We're in Arcata, CA and enjoying everything! It is halloween so we are going to go to some thrift store and pick up some costumes. Apparently there are drum circles, music, dancing, and general mayhem in the town square tonight so we absolutely plan to partake in that and then we have met some townies that are going to show us a good time! I only have 5 minutes left to write so this will be short. We are down a computer so we may not be posting as often as before (which wasn't that often anyways) but we will do our best to keep you in the loop! The other day, we got to a free campsite, and were about to hit the hay before two frenchmen approached us with a bottle of rum filled with cut apples and mixed with cinnamon. They invited us over to talk and convinced us to stay another night because they were planning on going down to the beach to get some good sea food. They ended up getting about 20 pounds of mussels and 4 pounds of Percevez (a Spanish delicacy that goes for about $75 per pound)! It was the BEST!!! Only 2 more minutes!! AHHHH!!!! Happy Halloween!
Love,
Josh!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Holas, Amigos!
I am not sure where exactly we are right now... We are in a library in some small town on the Oregon coast, 70 miles or so north of the California border. Recent news:
-- We have temporarily joined forces with another traveler named Nicol. He is from Arkansas, and has been biking around since July. We met him last night, enjoyed the evening with him at our camp in Bandon, and biked with him today. He is riding on mountain bike tires, but I would be lying if I claimed that me, Drew, or Josh are anything near as fast as that guy. He does have nifty bio-pace elliptical chainrings... I suppose we can blame his beastliness on those.
-- We bested Poseidon yesterday. We decided that, despite the rain, and the wind, and the raging fury of the cold, gray pacific, we should take a leisurely stroll to the end of the Coquille river jetty. I think weather conditions yesterday were probably worthy of the descriptor storm. It was gnarly. The jetty basically sticks out straight into the ocean, a lone spur of black rocks topped by a raggedly paved path, ravaged by water and time, and sprinkled with barnacles. We could see, at the tip of this three hundred yard path, the waves crashing upon the tip of the jetty. We have all seen those pictures of huge waves crashing on small lighthouses in the south pacific, right? Those pictures that make the lighthouse look like a child's toy, reminding us of the awesome power of the ocean, and the awesome insignificance of humanity? It was like that. The waves were relentlessly destroying themselves upon the end of that jetty, crashing over the boulders it was constructed out of as if they were no more than pebbles, and the ocean's intent was honest and obvious; one day, that jetty would be no more than sand. Perhaps it was the same little something inside of each of us that coaxed us into doing this cycling trip around the country that forced us to climb up on that black strip, ignore the danger signs, and mosey out there. We had one pair of sandals split unevenly between the three of us (Drew got the short end of the stick, and was totally barefoot). We were strong, and we were brave, and we held hands.
At first, we held hands out of camaraderie, and a little bit out of fear. The further we went out, the more holding hands became a necessity for our safety-- we were stronger together, supporting each other against the force of oncoming waves, than we were on our own. We got to a point we considered to be reasonably safe, 40 feet or so from the very tip of the jetty. That tip was not fit for humans-- it was being doused in feet of fast-moving, white water with each coming wave, and any one of them would have taken a person, and probably even a hand-holding trio, and tossed them off into the ocean, to be battered about carelessly against the immovable rock of the jetty. We stood back. We still had to brace each other occasionally, for the larger waves that would send a portion of water at us, attempting to catch us off guard and sweep us away. But we were ready. We were so ready, in fact, that during a calmer spell, we did some push-ups, right there on the end of the jetty, in the middle of that storm, and we yelled to him, to Poseidon, we challenged him, we asked him if that was all he had. He failed to respond.
We thought about making a run out to the very tip, just to touch it, just to complete complete our task. It was clearly far too dangerous. So we did it. During what appeared to be something of a lull, but was perhaps more accurately just the moment someone got the courage to start walking forward, we made our way out to the tip, and while the sea surged around us, we touched the end, more or less, glanced hastily out toward the rising water, turned, and dashed back to the relative safety of our previous post. We made it. We were victorious. We had succeeded. We started to walk back.
We have since been reminded of a saying that accurately encompasses the unpredictable, powerful, and sometimes violent actions of the ocean: never turn your back on the sea. We turned our backs, and we were walking back, talking, probably laughing, when we were hit from behind by a wall of water coming diagonally across the jetty. Josh and I went down in the deluge, which in retrospect was probably the safest thing to do, as Drew, remaining upright, had more of his body in a position where it could, and was pushed towards the far side of the jetty, and the raging water below. Fortunately, we were all fine. Drew came close to the edge, but since he is the embodiment of the term 'savvy,' he handled it. Josh and I survived decently as well-- Josh received a nasty cut on the side of his toe, but that was all. We paid closer attention to the sea as we continued to retreat back toward the beach. And we got there.
