Hello Jealous,
Correct, we made it to Cali and we are REALLY diggin' it. Ok, ok, ok...so it wasn't until after I got to sleep in a bed and have a real meal that I started to appreciate the golden state for all it's splendor, but yeah....it's pretty great. We woke up from our second day at Harris Beach in Brookings, Oregon and with a bit of dispair bid farewell to beautiful, lovely, warm, friendly, hospitable Oregon and made our way to the California border. BUT FIRST...we did some sea side stretch/yoga/push ups with our new pals Vincent and Joey.
Bout to stretch
Me and Lani were needing direction and discipline with our pre-cycling stretch routine and BOOM there they were to give us a hand.
Bowing to the seas
I'm not saying these cats knew there Sun A's from there elbows, but it was fun and the ocean was the perfect backdrop for the stretching and it felt right to give the Oregon coast a proper farewell. It will be missed...
BUT FUCK IT WE'RE IN CALIFORNIA NOW!! WOOOOO HOOO. We spent the better part of an hour taking pics and being stupid (taking breaks to pee within line of sight from the road, classy)
Oh Oregon you will be missed and I will be back, but not before the rainy season is over, that I can assure you.
It took awhile but we eventually did find people actually living in California, a place called Fort Dick where the people are a bit odd, but they were giving away kittens and boy did that turn the tables. ALMOST...ALMOOOOOOOOOST, but despite Tamara's cries for me to adopt that kitty, Lani's level headed (see: hatred) of animals steered me in the right direction and we pressed on. Something we realized early is that where Oregon is organized and thoughtful regarding bikers, California is...well they could care less. The campsites and routes for bikers are not clearly marked so we passed the state park unknowingly and ended up back tracking 3 miles and staying in a county park...NOT AS NICE. No showers and questionable restroom facilities, but we didn't have to pay so that was cool. We also got a taste of the redwoods...just babies...but COOL!
Me and Tamara quickly set out exploring while Lani put up the tent and, ya know made sure we had food and whatnot. Whatever...we were excited. HA! Tamara found a tree stump that we all hung out in and had coffee. It was cool.
We also found a hollowed out redwood that was like a little magical fort, Tamara wanted to sleep there but I reminded her that many, MANY animals probably had that same thought way before her.
Here we are in the stump, just the gals kicking in with the Dutch guys, that's right, we were on the same track as Jelle and Pim so we camped next to them and hung out, exchanged conflicting cultural norms with each other, and made a fire. It was REAL cold.
It was like the Amazon...I swear.
After many takes...we finally got this pic of all of us in the stump. The girl at the top was this really sweet, bubbly lass from Germany named Mimi who was hitchhiking down the coast and hiking along the way. She was SOOOOO nice. Hope her travels are safe here on out. After a not satisfying or nutritional breakfast of a few oatmeal packets and string cheese we were off to tackle Crescent City and the GIANT, OMINOUS, DAUNTING hill we had been hearing about since Brookings. One guy actually dubbed it the "hill of broken dreams" at first I laughed, but now I kind of get it.
This is us after doing many 1/10 of this monster...but we were heading into the redwood forest and that coast line behind us. I felt so obligated to take in the scenery around me, but at the same time I sort of wanted to barf all over it and fall off my bike and die, but we pressed on.....for roughly 7 more miles of incline...on this shitty 2 lane highway WITH NO BIKE LANE. RV's are now on the shit list. WHY DO YOU NEED A HOUSE ON VACATION??? Why do you need to drive that house 60 miles an hour up a mountain that careens through giant trees and then shout at tiny bikers who only ask that you DON'T HIT THEM!??! America at this point made no sense to me. Even our peaceful, joy spreading Canadian friend was getting angry...shit was getting really real.
Hello I'm a bike lane
We finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel or in our case the truck on the triangle. It was a bit bitter sweet...I mean you climb those hills with the expectation the downhill is going to be wicked awesome, but with no bike lane...well, let's just say I was saying my prayers the whole way down...THE WHOLE WAY DOWN. I could have easily gotten up to 45mph but only allowed myself a modest 34mph because like I said people who drive RV's through the redwoods are dicks.
