We're currently sitting at a cafe in Mapleton, OR, about 16 miles inland from the coast, sippin' some organic hippie coffee and staring at the Siuslaw River. This town is a nice blend of mother-earth-loving hippies who make their home just 21 miles up the road on the Alpha farm in Deadwood, AND straight up Harley ridin', loggers. I can't quite put my finger on it but there is a palpable vibe between the two groups. I think for the most part one just pretends the other isn't really there. The Alpha farm has a little shop where they sell wholesome organic food, holistic type knick-knacks and have a library chalk full of hippie throwback books and more astrology, chart reading guides than you can shake a stick at, while just 2 doors down there is a biker bar complete with chain smoking, tattooed, hard asses.
IN-TER-EST-ING
Last night we slept in the Honeyman State Park in the hiker/biker section of the park. We are sectioned off since we smell and don't have money for things like cars or firewood or soap. WHATEVER. We managed to link up with some really awesome people touring down the coast to various spots, from various spots.
Miles and Fumie were from Colorado en route to San Francisco where Miles plans to live and work and Fumie, fresh off an internship in Washington, was down to join him. They are both recent graduates of CSU in Fort Collins, CO where a certain YOU KNOW WHO (Me) was born...I mean, I was only there for 3 months before my parents packed us off to MN, but still...that's a connection folks. There was also Michael, a quiet lad from the Spokane region of Washington, making his way to Santa Cruz to be a chef, hopefully, if his camp meals were any indication of his talent he should land a gig in no time. QUINOA?? AT CAMP?? Then we have Adam and Alana who are choosing to tour a bit down the coast on their vacations from work. Pretty nice.
We gathered around the firepit and attempted for the better part of 2 hours trying to get the damp wood to do more than just whaft smoke in our faces. There were spurts of warmth, to keep us around making jokes and swappin' stories into the night. It also helped that Miles decided early on to go and get several six packs of Pabst for the group and only root beer for the sober nerd. CHEERS!
The hard packed and lumpy camp site made for an interesting night of sleep, but I was up and ready to hit the road by about 10. All saddled up and a little sad to not be making the trek to Coos Bay where the rest of the group was heading, me and Lani biked back into Florence to swing by the post office to pick up the cell phone charger I left in Portland that Kyle, our host in Portland, so nicely mailed for me and to meet up with the 126 towards Eugene. All the way to Mapleton we followed the river and it was really nice and flat so I was averaging about 14 miles an hour (slight headwind), so that felt good, coving a lot of miles in a short period of time. Mapleton is about midway to Deadwood, so we're taking a break and deciding whether or not to ride more up the pass for another 20 miles into the farm or hang out and hitch a ride with Sunny, a woman who works at the farm, but is spending her day off at the glass studio in Mapleton. Hmm...?? What do you think we'll do?
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| New bike friends at the Campsite in Honeyman, near Florence, OR |
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| Lani is not impressed with our fire making skills |
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| "Let's go inland to find hippies!!" |
Actin' a fool in Newport....