Lesson? Always go out on the jetty. It was amazing. I look forward to more jetties as we continue down the coast. They provide a unique opportunity to experience the awesome power of nature.
--Okay, one more note, on why I think bicycle touring is so awesome. It is like motorcycling. The weight of the bike, laying into turns, feels like you are riding a motorcycle, just without the engine. Which, I suppose, some might think would be a problem. I disagree. Uphills may be hard, but the downhills, doing thirty+, cutting long, banking turns, are priceless. It reminds me of riding Clifford.
Alright, that's it, we are heading out of this library to go find a place to stay and cook up some delicious curry! We eat well. Peace.
Chance
-- We have temporarily joined forces with another traveler named Nicol. He is from Arkansas, and has been biking around since July. We met him last night, enjoyed the evening with him at our camp in Bandon, and biked with him today. He is riding on mountain bike tires, but I would be lying if I claimed that me, Drew, or Josh are anything near as fast as that guy. He does have nifty bio-pace elliptical chainrings... I suppose we can blame his beastliness on those.
-- We bested Poseidon yesterday. We decided that, despite the rain, and the wind, and the raging fury of the cold, gray pacific, we should take a leisurely stroll to the end of the Coquille river jetty. I think weather conditions yesterday were probably worthy of the descriptor storm. It was gnarly. The jetty basically sticks out straight into the ocean, a lone spur of black rocks topped by a raggedly paved path, ravaged by water and time, and sprinkled with barnacles. We could see, at the tip of this three hundred yard path, the waves crashing upon the tip of the jetty. We have all seen those pictures of huge waves crashing on small lighthouses in the south pacific, right? Those pictures that make the lighthouse look like a child's toy, reminding us of the awesome power of the ocean, and the awesome insignificance of humanity? It was like that. The waves were relentlessly destroying themselves upon the end of that jetty, crashing over the boulders it was constructed out of as if they were no more than pebbles, and the ocean's intent was honest and obvious; one day, that jetty would be no more than sand. Perhaps it was the same little something inside of each of us that coaxed us into doing this cycling trip around the country that forced us to climb up on that black strip, ignore the danger signs, and mosey out there. We had one pair of sandals split unevenly between the three of us (Drew got the short end of the stick, and was totally barefoot). We were strong, and we were brave, and we held hands.
At first, we held hands out of camaraderie, and a little bit out of fear. The further we went out, the more holding hands became a necessity for our safety-- we were stronger together, supporting each other against the force of oncoming waves, than we were on our own. We got to a point we considered to be reasonably safe, 40 feet or so from the very tip of the jetty. That tip was not fit for humans-- it was being doused in feet of fast-moving, white water with each coming wave, and any one of them would have taken a person, and probably even a hand-holding trio, and tossed them off into the ocean, to be battered about carelessly against the immovable rock of the jetty. We stood back. We still had to brace each other occasionally, for the larger waves that would send a portion of water at us, attempting to catch us off guard and sweep us away. But we were ready. We were so ready, in fact, that during a calmer spell, we did some push-ups, right there on the end of the jetty, in the middle of that storm, and we yelled to him, to Poseidon, we challenged him, we asked him if that was all he had. He failed to respond.
We thought about making a run out to the very tip, just to touch it, just to complete complete our task. It was clearly far too dangerous. So we did it. During what appeared to be something of a lull, but was perhaps more accurately just the moment someone got the courage to start walking forward, we made our way out to the tip, and while the sea surged around us, we touched the end, more or less, glanced hastily out toward the rising water, turned, and dashed back to the relative safety of our previous post. We made it. We were victorious. We had succeeded. We started to walk back.
We have since been reminded of a saying that accurately encompasses the unpredictable, powerful, and sometimes violent actions of the ocean: never turn your back on the sea. We turned our backs, and we were walking back, talking, probably laughing, when we were hit from behind by a wall of water coming diagonally across the jetty. Josh and I went down in the deluge, which in retrospect was probably the safest thing to do, as Drew, remaining upright, had more of his body in a position where it could, and was pushed towards the far side of the jetty, and the raging water below. Fortunately, we were all fine. Drew came close to the edge, but since he is the embodiment of the term 'savvy,' he handled it. Josh and I survived decently as well-- Josh received a nasty cut on the side of his toe, but that was all. We paid closer attention to the sea as we continued to retreat back toward the beach. And we got there.