COME SEE HOW GOOD I LOOK!
.
After that epic climb we got down to the other side to a town called Klamath and ran to the nearest eatery a one FOREST CAFE, next to the TREES MOTEL across the way from the TREES OF MYSTERY MUSEUM and ate until we couldn't move and then passed out in the parking lot for about an hour. I went to the bathroom inside and when I came back out I saw that we looked rather homeless, at best transient and decided we should press on. We also ran into a pack of other cycle tourists and thinking the gals were behind me I set off with the pack, it included a couple from Boston and 2 Brits and the Canadian Ben we met in Brookings, along with Jeremy from France.
The posse...it was so cool to ride with that many people, really empowering, but soon I realized that Lani and Tamara weren't with me. Assuming they wouldn't be far behind that the campsite would be soon (wrong) I just kept on....until it got hilly again and I took a breather. So the people I was riding with trudged on and I was left to wait for my pals who weren't coming in any real hurry. UNTIL...I noticed a pickup with a oddly shaped metal pole sticking out the back. Before you know it I see Lani's trailer and their bikes flying by me at highway speeds with Tamara waving at me from the bed. They didn't stop until about a 1/4 mile down. I later found out Tamara had to bang on the cab to get them to stop since the guys driving didn't know me and Lani wasn't paying attention...THANKS LAWN!
Kickin' it in DA TRUCK BED, it sounds fun at first, but then you're flying down the highway in fall time in NoCal and you realize IT'S A BIT CHILLY...and then it gets really old.
We made the best of it though by cracking jokes and telling ourselves how great the hot showers at the state park would be. Mmmmm...hot showers.
It was at times quite windy...see picture.
So we got to the camp side a one RED PRAIRIE state park...but we realized it was WAY off the 101 and we'd spend half the day biking back to 101 just to get outta there so we decided to go to the next campsite called Patrick's Point. Got dropped off there, even though it looked to be closed and made camp. Eager as I was I ran to the shower to get warm and clean. Well, the California state parks are PAY showers, FUCK so we pooled our quarters and off I went again. Hmm...the parks closed, but SURELY the hot water boiler is still on FALSE. I took a sort of half shower in FREEEEEZING water and walked back to the tent super pissed I wasted a dollar on that bullshit. I called the park number to get the skinny and realized that only a portion of the park was open, so we saddled up with our shower gear and towels and made for the pay showers over there...in goes another dollar and SWEET SWEET SHOWERS we did have. We all woke up sore and hungry and not really into the "cycling 30 miles" thing so we walked down some paths to the cliffs and stretch near the coast. It was really REALLY windy, but super beautiful. I forgot my camera, so there aren't pics of that, sorry. Then we set off for Trinidad, which the park is actually in, but we needed to head to the central part because our host for the evening lives in Trinidad PROPER. Carol from Couchsurfing.org offered to put us up for the night, but she wouldn't be home til 10pm so we had to entertain ourselves until then. We got some food and then loitered around the coffee shop until we got bored, then just went back to Carol's house and waited for her on her front stoop. It was roughly 6pm. You can't honestly believe we had the patience to just sit there, do you? No....Tamara had the good idea to go back the coffee shop and leech there WiFi from outside, sit in our sleeping bags and watch netflix movies on my computer...and that's just what we did. The connection was slow and the movie wasn't that great, but it killed the time nicely and when we returned Carol was home and invited us in. After some pleasantries and learning the ropes we all say down for a nice chat with Carol, who is an amazing woman who teaches special ed at Eureka High School, who raised a globe trotting son who's in school at NYU. We all were really tired, me, Lani and Tamara from our whole day of sloth-like activities and Carol from a full day of teaching and SALSA CLASS!! Ay-chi!! Lani and Tamara gave me a bed to myself since I've not been sleeping well (and still haven't :o(
After a lazy start and some procrastinating (Carol keeps such a nice home complete with scones and french press coffee :::SIGH:::::) We headed down the road to Arcata, only about 16 miles...nothing crazy we're still lazy and tired from that hill plus there are COOL TOWNS HERE!! My friend back in Minneapolis, JESSICA, gave me the name of her friend Liz (who I actually briefly met this winter) who lives in Arcata and offered to put us up for the night, so that's where were at. I should have more pics of Arcata tomorrow. It was such a shock to see such a bustling, young, college town along our route since in Oregon that wasn't really the case. People are just so friendly and chatty here and we'll probably hang out for a bit and really soak up the atmosphere. We all really dig it.
