Nice nights sleep in the van, misty and light rain in the morning. Beau slept until 6am and everyone is up now having turned in early. Be breakfast on muffins and bananas and break camp in between the light rains. We get a 7:22a start and head right up hill. We expect a steep climb for the first mile from the elevation maps but it doesn't materialize like we expect and stop in Westport about 8 miles along at a corner store for a coffee and Suz meets us there with the paper and maps. We decide to stay in St Helens about 45 miles up the road that night and she will look for a post office along the way then reserve us a campsite in the city park in St Helens as well as look for Internet at the library we see on the map. John and Bob decide they want a substantial breakfast about 10 mile further up the road at the small town pub in Covilis or something like that. They do eggs and biscuits and gravy while Tom and I do coffee and chat up an older rider also doing a trans am but with a touring company. They don't carry any gear and stay in hotels, rest stops and food provided for a price....$12,000 single and a little less for double and they cover more mileage per day than we will. We meet many riders along the way from this tour, all ages , couples and singles, some we will see tomorrow also. We take a break from them in Ranier also and they will also be staying in St Helens, but in a hotel. Locals are not so friendly here, I got ahead of our group in a riding fugue and stopped at a gas store and tried to strike up a conversation with the locals while I waited for the rest and no one wanted to chat....
We get into St Helens mid afternoon and make camp. Suz has been at the library updating her blog but I am tired today and help make camp and dinner. The van is in the parking lot next to the campsite, so we fill out the registration for the dash and deposit our fee in the lock box. Dinner was green salad with leftovers from last nights chicken dinner, good stuff after riding all day. John wanted cookies so we have sweets and plan tomorrows ride through Portland. This campground is also right next to a stream so it is peaceful but we have bathrooms and showers up by the parking lot. We retire around 9 pm, remembering that the summer equinox ( longest day of the year) was our staring day, last Sunday, so it stays light to 9-10p. Get awakened by the Cops around 11 as they check out the van in the parking lot. They spotlight the van, then check out the tent site and our parking permit before leaving us to sleep.
Jim, Suz and Bikely Beau
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