Florence to Coos Bay

Florence to Coos Bay

Coos Bay to Port Orford

I was raised like most people with the emphasis on breakfast being the most important meal of the day; it normally consists of a couple oatmeal packets and maybe, maybe an apple or pear for myself, but this fine morning Aaron made us eggs, hash browns, and turkey bacon (I am trying to eat as organically and vegetarian as I can on this trip and I'm doing a lot better than I expect so I let the bacon slide). This got us on the right foot right off the bat.

Evan needed to go to a bike shop to get his handlebars adjusted and we wanted to top off our tires. So on the way to the bike shop we are riding in the bike lane all chatting and I am leading then Evan and Blake are almost riding side by side when I hear a zzzzzing sound and I look back and all I see is Evan's bike almost sideways and Evan out of his traps and in the air! I turn around to make sure I don't crash and turn around to help when I hear him scuff on the pavement then roll like a champ into a wood chipped area. Seems that Blake and Evan clipped panniers and sent Evan flying. His knee was a little cut up and his front tire chewed but all still functional.

The bike shop was peculiar reading, 'guitars & bikes'. It s exactly what you're thinking of; they're the only place in town that sells anything to do with guitars. It's what keeps them afloat in the winter. Safeway was across the street so we stocked up on foods.

Riding out of Florence had some hills so we climbed then went down then we clbed and went down. Another day of fine weather. As we approached North Bend, we ran into a group of supported cyclists and a Swiss gentleman who had been cycling South America, Alaska, and now the coast and going to head down through Baja and somehow get to Costa Rica. He is an accountant and over in Europe the holiday (vacation time) is amazing; paid for at least a couple months then there was some special Swiss thing he was talking about how after his holiday pay he still gets paid but only 80% of his normal salary so he's able to be on the road for a year or so without saving for the trip. We sure are missing out on some wonderful social programs and employers who encouraged their employees to get out and travel. Happy employees make more productive and loyal employees, I don't have the facts to back this statement up just from what I've heard Europeans say. 

There's a bridge you have to cross before getting into Nprth Bend/Coos Bay. We kept riding 10 miles out of town to a park for a campsite. Sunset Bay State Park has a gorgeous beach front and if you hike around the point it is mystical. The hiker/biker site was the worst so far; it's as if it was an after thought. They cleared off a marshy spot with no water or trash cans and its where the raccoons go to mingle when the sun goes down. More on that the next day.

The rain was starting and I was tired so I went to bed while others tried to get a fire going.

The next day was supposed to rain all day and it lived up to its forecast. We planned to have Rob meet us and spend the day dismal day out of the elements since the rest of the week was supposed to be gorgeous as usual. 

Sleeping in is nice since we normally toss and turn, get awoken by the sun then fall back asleep, then I get up around 8, so we slept in till 9 since it was just pouring. Evan and I shared his 1 man tent and my side was nice and damp. I sudoku-ed while we waited for Rob to save us. 

He arrived and hugs were given as the rain pelted us so we grabbed the few things we needed and hopped in the car. Our day off was spent hanging out in a local bookstore planning our day, getting Internet and catching up in the library (shhhh), getting chinese food, and sneaking oodles of candy into the movie theater as we were the only people watching World War Z. 

The rain subsided so we headed back to the campsite where we hiked around the point at the ocean and then said our goodbyes to Rob. The rain picked back up and we seemed refuge in our tents and read until we got sleepy...

...only to be awoken by getting body slammed by a raccoon! As I mentioned our site is there hangout zone and some were fighting over a banana peel someone left out (come on people) and one got tossed right into the tent wall where I was sleeping and I sleep with ear plugs so I was dead asleep then WHAM hit by a raccoon and I jumped and it scared Evan and Blake got out and shooed them away with his light. They haunted our campground until 4ish and the rain let up. 

We awoke haggard and tired and water logged. Giving in to the fact that we weren't gonna pack up everything all nice and dry. We got on our bikes and backtracked to the road we needed and joked that by taking this road we were going to avoid the few hills we knew we had right off the bat but it threw us head first into multiple hills and eventually on a plateau or ridge. 

The wind was in our favor today after the hills, giving us a speedy tailwind. We weren't really along the shore until we got to our destination, Port Orford. We stopped at the library to get some Internet and hit up the grocery store. The weather was cloudless and the sun was beating down and as we rode out of town trying to head to our campground there was a huge sign written on the road saying 'ocean view' with an arrow pointing up and over this little hill in 5 ft letters. You see this and you have to see what is on the other side and its one of those hills where you can't see over the crest until you are basically over it. It blew me away, how far you could see down the coast, how golden it was, and the large rock islands piercing through the waters. We spent a good time soaking it in and hanging out on the beach before rising the last six miles to our campsite at Humbug Mountain State Park. 

