Day 6 Maryhill to Crow Butte Park Wa

We are up early with Beau and start about 7. Weather is still great , high pressure blue skies. It is fully light at 5am here so we have plenty of time to wait for everyone to get their bikes and selves ready to ride each day. Today we start by going two miles straight up. We let a long bed truck go by as it is carrying an oversize load, the blade for a windmill. It is over 1 1/2 semi trucks long, then straight up. On top, there is a memorial to WWI veterans built as a recreation of England's Stonehenge. It was built in 1929 after a local veteran visited Stonehenge and decided it was a memorial to sacrifice. It is to scale and complete and overlooks the gorge. We then head up to Roosevelt, a migrant and railroad switch town of 300 about 33 miles along. I get there first and get a gatoraide while I wait for the others. The owner keeps a notebook log of comments from bike riders that she started in 2003. It is very interesting reading comments from all types of riders and groups from families to teams to those raising money or awareness for a cause. Last year this date a father passed trough with his four daughters aged 16-20 on their way to Maine from Portland, just for the hell of it. We find a quaint cafe up the road and have the burger and beer special. Owner is colorful and chats with us quite awhile, this place is the only restaurant and doubles as the weekend bar also. The bar stools are chairs from the old courthouse fastened to barrel tops .......great food and company. We find out all about the three local businesses and the bar is also the Post Office. On from the cafe to Crow Butte park, another 21 miles. We get in and it is starting to get hot now. The park is great and has a swimming hole on the river, grassy tent spots and the park host is a jolly guy with a big belly who likes to chat. He says he'll open the concession stand if we need food, usually only open on the weekend. Its Friday night so the campground fills up early, we got the last spot thanks to Suzanne's advance scouting. Lots of kids but they are all well behaved and it gets quiet at dark. 60 miles today and 307 commutative for the trip so far. Nothing too difficult yet. We find out in the early morning why the park is called Crow Butte. The park is on a butte and it is covered with noisy crows early. Weather is still perfect blue skies, we have had no rain so far. Tomorrow we primitive camp.

Jim Suzanne and Beau

Day 5 Viento to Mary Hill State Park

We all slept well despite the trains that run through every 30 minutes or so. Here we have electric so we make coffee and hot oatmeal. We get started around 8 am and ride to the little town of Hood River, the windsurfer town on the Columbia River. We find a great coffee shop with wifi and chat whilst Tom updates the crazyguyonabike.com website. We chat with a fedx driver and decide to take the scenic trail over the hill from town which is a section of the old Historic Columbia River Highway. It is closed to all but bike traffic and we have a nice quiet ride for about 16 miles with bikers and joggers and scenic views. We work our way back onto a two lane road up to Rowena Crest on top of the gorge cliffs. Here the wind is really blowing hard and we have to be careful not to get blown over the edge or into traffic. We then come down through canyons with strong tailwinds for over 10 miles, coasting most of the way. We stop at an organic cherry orchard and get some cherries to munch on at stops and for later at the campground. Lots of cherry orchards here and some apricot with an occasional winery along the way. We meet Suz at the Dalles grocery for soup and sandwich and purchase more groceries for dinner and breakfast. We ride the next 20 on the side of the interstate which has a nice shoulder but the truck and traffic noise is loud. We come into Biggs OR and cross the Columbia on a suspension bridge in high winds, a little worrisome with the trucks and winds. Just over the bridge is the Maryhill Campground, very nice lawns and we are not allowed to pitch the tents on the grass......maybe too nice. Shower need quarters again and I am first to the showers and find that the quarter just turns on the hot water, so after your quarter runs out, the water goes ice cold........what a wake up after the hot road. This campground is right next to the river at the base of the gorge cliffs. We notice that the temperature is climbing during the day and not as cold at night. The conifers are giving away to broad leaf and we have young spruce in leaf around the campground. We have a view of the road snaking up the side of the cliff to the top of the gorge , a constant reminder of tomorrows immediate climb straight up. The grass here is green at the campground as they water it but the grass on the Field and prairie is all brown now. Hills are smooth and contoured up on top of the gorge. We turn in at dusk and decide on an early departure. We meet another two young guys also following the Lewis and Clark trail to Missoula, they may stay at some of our stops along the way. Today we road 55 miles, Avg speed 13.6 mph.

