Fight Terminal Employment Disease

Friday, July 20th/Day 1: 34 miles
After crazy Willie kicked us to the curb too early in the morning, we looking at all of our stuff on the sidewalk outside and realized we needed more panniers to carry our crap and last minute stuff to ship home. Jenny drove me around for those errands, Remember kids, no non-americorps members in the van, ahhh stupid amerirules. We finally got on the road at 3:00pm. After, I believe 3 flat tires between us, we rode until we got separated. I took a ride from a fellow cyclist named Bill with a van to meet Scottie at a convention center parking lot. He had the 4th flat of the day and it was getting dark. We set up camp on a sliver of grass between the parking lot and the fence surrounding this convention center near Wheatland, CA.
Thanks to Jenny and Bill for the rides and to Bill for the rear view mirror he gave us.

Saturday, July 21st/Day 2: 56 miles
Woke up at around 5am to water on my face, rain? nope, sprinkler system. I woke Scottie and told him we need to move the tent, he said the rain would stop. After explaining we moved the tent into the handicap spaces a few feet away and went back to sleep. We made it to Yuba City where we encountered cool people at Van's Bicycle Center. We bought cyclometers and continued on to Thermalito Bay where we went for a swim before camping out in the woods off the side of the road outside Oroville.
Thanks to Nick and Glenn from Van's who were extremely helpful. They gave us tire levers and helped us install the cyclometers. Also a huge thanks to the Horne couple we met at that shop who offered to ship some of our stuff home. We gave her a garbage bag full of almost all our clothes. We asked what we owned her and she declined our offer. Thank You to her and her husband who gave a bunch of advice as someone whose biked cross country numerous times already.

Sunday, July 22nd/Day 3: 50 miles
Met up with unsavory character #1 in the morning on our way out of town. He apparently knew Kung Fu and had a scar to prove it. He also didn't enjoy the vices of weed and booze. I believe the direct quote was "Fuck weed and booze, I eat people. You know what kind of people I like?, Colored people." Then he said something to the affect that they taste better. "Not the woman though, they don't have blood, they just have iron." We kept riding, the direction he told us to go was correct at least. We made it to Chico. We spent about 4 hours in Taco Bell there, I felt woozy from the heat and I wasn't hungry when I should've been. I ate and felt better after sitting out the hottest part of the day. We headed out on to route 32. Unknown to us at this point but this was the beginning of three days of going uphill from about sealevel to about 8,500 feet. We spent the night in front of a gated ritzy community.

Monday, July 23rd/Day 4: 30 miles
Uphill all damn day. We made it to Potato Patch Campground. I borrowed a pot from some crotchety senior citizens. We made our first meal of angel hair that was donated from the Americorps kitchen. The pix say it all on this one. I cooked on the open fire, Scottie cleaned on the open river. I then returned it during their bridge game. This was also the scene of our first shower. Under the cover of darkness we took turns holding the spigot nozzle open on the maybe 2 feet off the ground potable water spigot. That spigot as well as both of us saw things we shouldn't have that evening. The resulting feeling of being clean is highly under-rated though.

Tuesday, July 24th/Day 5: 33.6 miles
Again, Uphill all damn day. We made it to Lassen Volcanic National Park. The campground at the entrance of the park was closed. We attempted to make to the next campground but the hills in the park seemed to get steeper. We made as far as the Bumpass Hell Trailhead. We took the 3mile round trip hike to see the bubbling mudpots and fumaroles, the whole thing smelled like rotten eggs due to the sulphur. I got real hungry for egg salad and Scottie tryed the sulphur water. Then we raced the falling sun back to our bikes. We slept behind the pit toilets at that trailhead. Scottie will add that I slept much closer them than he did. Yes it smelled but I didn't want to be seen and I wanted to be close to my bike. We skipped the tent and I'm glad we did because the choice between looking at the inside of a tent and the stars isn't a choice at all. Eventhough the moon was exceptionally bright that night.

Wednesday, July 25th/Day 6: 22.7 miles
We biked to the Lassen Peak trailhead also the summit (8,512ft.) of the road we'd been riding up the past 3 days. We hiked that 5 mile round trip trail. We saw snow at the top (10,457ft.). After spending the morning on the mountain eating lunch at the gift shop we bike to the end of the park, about 20 miles away. It was downhill all the way. We slept at the Manzanita Lake Campground at the east entrance of the park.