The thrift stores in Arcata are BADASS
This is Penny one of the dogs that Liz is looking after while house sitting. She is my new best friend and we'll never be apart. Truth. There are 3 dogs, 11 chickens and 1 duck...only a 10 minute bike ride out of Arcata...I love this place. I might never leave. PLUS I already know 1 resident and she's fucking RAD!
Can you feel the love?
That's up to date as it gets. Now I'm going to sit and watch a movie and maybe fall asleep. Missing Minneapolis, but really loving my time out here. Thinking of friends and family often, you are all on my mind.
Greetings internetians,
We here we are in another B town along the coast, Brookings, Oregon, the last city before CALIFORNIA!!! The night before we stayed in Cape BLANCO and as you know we stayed in BANDON. So...the southern coast line has a thing for the B names I guess.
Anyhoo...we stayed in Bandon for several glorious, star filled nights while the weather was great and then shoved off 2 days ago to continue the journey. On the map it looked like an easy jaunt to the next camp ground, Cape Blanco. As the crow flies it's probably 15, maybe 20 miles, BUT we've come to discover that maps lie...maps like real hard. The 101 cuts inland for no apparent reason, rather than just following the coast. So...I got to the turn off point to Blanco thinking "Finally, I can relax, I'm home". NOPE...I biked a solid 25 miles up and down and up and down the hilly countryside, through eerily small towns that didn't seem too hospitable to biker folk, only to have to ride another 6 miles back towards the coast and TRUST when I say that those last 6 miles were the worst. DID I MENTION THE HEAD WIND THE WHOLE WAY!?!? At least 25 or 9000 miles per hour...at least. So, as luck would have it almost immediately when I turn off the 101 the clouds roll in, the fog creeps up and a slight sprinkle starts to cover me trebling, weak and now FREEZING body. I mean...there was a creepy sheep farm with sheep silently chopping on grass, staring blankly at me as if to say "Welcome to hell, it's colder than you expected, hey?". It was hard and I maybe had to push my bike up one of the hills, but dammit I made it. I don't think I got any really good pictures of the camp ground itself, but it was really weird. I showed up alone thinking there might be some other hiker/bikers to convene with, but NOPE all alone, even the RV crowd was thin and not super friendly. The weather was bitter and cold and wet and the WIND...shit...that was spooky in those huge trees. I quickly took a shower to warm up, set my clothes on the and set to collecting some fire wood from the various pits around us and dry twigs (I refuse to pay for wood). Along the way I bumped into a biker who immediately looked confused the second I opened my mouth and it was quickly revealed that English was not his forte. Alfonze from Germany was quickly my saving grace and not being alone. But wait, where was Lani?
Well, Lani decided to get her day started off a bit slower than me and didn't leave until roughly 2 or 3 hours after I did...meaning she was close to 15 miles behind me and starting to have a sneaking suspicion that Blanco was indeed further than originally thought. I was getting worried that she would just give up come dark and pitch our tent on the side of the road, leaving me to sleep on the cold, wet, hard ground with my bag and my tarp. NOT FUN. But I was mentally preparing for such an event or cozying up to my new German friend, who was, by the way, 68 years old, riding a huffy, IN SANDALS. He had already ridden 55 miles that day and was fresh as fucking spring time.
