70- Rest and reflection

0 miles from Seaside to Seaside

Hind sight is 20-20. Looking back I'm not sure there is too much I would do differently on this trip. 20 short miles remain between me and the end of this cross country journey by bike. It's early monday morning and my bags are packed, my bike is clean and my plane ticket is waiting.

We took a day off yesterday to enjoy the ocean, prepare for our flights home and kick back a little bit. We took a car trip to Washington State, where we may or mat not have gotten stuck in the sand. Though Neils little suzuki is all wheel drive its ground clearence is not all that. We got pulled out by a big chevy truck, silly silly me.

Yesterday eveneing was spend visiting with Niel and Marcello, we walked downtown for dinner. We sat around and shared tales and we laughed till my belly hurt.  Marcello is a journalist form Italy, who is couchsurfing while writing a few peices about western culture (mainly music).  We then had a nice fire on the beach, took a dip in the Pacific and had a few drinks before calling it a night.


I am rested and ready to ride. Let's go live!


Thomas H

69- Beach bum in training

50 miles from Tillamook to Seaside


Pacific, pacific. Climb descend, stop to look at the ocean, climb, descend, repeat until you reach sea side. i love the ocean. Who knew?

Abi and I have been talking about Sea Side for the past week.  We met a lady at a campground a while back who has a beach house in Sea Side.  She invited us to stay when we passed through.

Well we got there to find the drive way empty and the blinds shut. Luckily Abi founds a warm showers host in Sea Side who very kindly took us in on very short notice.

Neil (our host) is rad, our clothes are in the drier and I am a very happy Thomas.  20 short miles to go.

Thomas

68- Hello?

71.232323232 miles from Grand Ronde to Tillamook

The camp ground in Grand Ronde was a interesting experience to say the least. Just as I was getting nice and settled in, juuuust about asleep, in rolls not one but two rv's full of loud.  Who shows up to a campground at 10:30?  They Loud's set up camp, cooked out, yelled screamed laughed and hollered into the wee hours of the morning.  I eventually got to sleep despite the racket.

I woke up to peace and quiet.  A Nice calm cool Oregon morning.  I went to check my phone that I left charging in the rest room. Door open, light on, no phone to be seen.  Bummer squared.

After asking my noisy neighbors, talking to the park managers and checking the bathroom about 15 times I pedaled west free of the technology that most of us are so dependent on.  Luckily for me I have taken the majority of my photos on a acctual camera and not my phone.

Phone you were a good one, i hope your new thieving owner treats you well.

Pacific!!!

Oh my beautiful ocean!! Abi and I stopped the at the first beach sign we saw and slowly walked through the sand to the big blue. It was a amazing to stand looking at the ocean that we just rode across the US to get to.  That being said, we still had 50 more miles to ride that day.  It was all I could do to get back on my bike.  But after all winners never quit and such.  So we rode on.

We reluctantly camped at the RV ground in Tillamook, this one was much quieter and i had no phone to get stolen. So two thumbs uP :)


A very phone free,
Thoma 

67- Does this hat make by butt look fat?

82 miles from Coburg to Grand Ronde

Remember how I said Oregon is the Virginia of the west? Well todays ride proved that statement true yet again. I was having a hard time comprehending I wasn't out on a ride back home.

That being said, of course it is beautiful... it looks like VA!! The mountains have a nice blue color again. The freshly mown fields rolled out of sight and the smell of hay took me right back to Hedge Lane.

We are on the last map, with only a 150 miles till the end. Wow.

Abi picked me up a straw hat at the truck stop in Coburg this morning. It is truely a wonderful hat. Thanks Abi!

Im having a blast. There is a certain energy that I haven't felt since the first week. Pretty cool feeling.

Also we have started getting props for riding across the country. I was told by couple from Tenessee that I should be very proud of my accomplishment. And we even got our first high five from a fellow cylist. You have no idea how glorious that high five felt.

Thom

66- Cascade Classic

83 miles from McKenzie Pass to Coburg

We have the best timing ever. We just so happened to be going down the pass when..wait for it.. the Cascade Cycling Classic was racing up it. We got a great perspective on just how slow we are. We also realized it is very tough to come up with things to yell at the racers who are not the leaders... Go faster!! Uhh no thats not it. Great job!!! They know its not true.. Uhhh Keep it up?? nope.

Also people make nasty noises while riding. If there is only two riders its not too bad. A pack of 70 riders sounds like.. Well its not a pretty sound. Lots of snorting and hacking. Eww

The rest of the ride was very pleasant. We met a few friendly east bounders and had nice chats with them. 

Oregon is def the Virginia of the west. I don't dislike it.

Tho

65- Sisters

65 miles from ochoco park to McKenzie Pass (Lava Creek campground)

Twas a beautiful climb up to the pass. The campground we stayed at was at the trail head to the PCT. As some of you may know, Dan P. is thu hiking the pct. We only missed seeing each other by a few days.

I wrote dan a message beside the trail with broken limbs, we shall see if he notices it.

The campground was beautiful, right beside a lake... Mosquitos liked the location too. I have over 25 fresh bites... All on the back of my knees. I must have sweated off the bug spray on my little hike. Itchy itchy

Th

64- I was thinking...

81 miles- Dayville to Ockicho Park

Today was a quiet day for me. With the trip drawing to a end I find myself thinking about home and the things im looking forward to.

The list goes as follows-
Seeing my family
My pup
My friends
Work
Mountain biking
The river
Applying the things I have learned to the "real world"

Though with these thoughts comes the list of things I am going to miss.

New adventures everyday.
Meeting new people
Being rediculous with Abi on the daily
Having new things to take pictures of,
And just about everything about bike touring.

Oregon is beautiful, the road was oh so smooth today, and we had a nice rain shower on the climb.
T.