Thursday, July 26th/Day 7: Day Off/Rest
We spent the day checking out the Loomis Museum and Manzanita Lake. We did a short mile hike around the lake and got ice cream. We slept in the same campground.

Friday, July 27th/Day 8: 61.55 miles
While packing up to leave in the morning we see the campground host and hear over his walkie talkie someone explaining that there's only a couple bucks in the two payment envelopes. Shortly after there was a park ranger at our campsite giving us the third degree. We ended up with a ticket each for 75 bucks. After that we rode downhill (I hit 40mph) all the way to Redding. We went food shopping in Redding then continued on to camp illegally again next to Whiskeytown Lake.

Saturday, July 28th/Day 9: 56.1 miles
We made damn sure to get up early and get on the road before anyone harassed us. We stopped in Weaverville for lunch. We found a small movie theater in this tiny town and went to see the Simpsons movie. We killed the hottest part of the day in Weaverville then continued on. We passed a big hippie festival but we opted to pass on it. Scottie saw a black bear across the Trinity River. He yelled, I didn't hear and it scared the bear away. We stayed at Big Flat Campground, Yes we paid this time, it's not like we have a fast getaway vehicle.

Sunday, July 29th/Day 10: 46.19miles
We made it to Willow Creek. We had a potential contact at a restaurant called Cinnibar Sam's who was supposed to know the condition of a road to Redwood National Park. This road would save us riding two days out of the way. So we ate there but the guy wasn't working but his son said the road isn't paved but it's in good condition. We took a nap outside that restaurant and looked around the town, it's full of Bigfoot chainsaw sculptures. When we left the town we headed towards the "good condition road" on the Bigfoot highway. We slept on the Trinity River on an Indian Reservation near Hoopa.

Monday, July 30th/Day 11: 23.2miles
We made it to Bald Hills Road, the so-called good condition road. It's gravel and we have skinny road tires, not happening, plus it was all uphill. We walked the bikes about 6 miles up the hill. Then we met Evan, a kid driving by on his way back to college from the summer camp he worked at. He gave us a ride into Redwood National Park. We stopped and hiked Ladtbird Johnson Grove about 2 miles. We then continued through the park looking for a campground. We found Flint Ridge on the Pacific. The parking for Flint Ridge was high above the ocean with a beatiful view but we wanted to see the ocean up close. We found a trail that lead down to the water, after a 5 minute steep hike on an enclosed trail (the brush and such enveloped you) we found ourselves on a black sand beach with huge boulders scattered about. Scottie and I start running towards the water and stripping clothes off. We got about twenty feet from the wave and realized it was twice as tall as us. We immediately do a 180 and run in the other direction, but the wave crashed at our ankles. It swept us off our feet like a charismatic date. Then took our shorts off in the same motion, I almost lost my glasses, Icaught them halfway off my face and slid them back on. Scottie finished our ascent out of the ocean, pulling our shorts back on. Pacific schooled us in the age-old saying of, don't mess with mother nature. We looked around for Evan but couldn't find him, after a couple minutes of Scottie and I contemplating outloud, "What if he ditched us?", we see him down the beach crawling out of the sea, panting heavily. As we run up to see if he's ok, he exclaims "Thank you Lord for guideing me through that, Halleluyah!". By the way Evan was saved a couple years ago and now feels the need to spread the word about JC. We climbed a huge boulder and then went to set up camp, we had to hike our stuff in about a quater of a mile at the flint ridge campsite.

Tuesday, July 31st/Day 12: no bikes today
The three of us packed up camp and met Adam in the parking lot above the ocean. He was there to go "Bouldering" on the beach below. Evan had rock climbing shoes with him and chalk. So all of us spent the day on the beach climbing the big boulders on the beach. Thet let Scottie and I borrow their shoes and we all took turns, Scottie and I had little clue what we were doing but the learning experience is always welcome. We climbed and lounged all day. We parted ways with Adam in the early evening. Scottie and I bought Evan dinner at a restaurant in the first town we hit, before the food came Adam sat down at the table. He saw Evan's truck while looking for a place to eat. We enjoyed a meal and then pie together. Then we said goodbye to Adam again and drove to Oregon. We camped on a BLM dirt road off the highway towards Crater Lake National Park.

