WWOOFING Day 1

Last night we slept in the big red barn since it rained pretty hard and our tent was a little wet. We swept the floor in the welding room and slept pretty well.

Got up had some fresh tea and hot cereal with raisins, honey, and peanut butter. We then got to working ripping up grass in a 14 by 14 foot section for an outdoor kitchen area. Then leveling the dirt since one side was level and the other needed some fill. We then cut wooden stakes and boards to prepare for the cement truck tomorrow. We also moved dirt around to start building a cat haven so one of the cats stops killing the hummingbirds since they aid in pollination.

We had a great stew for lunch and a zucchini pasta (zucchini strips instead of noodles) for dinner. All very great. We've been helping with the dishes since we didn't cook.

Sat around and read and admired the farm. The wwoofer workers harvested tomatoes, corn, cucumber, and such. 

All in all a good first day. Will see what is in store for us tomorrow weather dependent.

Let the WWOOFING begin!

With Blake off with his friend, Evan and I left Gearhart and headed to our first wwoofing farm. If you haven't heard of wwoofing it stands for world wide organization of organic farming. Basically there are organic farms all over the world that are online and you can go work at them and they will house you and feed you. Some want you to be there for a minimum stay like 2 weeks and others have a come and go policy while others have full time positions. 

We are at Revolution Garden in Nehalem, OR. A smaller farm I'm told, there is an upper and lower farm and the upper is completely off the grid with solar panels and a river power generator powering 5 buildings. Pretty impressive! There is over 3 acres of farmable land and they rent out an awesome Japanese cabin on AirBnB that was built out of all found wood mainly drift wood. 

There are several hoop houses and rows of vegetables. They just harvested this morning a ton of onions, it's insane. They are drying in a hoop house and I believe they didn't even harvest them all yet. The rain started up and it was intense all day. 

So there are two long term volunteers, then two shorter term (month) volunteers, Ginger, Brian?, Ben?, and Evan and I. I believe Ginger and Ben? (can't remember some of the names sorry) own the property and Ben built all the structures which is nuts. Guess Ben is a master carpenter and he makes his living doing small kayaking classes where you actually build your own kayak in a week. We saw some today and they were amazing. Truly talented. 

Since it was raining we went to the tomato hoop house and most of us weeded while two pruned infected leaves. Was a nice time to get to know the other volunteers. Evan and I will be mainly working with Brian I think is his name (Ginger's bf) build a cob rocket stove if the weather permits, leveling an area and pouring a slab and making an outdoor kitchen, as well as some other projects. Just depends on weather and materials. 

They have compostable toilets, a Japanese tub, and solar heated showers. I'm full of questions. Hopefully some will get answered. Time will tell.

Rest day in Seaside

Awoke to condensation in the tent and laid my sleeping bag out in the sun and grabbed my book to read for a bit. We planned on making today a day off from riding before we head to the farm in Nehalem. 

Let me note this is the second attempt to write this post; I had finished and hit send and my phone crashed losing the post. Sorry if it is short.

I reactivated my phone by plugging it in to the laptop of our hosts but it still has issues. We washed our smelly clothes and waited for them to dry so we'd have something to wear for the day. 

Blake was getting a ride from a friend into Portland for a couple of days then he's planning on riding to meet us at the farm. Evan and I went to the bike shop to get his headset adjusted and top off our tires. I meandered to a book store and then down to the beach where I chatted with a strangely vague man for some time. He was fascinated with our trip but every time I asked him about his life he skirted around it. So I thanked him for the friendly conversation and met Evan at Seaside brewery for lunch.

Let me preface this by saying I'm basically trying all the veggie burgers down the coast when we stop in somewhere to eat. I was really disappointed by Seaside Brewery not only did they not have any of their own beers on tap but they were using Morning Star black bean veggie patties which I sometimes get myself. I should know tourist town and tourist prices doesn't mean good food. I could have made a better burger and fries for the amount I paid for it all. I hope this is the last time I ramble about veggie patties.

Ev and I rode out along the coastal bike path out past the crowds and to a bench to read, journal, and nap. Basically Evan was reading aloud to me because he was just loving his book and felt the urge to share. I've been there, most recently with Michael Pollan's 'Omnivores Dilemma' just ask Nate, Dani, and Joey. It was still a nice time to hangout and soak in the mind boggling notion of the ocean.

