Wednesday, July 18, 2012

To the border!!

7/18 Day 7 - We went to bed last night thinking we would get an early start today since we knew it would be a long day. The weather, however, had different plans.

It rained pretty much all night and until about 8:30 this morning. I woke up at 7 but there wasn't much we could do in the rain. We had to wait it out. Once it kind of stopped we packed up our gear really quickly and headed to the "lodge" at the campground. It was basically a hangout area with a fireplace and a washer and dryer. We decided it would be easier to pack up and leave from there, but we still had to wait for the tent to dry before packing it away. So we brought the tent inside and hung each piece from the rafters and put our wet clothes in the dryer. Once we had that squared away I made breakfast while Ethan planned our route for the day.

We were joined by Josh and Frank who had the same idea. We all hung out in there for a while letting our stuff dry out and talking about our routes for the day. They planned on going all the way to Astoria, OR, while we planned to stay a few miles before Astoria. Since we thought we might not cross paths again we swapped info and Josh invited us to his place in Fresno, CA and on a day trip to Yosemite. It sounds like a great time, but it's pretty far off our route so we'll have to make that decision later. :] We told him if he ever made to the Mitten to give us a call (we also told him to check out Meijer if he's ever in the Midwest. We kept telling him how cool it was and how we go there pretty much everyday).

After our stuff was as dry as it was going to get we packed up said our goodbye's to the guys and headed out a few minutes after them. We were unprepared for what the day had in store for us.

The owner of the campground told us there were a few hills on our way to Raymond and that they weren't that bad. Im pretty sure this woman has never biked a day in her life because those hills were torture. There were 4 of them basically in a row and we thought they were never going to end. We finally made it to Raymond after what seemed like forever and it was time for lunch. We spotted a DQ that we knew would be quick since we were running way behind no thanks to those hills. Ethan went across the street to the gas station for Gatorade and I went to DQ, but when I pulled up a half-ass sign scribbled on cardboard said "closed for emergency." Annoying! And weird. So we grabbed some pre-made subs from the gas station instead and decided to eat them at the picnic table behind DQ. When we pulled up the lady working there told us there was a gas leak or something and the picnic table was no longer safe. We gladly moved behind the diner next to DQ and of course we see Josh and Frank's bikes there. Crazy.

We ate lunch and chatted with them for a minute about where they were going and then headed out. We had a lot farther to go so we put the pedal to the...uhhh pavement? ...and biked pretty hard for the next 7 hours taking breaks every 8ish miles and stopping a few times for granola bars. Along the way we got to ride on a nice bike path for a little bit, found a geocache, thought we saw a fishing boat sinking, went through the "oyster capital of the world", and saw some lovely scenery through the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge.

We'd panned on staying on Cape Disappointment tonight but it was 5 miles in the opposite direction and I just did not have it in me to bike an extra 5 miles going the wrong way. Luckily Ethan loves me and is understanding so he found us a campsite that was really close and on our route. We made it here at about 7:40... Plenty of time for dinner, a shower and blogging!

We got a tent site right on the Columbia River which divides Washington and Oregon. We're about 7 miles from the bridge that takes you to Astoria, OR. We're very excited to finally be getting to another state! Hopefully tomorrow can be a short day because we are tired and my butt needs a day off. We also need to get some warmer clothes. It's freezing here and the sun rarely makes an appearance. Never thought I would say it but I miss Michigan's heat. Luckily we have awesome sleeping bags to keep us warm at night. :]

1 comment:

  1. We love reading about your trip so far! You guys are doing great! Can't believe you are pretty much in OR already! Sorry Washington weather wasn't the greatest for you, not surprising though. We are going to attempt to bike to Granny's for some ice cream this weekend...we will see if we can even make it! Can't wait to see what comes your way next!

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