Wednesday, August 1st/Day 13: 48.51 miles
Evan dropped us off at the Visitor Center at Crater Lake. We said goodbye and thanked him for his hospitality, he shared a lot with us. Then we headed out to do the Rim Road, about 33 miles, follows the perimeter of the lake. We stopped to hike Watchman Peak (1.6 miles) and again to hike down to the lake via Cleetwood Cove (2.2 miles). This is where we jumped into the volcano. We made it about 2/3 of the way around the lake before we had to head for the nearest bike shop. The infamous Frankenwheel began it's reign of inconvience. We made it out of the park and slept at the junction of routes 138 and 97. We set up the tent in some trees next to a gas station.

Thursday, August 2nd/Day 14: 58.51 miles
We made it to about 17 miles outside of Bend, OR (the nearest bike shop). An uneventful day until the evening when Scottie and I got separated due to Frankenwheel and darkness. We slept apart only about 100 feet from the highway.

Friday, August 3rd/Day 15: 66.74 miles
We found out this morning that we were only like a quarter mile from each other. Finally made it to Bend, we had to walk Frankenwheel the last mile through town to the bike shop. Luckily the bike shop, had everything Scottie needed, the sales guy gave Scottie a stern talking too, like a father. "I can't believe you were riding on this. You're lucky you made it here." and so on. We got setup at that bike shop and headed back on our way. We made in to Madras and decided to camp somewhere once we got out of town. Well once we got out of town we found no trees or cover, just farmland and open fields. Not wanting to sleep in the open and be woken up by a farmer we decided to knock on a door and ask if we could camp on the lawn. It's about 9pm and it's completely dark out by this time. So we dismount the bikes, take our helmets off and walk onto the porch of a house that still had it's lights on. We stand side by side and with as much innocence and school boy charm as possible I explain to the woman who opens the door what we're doing and ask if we can camp on her lawn. To our surprise she opens the door, introduces herself as Donna and invites us in. Donna was nothing short of amazing to us. Here is the list of everything she did for us for the sake of brievity:
let each of us take a bath
made us yogurt with blueberries and homemade granola
did our laundry for us, she even washed it twice cause it was nasty
hand washed our gloves which were equally nasty
made us amazing spinach omlettes and homemade cornbread for breakfast
showed an interest in where our lives were going and gave us valueable insight and advice on how to get there (She's a teacher and traveller so we both got along quite well with her)
Thank you Donna so much

Saturday, August 4th/Day 16: 52.35 miles
We didn't leave Donna's house until around 2pm, she was awesome. Scottie and I were both in amazing moods today, I think this is the day Scottie first proclaimed that he could never be mean to anyone ever again. I agreed. We made it to just outside of Government camp in the shadow of Mt. Hood and slept by stream just out of view from the road.

Sunday, August 5th/Day 17: about 50miles
Made it to Portland today. We caught up with Liz and her friends. We had a shower thanks to her friend Josie, who she was staying with. After showers, there was sort of an informal "pissing contest" with yoga between Liz and I, then Scottie once he got out of the shower. "Can you do this pose?, well how about this one?, Ha gotcha." Well not quite that competitive. Liz just got certified at an ashram to teach yoga so that's what prompted that. Then we played "Would you rather..." over drinks. Scottie and I caught up with Jackie when she got out of work after that. She put us up and set us up like the gracious host that she is. We then went out to the themed porn party, Scottie and I were of course gay cyclists. It was pretty small but fun. Spent most of our time in a field out back and Scottie and I raided the fridge a couple times.
Thank you, Josie, Liz, and JACKIE for the housing for a week.