Sure enough just after I cook up some spaghetti I see a white pick up truck roar up the hill with an unmistakable neon handlebar bag poking out of the bed. Yep, Lani hitched a ride!! Woohoo. Turns out this lady Alice saw Lani looking at her map at the end of her drive way and offered to drive Lani up the campground before dark. Bright eyed and bushy tailed Lani strolled into camp and I quickly took it upon myself to set up the tent, my home, my shelter, my safety...oh so nice.
After the tent was set up and the fire was roaring, thanks to Alonze's diligence at gathering wood, we were graced with yet another biker friend. Her name was Tamara and she was wearing golden, shimmering fairy wings. We were about to be BESTIES! She's traveling alone down the coast, heading for Mexico and we've been hot on her tail since Newport. She stayed with the couch surfer, Amie, the night before we got there and then was at Alpha Farms for a few days only to leave just before we arrived. I thought we'd never meet her, but as luck would have it she veered off course to stay in Eugene for a bit, then stayed in Coos Bay to nurse an eye infection, while we were in Bandon. So finally, in the most inhospitable campground to date, we finally met. I know I was probably more excited than was necessary, but good news was in short supply that night.
Tamara decided that tonight was the night she would attempt to use her stove that was loaned to her by a friend, the whisperlite international. As far as camp stoves go the one me and Lani got, though large and awkwardly shaped, is just about idiot proof. The other stoves, like Tamara's, that are white gas and require pumping and preheating and all sorts of crazy shit, while compact, could lead to a fireball engulfing your whole face. I'd seen other people use these stoves and it looked complicated, now I'm certain that every person who purchases a stove like this should be say down and required to take a class with some sort of an exam at the end to ensure all parties involved know how to operate said stove. The problem that Tamara ran into was turning the gas on too much and then lighting it while the gas was pouring out, making quick work of covering the table in gassy flames and freaking everyone the fuck out. In panic situations I tend to just giggle like an idiot, while trying to be helpful and this situation was NO exception. I clearly all the stuff off the table all the while laughing like a goddamn idiot. Tamara was holding it down in the simply freaking out department, all she could say was "WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO? THIS SHIT IS ONE FIRE!" At this point Lani and Alfonze were on the scene and Alfonze ran to grab some water, for some reason I hadn't grabbed any, confusing my fear of water and flaming cooking oil vs. water and gas. The cooking oil is bad when dowsed with water, the gas is ok to use water on. I was trying to figure out where the fuck I could baking soda when all of a sudden Tamara grabbed the bottled and attempted to unscrew it resulting in the entire stove to expel a GIANT fire ball directly into Tamara's face. All I can say is thank god her hair was up, because the little bits that were singed and black, she was pretty excited about the prospect of any facial hair (short of her eyebrows) being singed off but besides that she was completely horrified and cursing the stove. She got over it pretty quick with a hot shower and some practice poi spinning (think the fire dancers that spin balls of fire on chains at festival, but hers were just light up balls).
Off to sleep we went in the creepy little camp and we awoke to Alfonze bidding us farwell as he rode off on his huffy to the next campsite some 60 miles away, that dude is HANDLIN' his business on that Huffy. The rest of us were feeling a bit weary and sluggish, but wanted to get the fuck out of Blanco, so we divised a plan to call the lady Lani got a ride up the hill with the day before, because she said she'd give us a ride if we wanted one. Sure enough, 30 minutes later Alice chugged up the hill with freshly backed chocolate cake and bungee cords for our bikes. Tamara got on on the action too and we were off, but not before Alice opened the food bank in town for us AND took us through the grocery store for more supplies (like a can opener, honey and coffee) With about 100 more pounds of shit to carry Alice hauled us another 50 miles down the road, just past Gold Beach and let us off to bike another 25 miles to Brookings (we had to ride some, I mean...that would just be cheating) It was a pretty tough stretch, with the added weight of food, the weather being quite crappy and what not, but we made it and the sun even came out in the last 5 miles to grace us with its wonderful rays. The ride was pretty special too because the coast was just AMAZING looking and the added bonus of a new pal to ride with.
