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The annual Oregon AAPA Printer's Picnic was in Eugene so I proposed to Matthew that we take a long bike ride down the coast to get there from Portland.

Our bike trip was Wed-Sat. Day 1: Tillamook Bus from Portland, plus the connecting bus 1 hour south to Neskowin just north of Lincoln City. We biked 35 miles to Beverly Beach 3 mi N of Newport. Since we started biking about 2:45pm arriving 6:30/7pm we missed a glorious sunset (reserved for RV campers) as we were stuck up in an isolated hiker biker camp (pen!) with bear notices. No one else camped that night but we did have an excellent dinner (thanks Matthew). Matthew hung all our food in a tree just in case. And we made endless jokes about being bikers in the zoo.

Next morning it was raining and we were kicking ourselves for setting up our tent in the wide open. A little coast squirrel threw nuts on us as we made breakfast. We set out in the rain, and rode 3 miles with rain pelting our faces. My Gore-Tex booties also failed. Soggy in Newport we decided to get a motel and stay the night -- it stopped raining then, but we enjoyed a full day in Newport -- county museum with toothpick bridge, thrift shops, and Nye Beach -- awesome exhibit made from plastic washed up on the beach. Plus we made a new kitty friend. We enjoyed a beer in an old pub on Bay street, and while I didn’t go (I’d been before) I paid a visit to my beloved Ripley’s Museum chain. Our motel however was... bad... it was cheap, but we never stopped finding something to b*tch about -- the long-term neighbors 2am “you love the bottle more than me”, the smell. the smell, did I mention the smell.. and other icky details. The good news is we really got to explore Newport. By the way the bike shop in Newport, has showers, and a bikers lounge for travelers if you are passing through and need a break.

The third day we left first thing the morning and headed to the very awesome Salvation Army (meeting some lovely Canadian travelers going from Alaska to Central America! Matthew found a $60-80 fishing reel for $10) before catching the Lincoln county bus south.. to catch up on our miles. We got off in Yachats. Great town - we made sandwiches in a park down by the ocean, and hundreds of dragonflies flew overhead. The Log Church Museum was a treat, plus we met another Portland bike tourist while getting coffee.. and the Lions Thrift shop – sweet I got two printer’s rollers for $2!

Finally.. again about 2pm we started to bike south. Wonderful sunny day and great coastal views through Cape Perpetua. We planned to bike at least to Florence, but when we stopped at the Carl Washburne Campground/Beach access, we took a long beach walk, and decided to camp and do more miles the next day. For over an hour we had the beach to ourselves except for a sea lion who was dying. He/she popped her head up when we went by.. but on our return didn't even lift her/his head. We also saw a dead pup and another sea lion in pieces. With the Sea Lions cave nearby.. this beach must be where they go to die. The hiker/biker campground was great.. a group of 5 Canadian 18-20 somethings were there as well who we invited to our fire... they enthusiastically said they'd love to join us.. but we ended up having the fire to ourselves as they never did join us (kids! I managed to bitch about being snubbed for at least 24 hours).

On the fourth day we got up early to get going on miles. Right before Sea Lion caves there were 30-50 Sea Lions in the waves, surfing up and down the biggish waves together! I made a poor decision of looking while riding up a hill with bad side surface road, and my bike and I fell over into the road. Bruised I carried on, glad that no car passed as I fell right into the lane. Lovely day again, but cooler and foggy. In Florence we dilly dallied. We went to yard sales in the retirement community area off the 101, also thanks Linda's Thrift for being awesome ... again! Than some sass and grease at the Dunes Cafe. Finally at 2pm.. we got to biking again. We were heading to Eugene via the 126. 50-60 miles depending on the sign. But 15 miles before Eugene there is a bus we could catch in Veneta. The route was a little hillier than expected, but overall really nice -- except the long tunnel going uphill -- Matthew and I both sweated profusely through the entire thing and hugged each other afterwards. We then realized that I was looking at the weekday bus schedule, and we missed the last bus in Veneta. Luckily Matthew's friend Cameron in Eugene picked us up with a pickup truck. Immediately we took showers at Cameron's bike shop before meeting up with my printer friend Kirstin and her posse at Pizza Research Institute, which was followed by sweets. Cameron pedaled Matthew and me around in one of his pedicabs! we loved it! We had a cross Eugene dark ride through Amazon park off street paths to get to Kristen’s where we stayed the night.