Monday-Sunday, August 6th-August 12th/Days 18-24
I had a job for this week at FedEx, the Portland Hub. So I went there and figured out all those details, thanks for the ride Liz. I had to work the 3am-8am shift. I spent the week missing the nightlife with Jackie and Scottie cause I was in bed. I did enjoy my daily commute to work at 2am. The city is super quiet and it's fun to own the normally busy roads on a bike. I had a 6 mile ride each way, with the bike unloaded it was a cakewalk. I spent my days hanging out with Liz and catching up with Jackie when she got out of work. Molly was a welcomed presence with her friend Matt too. I felt lazy all week but it was relaxing. I wish I got to see Jackie more but we worked opposite schedules. Scottie and I did no hanging out by ourselves only with Jackie and Molly. I did yoga on Mt. Tabor with Liz and Buffalo. Scottie, Jackie and I went to dinner one night at Jackie parents house, always a good time to see other family's dynamic together. Jackie, Jackie's friend from high school, Molly, Matt, Scottie and I all went out to the Hooka place down the street called the Pied Cow. We all went to the Acropolis one night, the Acropolis is a steakhouse/bar/stripclub. The food is dirt cheap and really good, there are like 50 beers on tap and the girls are quality too. I went to the library almost everyday to use the computer, but you only get an hour a day. That's just enough time to do squat, especially when you haven't seen one in weeks. I rode my bike all around town and I got a ride around town from Liz and Jackie a fair amount too. Thank you to you both. Of Course on Sunday night, Molly, Scottie and I all did ZooBomb as mentioned earlier. Thank you so much Jackie for putting up with us.

Monday, August 13th/Day 25
Scottie and I were waiting for some packages from mom that didn't arrive on saturday. We finally got them on this day. We went through them swapped out bulky sleeping bags for fleece blankets. Made some other gear switches and stocked up on food from Mom and Corrie. Thank you Mom and Corrie for the ton of food you both sent us, it all got eaten. We packed up and said goodbye to Jackie and Molly. Then rode over to say goodbye to Liz, she offered to go to Mt. Rainier with us and drive, so... We fit both bikes and all the gear in her Subaru WRX, Scottie rode with the bikes in the back seat. Then headed up to Mt. Rainier. We camped at Cougar Rock campground inside the park. Thank you so much for the ride Liz.

Tuesday, August 14th/Day 26
We hiked the Skline trail and a bunch of convaluted circle trails around it, I lost track of how far it was. We were hiking among glaciers in shorts though. Scottie and I slid down the Snowy face of one. This isn't a mountain you can summit with out climbing or cold weather gear, so that didn't happen. Liz dropped us off at the junction of 206 and 7. She went South and we went North. We only rode a bit to get to a decent camping spot. We camped near some picnic tables next to what left of Alder Lake.

Wednesday, August 15th/Day 27: 66.74 miles
We got kicked out of the picnic area early in the morning. We made it all the way to Seattle today but not before Scottie told me he wasn't going further than Seattle over our lunch at Taco Bell. My heart sank but I felt for Scottie and what he was dealing with internally. More about that later. During ZooBomb someone told us to meet up with the Dead Baby Bicycle club in Seattle, so before we left Portland, Scottie sent them an email. They sent us back the address of their clubhouse, known only as the Church of the Bicycle Jesus. The rest of the day was a mission to find the church. We found it sometime after dark. Arizona Dave was on the phone outside and invited us and our bikes in. Everybody there was super awesome, they invited us onto the roof of there commercial space, up this rickety ladder. On the roof was a small get together of the guys who lived there, they fed us Knob Creek and PBR. They were super excited we found the church, they gave us crosses made from bike chain and candles with Jesus holding a tall bike with their own prayer they made up. It goes as follows:
Our father who's art's in heaven,
hollow be thy frame,
thy link's cogs run,
thy wheel be done,
on earth as it is in bicycle heaven,
give us this wrench
our steely thread
and forgive us our dents
as we forgive our denters
and den tees,
so why not lead us into temptation,
after all your delivering us from evil,
for thine is the kingdom,
the pedal power
and chrome plated glory,
forever.

Amen

Quite hilarious, yes I know there are a few mistakes in it but I typed it as is, off my candle, it's printed in this nice old english font and everything. They offered for us to spend the night and we accepted. We stayed up late and played with some of the wierd stuff in the clubhouse, like the exercycle (see pictures). When Scottie took his shoes off to get ready for bed on a church pew, TO threw up from the smell and told him he needed to wash his feet. While Scottie went to wash his feet, TO open the back and front doors and tried to air the place out. Easily the funniest event of the whole trip, I was rolling on the sidewalk out front.

