We're still alive!!!

Hello, friends! Unfortunately, we haven't perfected the art of posting photos from our travels, which is very disappointing for us. Never fear! We'll still try to relay a few of our adventures and highlights.

We flew into Portland on July 19, toting our boxed-up bicycles and suitcases stuffed with panniers. Using Heidi's city-smarts, we soon secured a van taxi and cruised a short way to the home of Ben Luginbuhl (Loogs), a Winfield music fest friend of ours.

After a night's rest, we toured Portland with the assistance of Loogs, including eating gigantic, cheap burritos and looking for novels at Powell's Books in the heart of the city. Powell's is a HUGE used and new bookstore that sits on an entire city block. We also visited the main branch of the public library and pored over maps looking for a route to the coast.

Friday morning, after a horrible night of rest in which we both tossed and turned with fear over our impending travels, we set out across Portland with our fully-loaded bicycles on the light-rail train. Despite all of my (Liz's) worst-case scenarios, the trip across the city on public transportation was PAINLESS...because Portland is one of the most bicycle-friendly locales to be found (bike lanes, bike hangers on the trains, groovy locking bike cages).

In Hillsboro, a suburb of Portland, we ate a hearty oatmeal breakfast, then pushed off for the first official miles of our trip. By the by, Oregon is having a Heat Wave, and the temperatures were over 100 degrees on our first day (without humidity, so that made it bearable). Twenty miles in (ish), at the city of Banks, we were hungry, dehydrated, and ready to rest. From our luncheon perch, we observed firetrucks and emergency vehicles screaming down the highway into the mountains (where we were heading), and smoke rising above the distant hills.

We tore ourselves away from our lunch stop and continued plodding toward the mountains. A few miles down the road, though, a friendly couple driving from the other direction hailed us down, and told us that firefighters were turning people around at the summit, because of the fire. We trundled back into town and decided to follow a different route to the coast. However, at the last minute we talked to a fireman who assured us that the fire was small and we would probably be able to get through.

SO, we turned back towards the mountains, and another friendly firefighter let us pass through the blockade and continue on the now-trafficless road into the mountains. What a relief! No more RVs and huge pick-ups roaring by us as we began our first climbing of the journey.

For ten glorious miles we dealt with very little traffic. However, I began to freak out as the climbing intensified and the day drew on. Our first camping option, the one we'd been counting on, fell through, and so we had to keep biking up toward the summit. We were saved by Gales Creek State Park, where despite masses of weekenders we were able to find a comfy camping spot next to a icy, rocky mountain stream, beneath the tallest pine trees Heidi had ever seen.

Thus ended day 1. Day 2 we spent a few miles getting to the summit of our first mountain, then had screaming downhills to another state park where we joined the locals and their dogs and children for a quick dip in the frigid waters of a stream. Day 2 took us to the town of Tillamook. We bought Tillamook brie and astoundingly cheap fruit and vegetables at a little Mexican grocery.

Although tired, we went on to Oceanside, to actually get a view of the big drink. Oceanside didn't offer camping, so we had to continue on to Netarts, two miles down the road. I was being a big, whiny tired crab by this time, as we had done some horribly steep climbing on our "Three Capes Scenic Route."

In Netarts, we discovered that there were no camping options, and all the hotels were full. However, some locals suggested the RV park. We pulled in, looking worse for the wear with dirt-covered limbs and helmet-hair, but soon a kind RVer offered us a tent spot on her site, and soon after that the park owner created a site for us to pitch a tent. He lowered the price, threw in free showers, and folks gave us laundry soap and cooking oil. Divine! We feasted on couscous and vegetables, then crashed out for the night.

Since the Netarts ride was 55 miles, we took a more relaxed pace yesterday, in order to enjoy the ocean. A friendly ranger let us into one park for free, so we were able to enjoy second breakfast on the rocky beach overlooking the ocean. After another steep climb which we completed in .20 mile steps, we had sweet downhills into Pacific City.

Which is where we are now. Our internet time is rapidly ending. We'll post again soon, we hope.