More like Soregon

My how time flies! Since we last spoke, big moves have been made. For example, due to budget cuts, our  terminus is now San Fransisco, CA. We've also entered our third out of 3 states, and pedaled over 750 miles! The days have begun to ooze together too much to give you a stat sheet, but we're doing more miles every day, eating significantly more, and seeing some of the most beautiful sights we ever have...so many, in fact, that we're both sick of the word "scenic."

Camping on the Lord's Lawn

Happy birthday, America

We ended our last conversation in Portland, OR. Our plan was to catch a ride back to Astoria, and continue like nothing had ever happened. However, we realized we are on a bike trip, and thus decided to ride back to the coast. An easy 80 miles...or so we thought. After a day full of tribulations, from my knee decided to spasm every other pedal stroke, to getting pretty well lost, we entered the hamlet of Carlton, OR. Deep in Oregon wine country, this cute little village featured quaint B&B's, classy cafes and BMWs in driveways. None of those things were encouraging. Luckily, the ladies at the Carlton Community Worship were as kind as could be, and gave us the church lawn to sleep on.  Something I hadn't anticipated about this trip is working around being homeless -- asking ourselves on a daily basis, where will we sleep tonight? And yet, we find homes and friends everywhere, in churchyards and four year-olds and dogs on leashes.  In grocery stores, outside restaurants, inside diners and on the rainy crossroads of highways.  In every town we've ridden through, we've found people interested and eager to help.  In this, we find a home for every situation and every moment.  We awoke early, on the birthday of this great nation, and rode an easy 50 miles to the coast. Fresh produce stands dotted the wayside, so naturally we sampled the fare (including an all-American cheeseburger and root beer) and enjoyed the sunshine. It felt great to be on the Great Pacific once again.

Fort Stevens State Park

The Darlingtonia californica: a
carnivorous plant local to southern
Oregon and northern California.
Darling, isn't it?

The subsequent coast was fairly uneventful. We rode through Newport, a seaside tourist town with a superb bike shop, then came Florence, Coos Bay and Reedsport in quick succession. All these coastal towns blend together after a while. Bakeries, diners, small boutiques and pastels made the rest of the Oregon coast whiz by.  We were sad to have left behind our surfboard-towing friends but more were to be made.  We played on the sand dunes south of Newport, listened to a fellow tourer, Mars, play classical guitar and then traveled to Sunset Bay, a traffic heavy, relatively boring day.  Unfortunate, given that it was Dory's birthday.  Though Dory's banana boat (that is, a banana sliced open, filled with marshmallows and chocolate chips, wrapped in tin foil and thrown in the fire to roast) birthday wishes did not come true (we failed to purchase groceries in Coos Bay and the "grocery stores" in Charleston were selling rotten bananas), the evening was saved by a new surfing friend, who produced, seemingly from nowhere, a delicious coffee cake with which we drank champagne.

A milestone!

Side note: I just finished Ken Kesey's "Sometime a Great Notion." Not only is it one of the most incredible literary feats I've ever witnessed, but it's an ideal tour guide of the Oregon coast. Every town we went through was mentioned several times, and I had a background on area before entering. Highly recommended, whether traveling through or not.

Thank you, California.

We arrived in California on July 10th, to sunny weather and giant Redwoods.  Our first BIG hill of the trip was preceded by a mild food-poisoning incident.  Dory survived, made it up the hill, and will be avoiding walnuts for the duration of the trip.  The redwoods immediately amazed us.  Those of you who have visited know that there are no words, and those of you who have not will have to imagine.  We rested at the southern tip of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park -- our first rest day since Portland.  And here we are in Arcata, California, which seems to be the Missoula of the Pacific Coast.

Redwoods depend on dense coastal fog for
one third of their annual moisture intake. FACT

California is surprising. I was picturing a glittering metropolis full of glamour and bikinis beginning at the "Welcome to California" sign. Instead--much like Oregon--there is heavy backwood influence, small, forested towns, and big (the biggest yet) hills. Of course this will change as we get closer to our final metropolis, but surprising nonetheless. On a positive note, the first morning we woke up in CA, I could tell we were in a new place. Not only were we surrounded by the biggest feats of natural engineering I'd ever seen, but the air was new. Crisp, refreshing, downright fragrant. What a way to wake up.

More pictures, philosophical musings and self-validating blabber to come...

P.S.  Click on the ads on the blog page -- they'll send us a check, if we get enough clicks...$$$$