The sun was still out baking us so we laid out our tarps, tents, rainflies, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads to dry them out. The showers were right there so we cleaned up while our stuff dried and made camp when the sun ducked over Humbug Mountain. 

We filled the evening laughing about getting hushed at the library, our high fiber diets, and how our voices carry throughout the campground since the hiker biker site is up the hill. We made sure we had nothing out that would attract the wildlife and went into our tents at 8:36 wondering how to kill time before falling asleep. Sudoku and reading are on my agenda. Wishing Evan the best of luck tonight sleeping under his tarp, hoping he doesn't have any late night visitors.

Dragonflies & Headwinds

Newport to Florence (my reminder)

The title really tells it how it was, headwinds and dragonflies. We were battling the wind all day and winding up and down a couple decent hills. Lots of sweating and gulping down of water too. Some pretty viewpoints that we stopped at but just chugged along since the wind was not our friend today. 

As for dragonflies, I don't know if its common for that stretch but I've never seen so many dragonflies zipping from place to place, like a great migration you would see on Planet Earth or something. Many were lying dead on the ground as well as heading to and from the ocean.

We zipped down into Florence and stayed the evening at Aaron Vandahay's place and he took us to some great Mexican food and to some awesome sand dunes where him and Rodney used to sandboard and practice tricks. Amazing how the dunes shift and grow and spread into the highway and sit peacefully next to a lake. We hiked around a couple then had a lazy evening watching a movie and catching up.

Lincoln City & Newport

I am drawing a blank right now of anything that really stood out to me on the ride from Tillamook to Lincoln City, but once I think a little more I remember how golden it was that morning. Everything had that gilded look to it. The coastal range in the background had a shimmer, the giant airplane museum was reflecting a bright hue of gold, and the green grass fusing with the morning sun seemed too good to be true.

The pasture lands were lovely to ride through and soak in. This was the real memorable part for me. I know there was other stuff but I am just blanking so I am going to move on.

We stayed at Devils Lake that evening where we met up with 3 separate people touring in various length trips; only one really chatted with us, David, a nordstroms shoe salesman from Portland. He was just doing a 8 day tour along the coast. He is probably in his mid to late 30s and just a kind person eager to chat with others. He noted how he was enjoying the solitude of the biking but had been missing out on socializing at the days end so glad we were there that night. We actually stayed the next day at the same campground just outside of Newport too. 

Remembering a little more from that day, the bike route took a detour from the 101 and too us along Old 101 where the road was filled with unevenness and pot holes. It was much more scenic and almost vacant as we climbed switchbacks to the top of a hill. Obviously on the 101 there was a hill and we would have to go up and over it at some point and the route took us on a more safe and secluded part so we wouldn't be slowing down the rest of traffic.

Moving on to heading to Newport; we got up and packed up and did our push-ups for the day. We've been trying to do sets of push-ups every morning so we don't look strange with huge legs and twigs for arms. 

More awesome weather as we rode along the ocean with endless beaches and turn offs so one could soak in the spectacular views. Being on bikes we are limited on what we can see and do; I think I had certain grand ideas of camping on the beach and stopping a lot to explore around the beach cliffs but we just aren't able to do that all the time. We pull off at most viewpoints but to be honest lots of places on the coast look the same so we keep riding but we make sure we take time to soak in the spots that really stand out to us.

Newport is home to Rogue Brewery so obviously we had to stop and get some food and drinks. We had a good time just laughing and hangin out then we went to our campsite just down the road. I did somehow get a flat when we were at rogue cause I came out to a dead flat back tire. At the campsite I patched up my tube and found an industrial size staple piece lodged in my tire so I removed it and am up and running. 600 or so miles isn't bad for having 1 flat out of 6 tires. 

Just had a chill evening at our campsite in the trees and we chatted with some other cyclists before heading to bed.

Cheese Factory and one late night

Departed the farm after some breakfast and farewells. Was a sunny and warm morning where we rode through pastures filled with cows munching on golden green grass. I mooed at some and most ignored but occasionally one would look up and we'd both nod our heads in acknowledgement of existence. 

The road split and one could go either way to get back on highway 101. Evan and I went left and Blake was a little behind us and he went right. After a few miles of not seeing Blake we stopped wondering if he was just slow today after biking 80 miles from Portland the day before or if he was having bikes issues; the thought never came to mind that he went the other way. 

We waited 15 min, called and texted him but decided to go to the 101 junction and wait. So we waited there for 20 minutes and no Blake and we called and texted again but figured he would be fine and to keep going since it was going to be a short ride to Tillamook.