On Sunday Matthew and I attended the Printer's Picnic at Dean and Lou Rea's house. It

TODAY'S ROUTE:
Leave in the middle of the night and head for the mountains and some relief from the heat. I hope to be in N. California by this evening.

THE DETAILS:
I said goodbye to my kids (they got up at 3am to see me off). Even this hour of the morning it's still 93 degrees. At least the sun is not beating down unmercifully.
The route out of Vegas takes me past the strip. Breifly I consider stopping for some pictures, but decide now that I'm finally underway again to just keep moving. Already I'm about a day later than I wanted to leave. About 20 miles outside of Vegas and the temp is already much cooler - mid 70's. I'm in the middle of the desert and not a soul on the road. I'm a little sleepy so I stop several times. It's kinda cool just stopping along side the road in the middle of the desert and shutting off the bike. The stars in the clear desert sky are fantanstic! Funny how I don't notice them while I'm moving. Maybe it's the headlight?
I stopped at a gas station/store about 50 miles from Beatty, NV. After I top off the tank and sit and have a coffee, a guy on a Goldwing pulling a matching trailer pulls up. He tops off and rides over to chat.
It turns out we're heading the same direction and we'll ride together for awhile.
His name is Wahoo (true name he says - adopted by an Indian family as an infant.
He's from Georgia and was also visiting his daughter in Vegas and left early in the morning to beat the heat. He's been retired from IBM for 17 years and is on his 5th Goldwing - this one has 140k on the clock.
He know's the area very well as he has twin daughters with one in Vegas and one in California. We travelled through the north end of Death Valley with a few side stops at mining ghost towns.
We continued to ride the better part of the day. At Yosemite, he was going through, so we parted ways as I went out the way I came in. Yosemite was nice and cool although the ranger says the snow is melting rapidly due to the higher than normal temps. Yet another very beautiful place. I continued on to Lake Tahoe. While I was there enjoying the view of the Lake, the KLR did it's job as a conversation piece and attracked a local building inspector. He told me of the cheapest motel in town and that the campgrounds were only about $10 less. I checked in a nice room for less than $40. I had been up for 24 hours when my head hit the pillow around 7pm.

THE DAILY TAKE:
Miles Today: 517
Total Miles: 5018
States Visited Today: 2
Total States Visited: 13
Weather: Comfortable in the mountains. Once I left Death Valley, never below 7000 ft.

SEEN ON THE ROAD:
Lizards and Jack Rabbits - sometimes 5 or 6 in a group.
1 buck deer with antlers in velvet...running away from the road.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:
Although I didn't make as good of progress as I'd have liked, I had a wonderful ride through the mountains along the California/Nevada border. In the high elevations, it was comfortable and very scenic. Wahoo was a good companion and he stopped often and rode very conservative through the mountain roads. Just what the doctor ordered my first day back on the road after my deer adventure.

200 YEARS AGO TODAY:
On the prevoius evening, the Indians entertain Lewis' party by setting fir trees on fire. The dry limbs creates a sudden and immense blaze from bottom to top and sudden bursts when limbs explode. A beautiful display at night. Lewis comments on how they remind him of fireworks displays. The natives say the object of setting the trees ablaze is to bring fair weather for the journey.
The group set out early in the morning. The indian guides complain of being unwell. Lewis has experienced this before as a prelude to the guides abandoning any enterprise. The guides catch up to the group by lunch time and continue with the party the remainder of the day to Hungry Creek.
Lewis is releived that the guides seem to be faithful to their engagement.