We rolled into the camp and bumped into our past camp pals, the dutch boys, Joe from Thailand and 2 Alaskans, all of which we met in Bandon. Soon Alfonze would roll into the camp and soon after that Joey and Vincert, the Portlanders we also met in Bandon would join the fun. It just HAPPENED that we had enough food to feed an army so we set about cooking and inviting all the camp people to join us. The new guy to the crew, Eric, was a nature photographer on his way south. He ended up ordering a pizza, but shared it and therefore he was entrusted into the clan. Alfonze made quick work of the fire and we were all jovial and getting rowdy around the fire. Tamara started spinning her fake poi and even I took a turn at it (I'm awesome apparently, despite smashing myself in the face several times) The giant rootbeer buzz I had started to wear off kind of early and I made for my tent before the party was over, but everyone pretty much dispersed after that. I was pretty sure people would be hung over and/or feeling ill, especially Alfonze who drank tequila for the first time last night and REALLY REALLY liked it, but like any seasoned Oktoberfester, he was on his bike headed for Cali by 9am. That dude is the most legit biker with the most janky set up I've ever seen.
This morning the crows woke us up, as usual and after an awesome egg sandwich thanks to Vincent we headed off to town. My front panniers are all messed up and the brackets that hold them on are the issue. After a trip to a dickhead bike shop, I went to Ace hardware to get something new to hold them on. They are pretty permanent now, but they are ON and that's the key. Only cost me $2 and some face to tire action, Brent would be proud. Mama did it all by herself. And thus we are up to date and off to more adventures. We'll be in Brookings all day and headed out to Crescent City, CA tomorrow...where we've heard really bad shit about the hills, but whatever...I'll survive...or at least we'll find out.
Just. Keep. Pedaling.
All the pictures are at the bottom and out of order, but enjoy.
Let's talk about the baby duck on the right...just for a second.
Sunny trees in Bandon
Creepy sheep heading up the Blanco
Fog rolled in just in time for me to get freaked out
Overlooking the hill I just climbed
really freaked out but wanting a good picture
Alice is in the plaid...FOOD BANK!
FOOOOOOOD and Judy is on the right
New pals
Road to Brookings
Getting dropped off by Alice
Pals
Tamara rocks the Ukelele
HI BRIDGE
Pot luck...Look like a weido
Breezy
Port of Bandon
Tamara...all bridged up
Check me out...I'm unsafe
We all are!
SUN AND YAY!
WOOT!
Here comes the SUN!
So fun...
Cooks keepin' it real. Dinner is always a production!
Chaaaallow,
Hey gang...so here we are in Bandon still...I'm currently sitting at a little cafe just outside of old town, making use of the WiFi to skype mom and reflect on the trip. I've just made some realizations in the last day or so about how anxious I've felt to just GO GO GO! While Lani has been more relaxed and go with the flow, I have been having a really hard time slowing down and really taking it all in. I feel pressed for time and eager to move from city to city and I think it's really important for me to learn to just ease up and take the trip a day at time.
Today we're spending some quality time alone with ourselves to do what we want to do. Lani has to run some errands, post office and so forth, while I'm just bummin' around, playing on the web, seein' some sight and trying to unwind. I've come to the conclusion that I need a thicker sleeping mattress because my hips are ALL bruised up and I barely get any restful sleep at night. That makes me a feel REAL strung out, which isn't cool at all.
Had a hard night of phone calls to mom, sister (Jo), Bro (Sarah) just trying to gain some perspective about the goals of why I'm doing this trip and it was REALLY nice to hear honest outside feed back and really take that in and own my mental state while on this trip. I feel a lot better and better prepared to sloooooooow down and enjoy the journey vs. going balls to the wall to reach my destination, which is?? I don't even know. I mean, when people ask we say San Diego, but I highly doubt I'll be headed back to MN at the end of November, just in time for winter? Doubt it. So the journey is just beginning and if I miss it along the way that would really suck and I'd have serious regrets.