Once the sun started setting and the temperature dropped right along with it, we started biking the 3 miles back to our host's house. Hungry, we decided to try the 'The Great Wall' Chinese restaurant across the street which was good but a ton of food. Darkness was upon us and we meandered around the covered picnic table before retreating into our tent for the evening.

Hood to Seaside

This day was supposed to be a rest day but it was more like a light riding day. I rode to the library to try and reactivate my phone but didn't work; rode over the bridge to Warrenton to the AT&T store but they couldn't help, said I had to go to the apple store in Portland but that wasn't gonna happen so I went to Fred Meyers and got a sin dog by Dave's Killer Bread (if you haven't had one, find one, eat one, and share with friends). I waited for Evan and Blake to meet me so we could head to Seaside. 

After a couple hours passed, they showed up. I was able to read and chat with some employees on their breaks. There's just something about people from the Pacific Northwest, friendly in a different way than Western Canadians which really stand out to me.

Today was Hood to Coast, a 198 mile relay race from Mt Hood to the coast in Seaside. Teams of young and old, many and few, churches, school groups, friends, and coworkers make shirts, decide on cheesy team names, and decorate their support vehicles and start early morning and end whenever they end that day. What is waiting for them is a big BBQ and beer and the beach! They do fireworks that evening and have dance music going too. Basically this place is super busy. 

Here is where we come in, dressed in our tuxedo jerseys and riding loaded bikes through what could be a scene from the Walking Dead of gridlock cars. People kept asking which part of the 'leg' we were doing and why were we riding loaded bikes and we kept explaining to people we are touring not participating in Hood to Coast. 

We bypassed countless cars and rode to the beach where we kind of became part of the participants crossing over the runners lane to get to a line swing set on the beach to lock up our bikes. We were happy to be done riding but now didn't really know what to do since it was sheer craziness in town. We stood on the beach people watching celebrate finishing the relay and then the others who were just there enjoying the waves and sun. People wandering out way to far out into the ocean with their baby, not a good idea. 

After we got all sandy and had no means to wash our feet off we rode to a cafe for a smoothie and wifi. We ended up hearing back from a Couchsurfing couple in gearhart and we rode out to setup for the evening. 

A nice older couple who are school teachers in the summer and sell flowers and trinkets at farmers markets in the summer, were our hosts. Mark showed us the property then proceeded to take us for a hike through some backwoods trails along an old railroad path and to a marsh where a herd of elk meander, a bald eagle nests, and raccoons cause raucous. 

After showering and making dinner, Mark shared some stories of school trips he takes his students on to cowboy poetry festivals in Nevada and to Portland to talk with the son of the interpreter of Chief Joseph's last speech. After sharing some wine and many laughs we headed to our tents for the evening.

Goodbye Washington, Hello Oregon

After 360+ miles and several wooded and clear cut hills, we found ourselves riding in the mist watching the bridge to Astoria, Oregon getting larger and larger.

I was awoken that early morning by Evan rustling around in his tarp contraption, wondering if there was room in the tent since it started to rain. The rain turned to mist when we had to get up and pack up. 

The only two things that really stuck out in y mind from that day of riding was a dismal mill on the side of a grimey river. Saw a couple other mills, but this one and the tiny town seemed more downtrodden. We took a break on the bridge overlooking the whole scene. The second part that stuck out was out lunch stop; we just went through a construction area and we noticed an overgrown road that led back into the forest. The road went back maybe 40 feet and seemed to be a turnaround parking area for hunting. The trees were thick and the ferns reminded me of Jurrasic Park. It was just enough removed from the road to muffle the sound. 'Twas a nice break in the cycling.

We came down a hill and the landscape opened up to a view of the river separating Washington from Oregon and a bridge connecting the two off in the distance. We were rejuvenated with excitement but knew there was still some riding to be had. Once on the bridge we had 4 miles to cycle with lots of traffic., wind, and mist. The excitement wore off a bit once we started climbing the last section which was quite steep. Nonetheless we cruised down the main strip to Fort George a nice pub for a celebration of completing Washington and the excitement of Oregon! 

As I was sending off a couple texts to friends my phone shut off and came on with a reactivation screen which I had no way to do. I figured I'd take it to the AT&T store the next day.