Jim, Suzanne and Beau

Day 4, Troutdale to Viento State Park

We get coffee at the motel 6 and then Jim rides up the hill to downtown troutdale to meet the pub crew. We meet at 730a and ride up the road about 6 miles to the Tippecanoe restaurant, recommended by a street crew worker . What a great place. Shirley the owner goes into an intricate story about the place, decor and then the depth and breath of the items on the menu, most homemade. I get the eggs with homemade polish sausage, potatoes and homemade wheat toast and it is great but a lot of food, so I doubt I'll have any room for a lunch later. We spend the rest of the day riding between scenic outlooks and waterfalls on this section of the Historic Columbia river highway. After the last waterfall we come to a side road up Herman Creek road toward a campground that takes us off the main roads. The hill is so steep we have to walk the last section to the peak as our heart rates are all in the danger zone for too many miles. We blast down a good road on the other side and make our way to Viento State Park for the night. This is near the Hood River area where wind surfing and kiting is very popular on the river due to very high sustained winds in the 30 and 40 mph range. The camp is full of these adventure types and a couple of other touring cyclists. We get a good nights sleep as it is windy and cool and quiet here , a walk down to the river is a peaceful stroll in the evening after salads for dinner.

Jim, Suz and Beau

Day 3 Portland Oregon

On the road again at exactly 7:22a, what a coincidence as that is the exact roll out time yesterday. Today's rides is relatively flat but we will need to navigate our way through Portland, lots of turns and neighborhoods. We stop at McD's for a value meal biscuit and senior coffee and a few stories before we start today. Suz goes for ice and a Starbucks. We have a great start, 16 miles downhill into Portland, then a short uphill onto the St. Johns bridge for a breathtaking Columbia river crossing. We are way way up high and the weather is beautiful, traffic light and great views. Our cycling maps take us through quaint garden neighborhoods , just about every house has a garden out front, both vegetable and flower gardens. We get a little lost then find our way to a formal garden on the map, beautiful french formal with fountain in the center and layered beds of roses with stairs and walkways. Of course today I forgot the camera, but John and Tom take many pictures and we have tourists take our picture together. We then find our way through winding streets to a bike path that runs along the back of the city and around the airport to Troutdale. We lunch at a Taco Bell, I have not eaten at a Taco Bell in at least 20 years and then we spend an hour and half trying to find a place to stay for the night. All the camp and rv places do not take tent campers due to some bad tenters in years past. We make our way to the Troutdale Visitors Center and a very tall guy tries to help us out. We are almost resigned to a motel when he remembers that a hotel and pub up the street has a cyclists hostel for 35 per bunk per night. It is a renovated Courthouse and the gardens are spectacular with lots of flora and garden art. Suz and I find a motel six as we cannot stay here with Beau, but we return for beer and dinner later in the gardens. The motel 6 crew are the most incompetent that we have found yet. First they give us a room with no wifi after we asked for it, then forget our aarp discount, then we have to move to a wifi capable room, then they forget to charge us the 3.00 wifi charge. I am more worn out checking into the motel than from today's ride by far. Then we find that they just shampooed the room carpets, so the air is very moist and cool all night. I find that the thermostat is wired backwards so cold is hot and hot is cold, I finally just turn it off. We watch some bad tv and update the blog and turn in early for and early start tomorrow .

Jim Suz and Beau

Gramps5 Day 2

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

Gramps5 Day 1

Up at 5a with Beau at the Motel 6 here in Seaside, neither Suz or I slept well due to pre event anxiety, looking forward to the daily ride after spending a lot of time on the road in motels and campgrounds with no regular routine. We go up the street Herbs for breakfast with Shelly and Bob. Great and affordable eggs and pancake place. We find that Shelly has ridden across the USA back in '76, but seems to have a bit of a negative take on the ride. Maybe she did not like it back then, but she does not say that, just nothing good about the experience. Suz is a little anxious, a bit of a stew about getting lost, no home , no routine and my not getting run over on the side of the road. I know that after the first week this will subside as things iron out into even a loose routine as we go. We decide to do a food kitty and all donate to the fund. Suz will shop for dinners and snacks and of course some beer for all, tonight we will do a roast chicken and deli salad.