Thursday, August 16th/Day 28: 16.92 miles
Originally, the plan was to head to North Cascades National Park after visiting Seattle but after what Scottie said we didn't know. Dave at the church mentioned touring the islands in the sound using the ferries. So that's what we decided. Scottie was feeling better about the trip. I told him that if he was going to head home, his best bet would be to do it from Seattle. I didn't want to get into the middle of Washington, or Idaho, or Montana, or Wyoming and have him decide he can't do it because he would be SOL for getting a trip home. Seattle was the last city we would see until Denver. He agreed, he did not want to get into the mind set he was in the day before and then have to ride for a week or two to get to an available ride home. We decided that we would go to Canada via the island for the last Hoorah on this tour. So we spent the day cruising around Seattle. We saw the Space Needle, the troll under the bridge that I remember from "Ten Things I Hate About You", a big statue of Lenin rescued by an American who saw it in a rubble pile sometime after the wall came down, and this weird shop that had mummies of people, dogs and a two headed pig in a jar. Then we took a ferry to Bainbridge Island from the downtown ferry port. We ate at a nice mexican restaurant and indulged in some adult beverages. We then slept in a field under a tree in someone's huge yard, good thing the tent is green.

Friday, August 17th/Day 29: 50.3 miles
We rode from outside the town of Bainbridge Island across Agate Passage and the across the Hood Canal Bridge, then up to
Port Townsend. Along the way met a guy also touring on his bike. He stopped to talked to us for awhile while we were fixing a flat. In course of us swapping stories he heard something and felt like he should donate all the cash he had to us. We couldn't say no to him, it was like 8 bucks. Thank you to him, he was very nice to us. In Port Townsend we met another guy on a bike and he showed his favorite spot in town. It was this beautiful park on the beach with all kinds of flowers. We actually got there just in time for the town's Shakespeare in the park series. So we watched some of the highly condensed version of Romeo and Juliet. We had to head back to the center of town to catch our ferry to Keystone on Whidbey Island. We took the last ferry to Keystone, it was dark when we got there. We happened to meet a nice woman once we got there who was travelling with her family in the campground next to the port. The campground was but she offered us some space on her campsite to set up our tent. She was also super nice to us. The campground also had the 3 minute for 50cents showers. That was my 7th shower of 29 days, felt good.

Saturday, August 18th/Day 30: 61.60 miles
We got up a little late today and had to haul to make it 35 or so miles from Keystone to Anacortes to make the last ferry at 2pm. We made it, crossing of the beatiful Deception Pass in the process. We rode the ferry from Anacortes through the San Juan Islands to Sidney B.C. Once we got to B.C. we found the Lochside regional trail (the bike trail from Sidney all the way to Victoria that I heard rumors of on various ferries). We rode that until we hit a community bike shop called Recyclistas. We stopped and talked to a couple of the guys there unloading a truck. They mentioned a bike art show and bands playing that night. So we toured around Victoria, had some food and went back to the art show. Scottie wore a sign that said, "We're on a bike tour from Sacramento, we will trade stories, jokes, etc. for a place to stay." It worked, we had a couple of girls that couldn't offer their own place, so they were hustling for us. A thiry year old couple named Leigh and Sherry offered us a place. So after a few bands had played we followed them on their bikes to their apartment. It was like 1am and raining. I'm glad it didn't rain to often on this trip cause my glasses and rain don't mix well. Leigh and Sherry gave us our own room and a queen size bed. They let us take showers, do laundry, and offered up any food they had. THANK YOU Leigh and Sherry. Either of us had slept in a bed for a long time. Beautiful room too, there are pix.

Sunday, August 19th/Day 31: 11.35 miles around town
Sundays for Leigh are bike polo days, yes bike polo, like real polo, only no horses, bikes instead. This sunday happened to be a tournament at the local park. So after Leigh, Scottie and I had breakfast and tea we headed to Topaz park. First we had to pick up Leigh's bike polo bike, yes he has a separate bike for it. It is gear differently and the rear brake is on the left side so you can hold the mallet in your right hand. Scottie and I traded in our bikes to use a couple of bike polo bikes for the day. Bike polo is played on what the canadians called a lacrosse court, street hockey rink to us americans, see pix. Scottie and I were both terrible at it, but we both played on randomly selected teams in the tournament. We played all day, for like 7 hours or so, on and off. Someone brought and made tea and had lots and lots of finger foods, all cream cheese based. Tea was served in nice ceramic matching tea cups and saucers. They tryed to make it as much like the sidelines of real polo as possible eventhough this was all on bleachers. My team won the mini tournament of all the teams that got knocked out of the first round of the real tournament, the three of us got shot glasses from the local thrift store. Scottie and I won the team that traveled the furthest to get there award too, it was a practical guide to self-hypnosis, AWESOME. Thanks to everyone at bike polo too, for being patient with us and welcoming. After bike polo we went to get our tour bikes and all of our stuff at Leigh and Sherrys' place. They had company for the evening so Scottie and I headed over to Sam's house. She had said we could stay with her and her roommates if we still needed a place, we saw her at the bike art show and at polo. She let us sleep on the couch and futon in her living room. Thank you Sam, Chase and Azin.

