels full, too. First time without a bike in months and unfortunately we found ourselves making laps on foot around a city neither of us knew. It was fun/funny in its own way. It came down to having to get a hotel, unless we wanted to camp with the hobos. We had pizza delivered to our hotel room and had our celebratory pizza party a little late, at about 11:30pm.
Today we checked out some of the goods Portland has to offer, including Powell's book store, Voodoo Doughnuts, the International Rose Test Gardens and Japanese Garden, and some random cool shops. Then I casually had to say bye to my only friend of the last two and a half months on a crowded light rail car as I exited and he stayed on to go further to the airport. A speedy, one armed, side hug was the perfect way to say farewell in the most anticlimactic fashion to the most unanticlimactic journey of my life. Thomas was an awesome partner for this trip and the amount of laughter caused by his ridiculous/great sense of humor was overwhelming; thanks Bhomas. He's now gone and I have one more day in the city, to close out my adventures with a bang before I fly home.
I can't believe I don't have to ride anymore/don't have my bike with me/ just did what I did. It still hasn't sunk in, but all I know is that a lot of great things happened, within me and around me. I'm sure it will take me a while to see all the fruits from my travels, slash to witness how much it's changed me.
I love riding my bike (never doing it again)

West Coast Chillin

So yesterday we awoke in Tillamook and rode 50 gorgeous miles on the Oregon coast to Seaside.
Our planned place to stay fell through, aka "Elaine Heckerd" wasn't home, so all of our excitement to go to her house was bombed when no one answered the door. Luckily warm showers pulled through and we got a sweet hook up with Mr Neil Branson. He lives four blocks from the beach so we got a good beach walk in, final destination: ice cream. We wanted to stay in seaside for Sunday, too, for a rest day before our final WHOPPING 20 miler into Astoria. Neil said we were more than welcome. So here we are.
We actually got breakfast with Neil and some friends in Astoria this morn, then I went to church at the aptly named parish of Our Lady of Victory. Nowwww we're about to head off for a mini road trip to Washington state in Neil's car. Sweet deal--another state crossed off my list!
The pacific is beautiful and cold and i'm excited to go in it sooooon.

I Don't Know If You Heard, but..

We're kind of a big deal. We um, rode our bikes across the country and uh, yeah, made it to the Pacific Ocean today. I mean, I'm not trying to rub it in, but what did you do today? Oh, you didn't use your leg power to travel yourself to a whole other coast thousands of miles away from where you started? Guess my day wins then!
But seriously, it was so cool to get our first glimpses and interactions with the beach on the west coast today. I loved every minute of it, and the reality of how badly I've missed the beach this summer all came crashing to the forefront of my mind.
The ride was good. About 70 miles to Tillamook, with some good climbs and some good downhills; half the time I'm pretty sure we were inside a cloud. We had a moment of weakness, where we almost called it quits since we'd hit the coast and played with the idea of bumming a ride to our next stop in Seaside, but Team Turtle pulled through, as we always do. And on we rode.
We're getting cooler by the day. And we have a new motto: Safety Second. Helmets are being swapped out for hats (I mean, what? That's dangerous!) Gum balls are being eaten off the ground (Uh wait a second, who's that disgusting?) and the sunscreen is saving its pennies for someday (But you get burnt even worse in the clouds!!!!!!)

Also, Tomcat's phone got stolen, so he is without. Using mine and such.

Tomorrow we get a shorter day. Yay. Tonight is our last night camping out for the whole trip :(

Endless Amounts of Satisfaction

So, two days ago we rode 60 some miles from Ochoco lake county park to the summit of Mt Mckenzie, at 5,364 ft (or something). We camped at a primitive site and were nearly inhaled by droves of mosquitoes.
Yesterday morning was cold and as we started our day taking in the views at the summit, we saw the dense fog awaiting us for our descent. It was fuh-reezing-- the first downhill of the trip that I was praying to end. We paused in the middle of it to watch a pro bike race climb up what we just flew down; they were climbing about as fast as I descend...not really, but close. Probably like 15mph. Up a 22 mile climb gaining 5,000 ft of elevation. Champs.
We got to our campsite in Coburg after 83 miles of riding at a pretty late hour, due to our casual, take-our-time-and-stop-a lot fashion, but we still had sunlight and that's what matters. We ate a whole jar of queso in celebration of our first "finishing" high five, given by Aaron, an eastbounder we met a few miles from our campsite.
Today we rode 82 (86? 84?) miles to Grand Ronde and saw our first signs directing us to the Oregon Coast. WE ARE SO CLOSE TO THE PACIFIC AND BEING DONE. BitterSWEET.
Oregon has been awesome, especially the last three days: some of the best-houses and gardens of the trip, Virginia-like vegetation/scenery, good food, Thomas' acquisition of an awesome hat which cracks me up to no end as I ride behind him, me eating almost two full sleeves of Oreos and realizing that's like 4million calories and then realizing that I don't care, and so much more.
I love Oregon. Only two more real days of riding.............. Get stoked.

This Coffee Tastes Like Beef Jerky

Yesterday we rode a short 44 miles from Prairie City to Dayville. Went to church in John day, and took a long lunch break and still got to the Presbyterian church we were staying at early in the day. The church was awesome: showers, laundry, pancake mix and bacon and ice cream--what else could you need?
Today we went around 80 miles to our campsite in Ochoco county state park. We had two good climbs and some good rain fall upon us. It was nice and cool today, at some points cold which was a little less than pleasant.
We think we hit the 4000 mile mark today....insanityyyyyy.
Goodnight, neverland

Silly Soggy Saturday

Today was a day. Rain/rain clouds kept us cool for most of it, but the sun greeted us as we made our last climb and then descended into Prairie City. The cool weather was a nice change from the past days. Oregon is great so far, and even in the rain I saw a bunch of cyclists out--looks like we're reaching friendly territory.
We left our host from last night fed with cereal and fresh raspberries and began our 69 mile day. No stops for 53 miles, meaning we dined under a pine tree to keep us out of the rain.
Prairie city seems nice, and the restaurant served us delicious fare. But.
Budgeting has begun. Now that the trip is almost over and funds are almost out. It's harder than expected after two months of luxurious unlimited ice cream eating and the like. Wish me luck.

The beginning of the end

Yesterday we did 75 miles from new meadows to the Oregon state line. It was a hooooottt day, but that's howThomas and I like it. We like to start just late enough so that the sun has risen and is creating temperatures which to most are uncomfortable. This baking of the skin and our helmeted brains is what we live for. Mmm yes, we try REALLY hard to make sure we don't miss any of those peak UV rays; gotta keep our tan lines crisp and our pores sweatin'. What's the fun in touring if you don't sweat out 4 pounds of water each day--at LEAST. We ride until just before it's gonna start cooling down, ya know, to harness every last bit of maximum heatage. Love love loveeee it. Especially when we ride through Hell's Canyon. Aptly named.
Anyways, today we started early, just to try out what these newbs we've talked to have referred to as "beating the heat" (why you would want to beat something so nice I don't know; abuse is never fun). We started at 6 am since we had about 82 miles to ride to Baker City, Oregon. But Fate was our friend and on this Friday the 13th, she made sure we would still get some time in the scorching times of the day by giving me my second flat of the trip. Long story short I "fixed" it on my own only to have it give way mere miles later, so an hour and a half later I was giving my old tire to a fellow tourer in need and finally back on the road to tackle the 70 miles we had left.
It was a long day but a good day. I jammed to some rascal flatts and Keith urban in the last 40 miles and that made em fly by. We're now at an awesome warm showers host--thanks so much kathi!