Lesson? Always go out on the jetty. It was amazing. I look forward to more jetties as we continue down the coast. They provide a unique opportunity to experience the awesome power of nature.
--Okay, one more note, on why I think bicycle touring is so awesome. It is like motorcycling. The weight of the bike, laying into turns, feels like you are riding a motorcycle, just without the engine. Which, I suppose, some might think would be a problem. I disagree. Uphills may be hard, but the downhills, doing thirty+, cutting long, banking turns, are priceless. It reminds me of riding Clifford.
Alright, that's it, we are heading out of this library to go find a place to stay and cook up some delicious curry! We eat well. Peace.
Chance
Monday, October 19, 2009
A particularly susccinct description of our trip
"Yeah, we're definitely winging it" - North (acquired through skillful eavesdropping on his super dooper private phone conversation)
Eugene
Today we got another late start after stealing half of aunt Karen and uncle Steve's food stores and getting set up for our trek to the coast. After biking 3 miles out of Corvallis and having lunch, we started again at 4pm with more than 40 miles to go! We arrived in Eugene at around 7:30 making great time. After not really having a place to stay I contacted a friend Leena who had friends in Eugene. So we narrowly dodged sleeping on the streets and are currently writing this in the warm home of Alex and Tanner. As a footnote, Chance and I wooed a cute barista into giving us a platter of pastries at a local cafe/winery/gallery. What with pastries, stolen pears, food from Karen, and food from Josh in Portland (who generously loaded us with at least 12,000 calories), we are now overloaded and ready for the apocalypse.
Josh
Josh
Saturday, October 17, 2009
We are in Corvallis. Last night, we stayed with Josh's friend Kaitlin at Wilamette in Salem. The night before that was our last night in Portland. This morning the rain kept us from setting out as early as we had planned. After leaving Salem at about 2:30PM, in a drizzle, we peddled a couple miles before Chance's tire went flat. An hour later, we continued on to Independence and then to Corvallis. Aunt Karen, Uncle Steve, Joel, and Seth live on the side of a HUGE mountain overlooking the city.
We are now cleaning up the kitchen after a late dinner and cookie-baking session.
We are now cleaning up the kitchen after a late dinner and cookie-baking session.
Word from the editor
I would like to appologize for the previously sarcastic content of our profile. The profile now more accurately represents us. Setting up the blog, profile, etc., frustrated us, causing us to be careless with words.
North
North
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Mileage:
Day 1: 20 miles (late start)
Day 2: 60 miles
Day 3: 75 miles (hello Oregon!)
Day 4: 50 miles to PDX
Basically I wanted to put this up to show how cool we are.
Josh
Day 2: 60 miles
Day 3: 75 miles (hello Oregon!)
Day 4: 50 miles to PDX
Basically I wanted to put this up to show how cool we are.
Josh
PDX
After a 2 day blitz from Port Orchard, WA we said goodbye to Washington as we entered Oregon. We stopped in Rainier where we had no idea where to sleep and were planning on camping out in a ditch right as a couple along with their 160 lb pure bred rottweiler pulled up and asked where we were staying. They quickly offered us a place to stay in their yard which we accepted even quicker. They fed us spaghetti and we partied till9! Then we all fell asleep after a long day of workin. Now we are in Portland as of yesterday afternoon and visiting family. Thanks Kevin, Lori and Tuco, you made our stay in Rainier a memorable one!
Josh
Josh
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Oly
We've made it to Olympia. Yesterday we camped out next to a modern tree. We started early this morning and have made a few stops trying to find the quickest way to Portland. We've found it and we're leaving now. See ya suckers!
Josh
Josh
Friday, October 9, 2009
We are leaving not in three days! Grammar! Now! Though!
We are leaving now, soon. In a little while. And we won't be back for a long one. While, that is. So, goodbye, everybody. We will miss you folks. A lot. We care about you people. You know who you are. We are to be off adventuring, and exploring, and discovering, and we will share some of it with you, here on this site, if you want to read about our travails, or look at pictures of them. The travails, that is. Packing has been an arduous affair, but I think we may finally be finished... And so we hit the road. I hope, whoever you are, wherever you are, you are having a blast, and continue to do so as often as possible throughout the coming year. I hope the same for us as well. We are leaving now, soon. In a little while. So goodbye, everybody. Goodbye, Washington. --Chance
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
