Another Foggy Day - Day 16

Sharla got up with big pain in lower left leg but Advil relieved it so wasn't painful after we got on the bikes.  Switched to long sleeve jerseys and leggings along with our jackets to help us stay warm.  For the most part, it was an enjoyable ride but would have been nicer without all the fog.  We rode along some of the Oregon Sand Dunes.  Met up with Nick again at Jessie Honeyman State Park... a 51 mile day.

Cold & Foggy - Day 15

We woke up to fog and had fog most of the day.  Despite the weather, we had a beautiful ride and saw some magnificent coastline. We stopped in Newport at a bike shop and were able to get a replacement shifting cable housing that the BOB trailer had pinched.  We travelled 34 miles to the South Beach State Park campground.  We also met up again with our friend, Nick, from Sweden.

God's Amazing Miracle - Day 14

The day brought 2 mountains (gains of about 800' each in elevation with steep pitches) that Sharla was dreading.  Several stops on the way up made them endurable but getting the bikes going again on an incline was difficult.  One of Sharla's attempts resulted in a fall and a skinned knee.  

We stopped in Pacific City at a little cafe for a big second breakfast. The place was quite busy so took us quite awhile.  The day had been cool & foggy and 2 1/2 miles out of Pacific City, the sun was shining so we stopped to take our jackets off and put on sunscreen.  As we were getting back on our bikes, someone drove by and hollered, "Ed and Sharla". We had no idea who would know us up here. It ended up being one of Sharla's college roommates, Ellen Osborn. She lives in Arizona and unknown to us, her daughter lives in Pacific City and Ellen was in Oregon for the birth of her new grandchild.  Ellen knew we were riding down the coast on 101, but wasn't aware of exactly where we were at in our journey and was looking at all bicyclers to see if she could spot us.  It had probably been 15 years since the last time we had seen each other.  God's timing was so amazing in how long it had taken us to climb the hill, how long it took us to eat, and Ellen happened to be on the same road at the same time as us.  It was really special to see her again.

After 5 nights on the ground, we decided to get a motel in Lincoln City and do our laundry. Milestones we accomplished today included completing our first 500 miles of the journey and crossing the 45th parallel which is halfway to the equator.

Cape Lookout State Park - Day 13

After a great hot breakfast with the Hanke's, we had another short day of 22 miles to Cape Lookout State Park. On the way we toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory but the production line was down due to it being Labor Day.  This State Park has a great beach but the weather was cool & windy so we didn't go down to the water. The hiker/biker campground was again nearly full by early evening. We had a chance to meet several of the other tourers. 

Visiting Friends in Garibaldi - Day 12

After a leisurely start, we stopped in Wheeler, OR, where we met Wheeler Dave. He is wheelchair bound, paralyzed from the waist down and told us the story of how he saved a little girl from drowning 4 years earlier. He was on the dock when he heard a splash and wheeled over and dove into the water. The  girl had sunk to the bottom where he found her and pulled her up. After getting her up on the dock, she was not breathing and after giving her two resuscitation breaths, she began to cry and her Mother came over and got her. This is how he became known as Wheeler Dave. 

 After a short ride of 22 miles, we met our former Pastor, Mark Hanke and his wife, Kerri, at her Mom's house, which was the dairy farm where Kerri was raised.  It was fun to meet Kerri's Mom, Marilyn, and her brother, Darren and his family.  Mark gave us the tour of the dairy farm that Darren now owns and operates. He is the 3rd generation to operate this farm. We got to see all of Mark & Kerri's kids as well, including Tyler's wife, Audrey, since they all met at the farm too for Labor Day. They fed us royally including some delicious homemade pies and cake. We really appreciated Marilyn and her family's hospitality.

Goodbye Washington - Hello Oregon - Day 11

Today is the day we leave Washington and have to face the Astoria Bridge crossing the Columbia River.  This bridge is infamous for bike riders in that it is 4 miles long, only 2 lanes of traffic, traffic is typically heavy, winds can be quite strong, steep climb to allow large ships to cross underneath, and minimal bike lane. One of the park rangers suggested we go up river another 40 miles and take a ferry and then ride 40 miles down the Oregon side to avoid the bridge.  This was not an option for us because  didn't want to spend 2 more days just to avoid the bridge.  He also said he rode it once and would never ride it again. We decided that we wanted to cross it early in hopes of avoiding lots of traffic and before the wind picked up.  An early start allowed us to get to the bridge about 9 a.m.  Traffic was relatively light and there was no wind. A car accident occurred halfway up the steep climb that stopped traffic in our lane.  Sharla felt God used this situation in that it gave her a chance to catch her breath.  The bridge was conquered safely and everything worked in our favor.  

We had hoped to see one of our former pastors and his wife, Larry & Shari Rydman in Seaside but they apparently are out of town.

Today's journey was 59 miles and included 3 difficult hills.  We are camped at Nehalem Bay State Park.  The hiker/biker campground is pretty full for the first time on our trip. We were glad to see Nick, who we have camped with on 2 previous sites. Nick is from Sweden and is a full time bike tourer. He began this trip in Anchorage and will travel to San Francisco.  He will then travel to South America and bike tour Brazil, Chile, Peru, and other countries. His touring makes ours seem small.

Cape Disappointment State Park - Day 10

Wasn't really a disappointment at all (don't know how it got it's name) but we welcomed it in the early afternoon after 38 miles of riding. We stopped at a grocery store and got lined up to make bean burritos with chili flavoring for dinner.  We walked almost a mile to get to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and then walked another 3/4 mile to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.  We then walked back to our campsite and walked a mile the other direction to get a view of the North Head Lighthouse. This is a treacherous area where many boats have shipwrecked through the years as they dealt with the currents caused by the Columbia River meeting the Pacific Ocean.  It is also the final destination of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Met Joey and Megan from Port Angeles who are on a northbound journey from San Francisco. They arrived early evening after crossing the Astoria Bridge which they said was horrible.  Lots of traffic and faced a head wind.