We meet at the end of the Louis and Clark Trail monument on the beach for our pre ride pictures and a 9:30a start. We work our way across the boardwalk and up through town to a country road that runs to Astoria about 20 miles to the North then we will follow the Columbia river Gorge up past Portland on route 30. The first hill was a challenge at at least for me and we tooled up at about 8mph and then down at 25 with the brakes on due to rain and a wet road. Want to get the feel of the loaded bike on the up and down hills before we do any downhill speeding. See lots of farms and mule deer on the hill sides much as it would be in upstate New York or Ohio. We meet Suz at the Safeway grocery for a soup and sandwich lunch in Astoria and shop for dinner. Nice grocery with a coffee shop, deli and Internet kiosk. Suz drives ahead to reserve a spot at a County camp ground, then leaves to shop and when we return we find our soft shell cooler stolen. We left it and Beau's bed on the picnic table to "reserve" it for our arrival. Oh well, someone will have bad Karma for their bad deed, we loose some vitamins, tea, oatmeal and such . The campground is secluded and right next to a Columbia river tributary. Some young guys are fishing and pull out a huge Chinook Salmon and two smaller ones just about dusk. Will have to come back here someday, had to be a 30 pound fish. Will post a picture one of these days of this fish. It is still raining on and off, we rode 42 miles the first day . We will keep the mileage low the first week or two until all riders get their touring legs for the hills. Only down side of this route after Astoria is the car and truck noise along the road. Nice shoulder so it is not dangerous, but just noisy with a lot of traffic blasting by. We turn in early when it starts to rain, updating our journals and reading. Will have to see what time the group gets together tomorrow, will we be a early or late starting group? Last thing I remember is the rain on the van top as I drift off to sleep surrounded by the pines in this country campground.

Jim, Suz and Bikely Beau

Tetons to Oregon Coast

We left Jackson Hole early on Wed morning and drove through Teton pass, way up there.....the van was laboring is some low gear at 45 mph about 10 miles up, then we came upon a single cyclist, a woman, white hair and wrinkles, had to be in her 70's if not older. Now I have no excuses not to make it up the mountains. This pass was the steepest yet with fully 10% grades over miles, then same going back down. I timed how long I did not have to touch the accelerator, about 7 miles worth! After the mountains we just rolled through foothills up and down and around and enjoyed the occasional prong horn sighting and sage covered plains with the " Sisters" cascade mountains as a backdrop after awhile. When we would drive through the mountain passes, we would be following a route through tall pine forest rounding hollows and up through passes , then down on valley floors covered with wildflowers, blooming purple sage and occasional cattle grazing along the hills. We stopped in Burns , Oregon for the night, small town and only town along a long , long road through this part of Oregon. Not too very hungry that night so we stayed in and ate sandwiches from the cooler......nice clean room at an America suites.

Next day we are on the road through the mountains and plains to Reedsport Oregon, we arrive early around 2pm after much of the same scenic drive. The drive down through the cascade mountains was like a roller coaster of black licorice winding through a corridor of green pine that are so large that their branches from each side of the road meet in places and create tunnels much like hiking trails through old growth forest. Watching for deer and elk, but saw none.

Reedsport was a seedy little coast town. Our economy motel was not cheep but had no air conditioning, build around the 60's, and had signs in the shower to remember to open the window when showering or the smoke alarms will go off. Old electric code, the light switch was in the shower ! We survived with an ok meal at a family style restraunt that night and did the continental breakfast of coffee and breakfast bars in the morning. We drove all Friday up the Oregon Coast stopping along the way on scenic turnouts with barking seals on rocks and lighthouses on outcroppings of granite over the crashing pacific surf. Went through the giant sand dunes along various parks along the drive. Stopped in Depoe for a great soup and sandwich lunch at this fishing port where we watched from the restaurant crabbing boats coming in off the Pacific with their morning catch. On to Seaside Oregon and we get in around 3p. The hotel is a problem, there are no ground level rooms as promised, they have us on the third floor in a Suite , not what was booked, so after some vociferous discussion with the manager, she lets us off the cancellation fee and we find a great room at the local motel 6 for half the rate. Plus,,,,,the original hotel charged $ 15 per day extra for internet service, free at the motel six. One of the other riders is also staying there and we find a great steak house next door and have the special which is best meal we have had for many a day. We eat at the bar as the place is full and are greatly entertained by the barmaids nonstop rhetoric on all subjects.....a quaint soap opera between workers and patrons. Tomorrow we start the ride, we did go for a pre ride meeting at the other hotel to meet all the riders and wives and plan out our first day, and departure route and time. Hope the weather holds, it's been raining most of the last three days on and off and pretty cool sometimes.

Jim Suz and Beau