With that said, me and Lani re-worked the format of the trip to cater to both of our desires for the journey. A little more planning on where we're headed and when for my sake and a little more relaxing and savoring the journey for Lani, but really for both of us. Tomorrow we should hoist anchor and head a bit further south. We haven't talked about where just yet but probably Cape Blanco or Gold Beach. Some bikers we met at Honeyman park are about to be in Arcata in the next few days and staying there for a bit, so there's a chance we could meet up with them again. It would be HOT cuz they were super fun and we miss them. Miles and Fumie...WE COMIN'!!
Last night at Bullard, we met 2 more bikers who are in route to Argentina, they we really living it up with all kinds of goodies. Tea, Coffee, various sauces and spices and all the comforts of home. Not too shabby. They even left us a bracelet to remember them by.
Well I'm off to find a new book. I've already gotten through 2 on this trip...amazing.
So the intentional community we stayed with just outside of Deadwood, OR...the one we biked 40 miles inland and up a mountain to get to...yeah it sucked. We got there in the evening...stayed a whole day, got up the following morning and bounced. No one was welcoming or inviting and sometimes acted quite rude, so with that sentiment we left and headed back to the coast feeling a little perturbed about the intentional community vibe hence forth.
We managed to hitch part of the way back to Florence so we could at least make SOME progress down the coast versus staying in the same state park we did 2 nights before. We ended up getting maybe 10 miles out of Florence and were going to stay in another state park when by chance another dude in a pick up offered us a ride to Bandon...like 60 miles south. That would make up for the days lost at the farm and so we hopped aboard and cruised down to Bandon.
He was an interesting guy, lots of stories and strong opinions of matters of taxes, immigrants, and marijuana, but another wise kind fellow. The kind of fellow that returns the wallet of the idiot biker who hitch hiked with him down the coast and forgot her wallet when she got out. YEAH...that HAPPENED!! For some reason I asked what his full name was and REMEMBERED IT! I looked him up, called him and within 30 minutes my wallet was returned. He was REALLY awesome and didn't even let me thank him with the $5 bill I had saying only "Oh, I have lots of money!" Needless today, I went from a full meltdown to carefree in a matter of no time...shit...frightening.
We camped out in the park with 3 other cyclist, 2 guys named Pim and Jella from Holland (I know...more Dutch) Who started in Toronto, Canada and were heading to L.A. before returning home to start college, yep, they were 18. And then there was Joe, from Thailand, who started in Virginia and was heading to San Fran before he went back to Thailand to resume life as a sound engineer. Yes, it was a united nations at the campfire and much political chats and talks of homeland customs were exchanged. The dutch guys had jiffy pop and after we shared a tin we all went to bed. I actually managed to get a decent nights sleep, I haven't been sleeping well when we camp. Don't kid yourself, when deciding between the 1 inch or 1.5 inch sleeping pad...go with the 1.5, Lani sleeps like a log while I wrestle all night with the flipping and the flopping and the bruised hips and the knots in my back. When you add super uneven ground and creepy animal noises to the equation, you get a sleepless, strung out Maggie. BUT...last night wasn't too bad, there is a certain level of safety you feel surrounded by your fellow campers, strangers that they may be...we are all comrades in this here camp life.
The sleep was magical until about 8AM when the crows decided to go batshit nuts and CAW CAW CAWed until Lani contemplated confronting the issue head on with the bear mace and my Rambo knife. We tucked murderous thoughts away and awoke for the day in time to say bye to our new friends.
We're staying another day or 2 in Bandon, not really because it's that cool, but because rest days are nice and Lani has been having some muscular gripes. Since we're in no hurry, why not? I'm sure a few rest days will do my body good too. We did some much need laundry in the Laundromat in town and then went into old town on the bay to treat ourselves to a nice meal...something we don't do too often. Tonight we heard there is a town dinner, free for all, so we should get another awesome meal in before bedtime...FREE MEAL!
I'm really craving some ice cream so I'm gonna sign out for now....handle that hankering.
Sorry no pics...been slacking...I promise to be better!