We rode along the coast and watched the multitudes of boaters coming and going from the river to the ocean and vice versa. Came along a small town on the ocean and decided to check it out so we rode up to the beach and there was an event going on; a fundraiser for the special Olympics. We watched the ocean waves building and whitening then curling and smoothening out when a group of people started inquiring about our tuxedo jerseys and loaded bikes. They loved what we are doing and encouraged their children to take note. 

We kept riding since we got a call from Blake saying he was down the road 5 miles. We caught up with him and enjoyed some rocky islands out in the water and a classic train rode by filled with children and the elderly. 

Ride into Tillamook where we immediately turned into the Tillamook Cheese Factory which was beyond full; your buses, campers, vans, and endless cars were parked looking to sample some tasty cheeses and ice cream. Our goal was to eat till we threw up but I will come off and tell you we failed. We did indeed go through the cheese line 3 times and got some ice cream but there was just too many people there. 

Headed to our friend, Bree's, house where we were going to stay. We did buy a quart of ice cream to share at the house. Spent most of the day catching up since we hasn't seen Bree since college. We decided to get dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant where the portions were massive! 

Later that evening Jared, Bree's boyfriend, was dj-ing out at Netart and we all went out for it. So it was at this nice restaurant and bar; we got there at 7ish and some college football game was on so we watched it and then proceeded to watch the SAME football highlights probably 15 times and we didn't get home till 3am! It was really rough. We were zombies from riding and being brained washed by highlights and we ha no way to get back to the house until closing. I remember laying down in bed and saying to myself 'always ask how long something is' and 'try and always have transportation if you get bored'.

Final Day at Revolution Farm

For our last day on the farm, it rained until 9 and after eating breakfast we went out and started working on revamping the fire pit and garden area.

We broke up the ground and reshaped the garden into a crescent moon shape, making a rock wall around it. Transplanted a sage plant to a new raised bed we made; planted a few trees and herbs inside the 'moon' too. The fire pit needed to be relocated out a few feet so we dugout a new area for it and built a brick wall around it. We removed a good amount of grass and then leveled it all with topsoil. It looks pretty darn good now.

This wwoofing experience all in all was positive but we really didn't partake in much of the farming/harvest since they already had 2 farm interns and 2 long term wwoofers. We mainly worked with Brigham doing odd and end jobs that needed to be done at some point and having extra hands helped motivate him to do some projects. I wish we did actual farming but for the short notice and duration of this stay it makes sense and I am please with everything we accomplished and learned. 

I learned a lot just by observing and seeing how things worked around the farm. I'm excited to bring back info to others about solar panels, composting toilets, hoop houses, community dinner and washing help. Should be interesting to see how the monastic community compares and contrasts. 

Blake arrived this evening from biking from Portland and him and Evan met me in Nehalem for some dinner then we rode back. Packing up out bikes and heading to Tillamook tomorrow.

More wwoofing

I will condense yesterday and today; got up early and started the day laying wire mesh an twisting cement thingys to the wiring. The cement truck was gonna be an hour late so we took clippers and such to a heavily forested part of the farm and hacked (no puns) away to make a new path and space for the hammock as well as get rid of some invasive plants.

The cement truck came and we spent the next several hours dripping sweat, shoveling concrete to low spots, and using a large piece of wood to go back and forth smoothening out the excess. I've never done this before but it is some hard work but glad to be a part of it. We finished that up around lunch time and we were done working for the day so Evan and I planned the rest of the bike trip route through Oregon and chatted with a couple guys who are making a book of poems with a letter press. Pretty crazy stuff!

That evening my friend, Jared, came out for a visit from Newburg which was so awesome to see him. Jared, Joey, and I used to hangout a lot when I lived in Portland. He drove Evan and I into Nehalehm to meet up with the rest of the wwoofers at a pizza place for dinner.

We sat around and chatted for the rest of the evening back at the barn then bid farewell to Jared.

Today it was just dumping rain so Brigham, Evan, and I sat inside and drank some tea seeing if it would let up since we had some projects to do outside and it never did let up so we did some other projects. 

We cleaned out an old hoop house and weeded it then dugout a couple clay pits and made a 3 ft deep by 15ft long and 3 ft wide row for next years growing. We did some random moving of a huge bay window, cleaned some tools, and went through recycling stuff before heading down to the lower farm and cutting wood for close to 3 hrs. 

Oh at one point in the day I was telling Evan a story about my childhood where we would buy trading cards and in the middle of my story Evan says, "yeah I need to take a shower too." And we just busted out laughing. He wasn't even paying attention. We had some good laughs today especially when we coined the phrase, 'above the lolz'. Feel free to use it.

We are just kicking back this evening reading and waiting for community dinner. Blake should be getting in tomorrow then on Saturday we are hitting  the road to bike in some nicer weather before more rain comes.

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.