We ended up staying the night with a Couchsurfing host on her sailboat. Blake an Evan shared the main bed and I sprawled out from a bench over a cooler to another padded bench which happened to be right in front of the doorway. Needless to say it wasn't the best sleep but served its purpose of shelter from the elements. Blake and Evan awkwardly stepped over me when they needed to use the piss bucket throughout the night (bladders like children). Guess I will end there.

Visit from my family

Woke up early since the sun was out in force. Packed up and headed towards the 101 to start our short day of riding. Aberdeen was on the agenda being 44 miles away. Seemed like a lot of it was somewhat downhill which our legs enjoyed. 

Made good time into Holquiem just outside of Aberdeen by a couple miles when we came across Hum-Dinger a greasy outdoor diner that Evan and I ate at a lot on our TransAmerican trip. They are always the best. The older sassy women were loving our tuxedo jerseys even telling Blake to ride in his birthday suit. 

I inhaled my veggie burger, onion rings, and chocolate milk shake before the other guys ate half of theirs. I'm blanking on the adage about a hungry man and a veggie patty but it's somewhere. 

We then rode to Aberdeen looking for Internet at a cafe or something but all there seemed to be was a Starbucks and McDonalds so we rose to the next town Cosmopolis to a fun spot that just closed but the owners live there so they kept it open. We chatted with them about their establishment and how they moved from California and how they always wanted to run a cafe that served organic food and coffee and supported local arts and music. We congratulated them and encouraged them to keep it up and start a farmers market in their parking area. 

We finished our muffins and smoothies then huffed it up a decent hill to Artic RV and Campground where we got a spot. Great little place and the owners love cyclists. They cut us a special deal and then took us on a walking your of their backyard showing off a huge garden, apple and kiwi trees, and wonderful flowers. They allow anyone staying to harvest whatever is there; the onions, lettuce, and green beans are tempting us so perhaps tomorrow we will take a little.

My brother, Leo, his wife, Jenny, and my niece, Ruth-Ann, tracked us down from their hometown of Olympia and brought us 2 big pizzas, salad, chocolate cake, and green tea. It was so awesome to see them and for them to bring such a feast. Sadly we didn't have much time but it was worth it to have some laughs, hugs, and to chase little Ruthie around the grass and spin her around until we were both walking like drunken sailors as my dad calls it.

Said our goodbyes and many thank yous and my family headed back home. I was thinking as I was riding today how blessed I am and I don't expect anyone to go out of their way for me but it sure is nice when they do. Couldn't be more thankful for the blessings of family and food.

*Almost forgot, as we were riding today Evan points to a sign and as I turn to read it I veer slightly over the white line as a logging truck was coming. Closer than I'd like to be but still a 'safe' distance away. Was reminded to be in constant control of my bike even when I'm rubbernecking a sign.

Meeting the ocean & lake swimming

We woke to much condensation on our tents so we hung them in the sun patches while we prepared breakfast and packed up. The ride from our campsite was through wooded parts then through clear cut area with signs scattered telling when they were clear cut, replanted, and when the next harvest would be.

Before leaving on this trip I was having lunch with my good friend, Mike Bartlett, and I told him that restoration has been really impressed upon me this summer and I'm wondering what that is going to look like on the trip and after and I would say that so far I'm happy to see these clear cut forest being replanted (the forethought is wise) but its crazy cause I saw a replant date of 1986 (a year after I was born) and the trees still had a long ways to go. Nature works in a much different scope of time and so does restoration. Be mindful in a day of instant oatmeal which is getting a little old for me.

We winded through some wooded area then rode up along the beach which was so gorgeous! I joked about how we can finally start the trip but after a quick lunch by the shore we headed back inland to Lake Quinault. 

We settled into the first campsite and setup right on the beach. It was hot and we were sticky with sweat and sun screen so we jumped in the crystal clear lake. Frigid at first then it just was perfect. We swam and giggled like small boys taking videos of us diving in and acting like goofs. 

The sunset complimented nicely with the lake and surrounding hills. I tried to capture it but the human eye is such an amazing piece of technology. The sun dipped over the last hill and we settled into our sleeping arrangements: Blake in his tent, Evan wrapped like a burrito in his tarp, and me in Evan's tent.