Hey Team,
So here I sit in the "office" of the intentional community a.k.a. commune, better known as our home for the few days...just outside of Deadwood, OR. I spent a long time fiddling with that map so you all could see the actual route we're taking. SHIT. We decided we would leave the cafe after a mere 3.5 hours of rest and just see how far we could get before the kind lady from the glass shop came by to pick us up. WELL, we are such ballers and in super awesome shape that we KILLED 21 miles of climbing up a mountain in just over 2 hours and required no ride...putting us over 40 miles for the day. Our biggest ride as of yet...beat our best by about 10 miles.
SOOO...there we were...exhausted...sweaty and in the middle of NOWHERE. We were warned that we would encounter some mountain lions or bears or elk along the way, no naturally we got out every means of defense we have and made them REAL handy...like the bear mace in my front panniers side pocket, or my Rambo knife in my handlebar bar...precautions. The further we got the more is seemed like we were in a South American jungle and the louder those banjos got to playin' (do you get my deliverance reference?) Anyways...we finally made it...take a right into the hippie commune shortly after the pavement ends...GOT IT.
We were greeted by a group of mellow, interestingly dressed mesh of people hanging out by a car near the big farm house. Some introduced themselves...some didn't bother...they were all waiting to go to a "gathering" I guess, except it was really unclear why they were waiting. It seemed all parties were accounted for and the vehicle was no less then 3 feet away. Did they lose the keys? No gas? Directions? We passed this group after getting settled into our tent in the north field and getting the grand tour (complete with 1 x 12 plank bridge over creek, yeah...200 pound bikes over THAT was fun) and yet still....they remained.
This place is straight out of a Woodstock biopic. There are actually old buses converted into housed that people live in. Not to mention the various other structures parading around as "houses". It's a trip, we got free reign of the fridge and the main house where we could cook a meal, take a shower, use the washer/dryer and the only people that seemed weirded out by all of this were...well...ME AND LANI. No one even batted an eye that 2 new strangers were whipping up cheesy eggs in the kitchen at 9pm...no cared enough to even ask us who we were, let alone what the hell we were doing raiding the fridge. Luckily there are other "visitors" and a kind young man named Miles gave us the run down and what we could expect. After using the WiFi and updating various parties (my mom) on whether or not we were mauled by a cougar we packed it in and headed across the plank bridge to our tent. Lani was quickly sawing logs, but something about being 20 miles from ANYTHING in a COMMUNE with HIPPIES...just made me feel real weird. All this open space and fresh air and proximity to nature that can kill me at any moment just put me on edge. Call me silly, call me corrupted by modernization, call me a pussy, but I grabbed up my computer and back to the "office" I went where I plan to warm myself by the glow of my laptop and probably fall asleep on this couch that numerous unbathed people before me have probably sacked out.
I'm suffocating on all this "out in the wild" bullshit...hopefully tomorrow is better...maybe.
So check my flava friends,
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?
New bike friends at the Campsite in Honeyman, near Florence, OR
That's about it for now. I'll post some photos and videos for the publics viewing pleasure. Y'all come back now.
Hello Interwebs,
From here we sit...Newport, OR in Cafe Mundo, a hip little joint near the coast where our host for the night, Amie, works. The food was too delicious for us to pass up and I feel ok about spending money on yummy home made food.
Today we woke up on Otter Beach just north of Newport to a blustery, cold, wet and miserable coastal rain. I mean our luck had to run out at some point, no? Yes gang...we spent a full day laid out on the beach yesterday, I mean we're talking Waikiki style, clear skies, hot sun, and the beach to ourselves. We figure we need days of rest in between the days of hard riding up and down the coast and why not do it on the beach? But as we've come to realize here, the nice weather never stays long and the cold front with inevitably get you.
The only picture I took all day
Suffice it to say that we mounted up at the first break of rain and rode south to Newport as quick as we could in the hopes of finding a couch to surf. While we sat in a Hawaiian themed cafe (is that the universe messing with us?) we patrolled the pages of Couchsurfing.org in the hopes of some kind soul helping us out. Amie answered the call and we were at her doorstep in no time at all. She and her dog, Jager, have a lovely little beach side studio just outside of town. Lani and I will be spending the night on the floor, sleep over style. Since we called our day of riding early due to weather we just relaxed and dried off until we got ancy and ventured into town. We met the kind folks at Newport Bike Shop, who actually have a full lounge, complete with TV's, WiFi and SHOWERS for passing bike tourists, unfortunately we didn't realize that until after we got to Amie's. Damn.
Now that you're all caught up to the minute with us...let's regress a bit back to Otter Rock. This cliff lined beach was nothing short of breath taking and we got to camp FOR free for 2 lovely nights. We actually met 2 other bike tourists from Holland named Joost and Michiel, who started their journey at the tip of Alaska in the arctic circle and it only took them 2 months to get to Oregon. They are cycling down to the tip of Argentina over the course of 18 months. When there they will deposit a bottle of water from the arctic as a symbol of the water cycle. They are raising awareness about the global water crisis, which leaves 1 billion people without access to clean safe drinking water. Check them out at www.cycleforwater.com...the coolest part is they are on BAMBOO bikes. Trippy stuff.
Our humble abode...bottom left
Otter Rock is also home to the Devil's Punch Bowl, which is a tide pool you can frolic in when it's low tide...which I did of course...only slipping a half dozen or more times. All the creepy crawlies were out and I was quickly freaked the hell outta there, the fear of being infested coupled with the threat of the tide suddenly rushing back in made for a quick, but THOROUGH go around. Also there was a dead seal on the beach and that made me feel some feelings.
Low tide
Devil's Punchbowl
Right NEAR DA BEACH
Taking a break before another climb up Cascade Head
Shaboom.
This appears to be a Memento style backwards post because I have no chronological pacing in my free form writing style....or I'm just forgetful. So before Otter Rock, before Newport, we parted ways with Karen and Joe in Neskowin and headed up to tackle Cascade head...CLIMB CLIMB CLIMB CLIMB...for about 2 hours...only really covering about 2 to 3 miles of ground. We opted to take the Slab Creek Road, gentler grade climb rather than hit the 101 and go straight up. I mean...I'm pretty sure we would have dropped dead of a heart attack if we tried to go straight up, but those gentler grades that seem to go on and on and on forever push me to the edge of sanity. Especially Cascade head that offered NO flats or breaks...just creeped up winding climbs. We took a break for Lani to stretch and for me to lay on my back and collect myself for a moment, for if I didn't a would lose it in the middle of the Suislaw National Forest and you never know when I park ranger will be able to come and collect the pulpy mess that was once Maggie.
Anyways...with every climb comes the inevitable downhill on the otherside...and this one was EPIC. We're talking a 6 minute free fall at 30 miles per hour...I just about pooed myself at those speeds.
After that it felt like smooth sailing all the way through Lincoln City and to what we thought was our campsite at Fogarty Creek, but it turned out to be only day use so we were told to press on towards Newport, another 10 or so miles down the road to Beverly Beach where they offered camping for bikers. BUT FIRST we had to brave Cape Foulweather...while not as intense as Cascade Head, at the end of a 30 mile ride, running on fumes, I was yet again pushed to my mental and physical brink. After tipping over twice, one from exhaustion the other from attempting to take a picture and subsequently smashing into a rock wall...MAN DOWN!! Thank god Lani was feeling fresh as spring and was able to drag me along with her. We eventually were spit out on the other side of the cape after another sweet free fall, where we ran into Paul and his dog Lucky, who offered us beer (changed to pop for me) if we went and looked at the point at Otter Rock at sunset before pressing on to Beverly Beach. Long story short we ended up camping at Otter for 2 nights and never went to Beverly Beach.
Paul is not really in the pic, but Lani and surfer, Guy, made small talk by the fire.
Well faithful readers, that's all I got for now. I think I'll sign off and make an effort to relax and enjoy the vibe in Newport. Hopefully tomorrow we make it to Yahacts or beyond. Forecast says CLEAR SKIES!!
Oh wait...the 6 minute free fall video down Cascade head. It's kinda poor quality and shakey, but it's fun and has some funny bits in the middle.