Monday, August 20th/Day 32: 17.34 miles
We woke up after Sam and roommates had gone to work, Scottie made some Ramen that we had for breakfast. Then we decided to leave our stuff at Sam's place and tour the city on foot. We went to Craigdarroch Castle, built on Victoria's highest point. It's beautiful, we toured through that then headed for downtown. We walked all around downtown, we saw the Empress Hotel and the Capital Building across the street. We walked through all the local shops and stores and then headed back to Sam's to grab our bikes. We packed up, said goodbye and headed back up the Lochside Regional Trail to Sidney. We thought we were going to catch the last ferry to Vancouver, but that ferry dock was a few miles away from the one we were at. We just barely made it in time for the last ferry but we were at the wrong dock. We ended up sleeping on the porch of the visitors center because it was raining but not before we talked to this intense guy who had been living out of his van for five years. We stood around and talked to him in the rain for almost 2 hours. He was 64 years old and has only worked 7 years of his life. He was a bonafide hippie who was in the Haight for the summer of love in '69. He had some choice quotes, like; "Don't procreate, you've heard of Plan B right? Make sure she takes it, wait, no, slip it into her drink." Yeah, the guy was nuts.

Tuesday, August 21st/Day 33: 22.72 miles
We decided to just start heading back to Seattle 'cause Scottie had train tickets for Friday. So we took the ferry from Sidney back to Anacortes. From Anacortes we headed back the way we came up. We met Caleb, another guy on a bike tour from Idaho, at Deception Pass. We hung out and rode with him all day. We all camped behind an RV store in the brush. He had a stove and cooked and we shared food, good times.

Wednesday, August 22nd/Day 34: 48 miles
We had a cooked meal again for breakfast thanks to Caleb. Thank You Caleb, again. We rode with Caleb all the way to Keystone, 'cause he was headed to Port Townsend. We parted ways there, then Scottie and I rode the rest of Whidbey Island to Clinton, WA. From Clinton we took a free ferry to Mukilteo, WA. We ate and lounged in the park by the ferry dock for a few hours. In the park I played frisbee with this kid named Eric. After awhile of frisbee and talking, he said we could crash at his house. We didn't realize this house would be a 45 minute walk with our heavy bikes on train tracks. It was well worth it though, this house was right on the sound. From the back deck it was cliff, train tracks and then cliff to the water, beautiful view from all three levels of the house, how many houses have a view of a beautiful view from the basement. When we got there, he made us wait outside while he asked his mom if it was ok, that was hilarious. She was ok with and very nice to us. We got pizza, showers and we got to do laundry too. Then we layed around and watch Forrest Gump. They were super nice people. Thank you Eric and the family

Thursday, August 23rd/Day 35: 40.5 miles
Eric made us breakfast and we sat around to watch the end of D3. We wished him well and rode down into Seattle. We hung out at the space needle and the library. We met up with Action Jackson at some pillars in the middle of the city. We hung out for a bit but I think all three of us were really tired. Scottie and I parted ways this night after we said goodbye to Action Jackson. Scottie had a train to catch the next day and I was headed to Portland. The goodbye was sad but we were both annoyed with each other, I think I had some rage due to an early trip ending. We were also having an ongoing philisophical debate that stemmed from watching Forrest Gump, that was taxing as well. I slept in some park on the outskirts of the city. I didn't really sleep though, it was wet out and I was uncomfortable without the tent.

Friday, August 24th/Day 36: 63.15 miles
My first day of solo riding. I made it to Roy, WA where I visited the library and had a pizza tray of nachos at the local tavern. I played a waitress in a game of pool. Then I headed south. I found a nice bike trail that ran from Yelm to Tenimo. I took that until I came to a clearing full of RV's and tents. I stopped and I asked around, I was at the local Bluegrass festival in Rainier, WA. I talked to the fire chief about camping. She's was real nice she set me up right between the two safety nets on either side of the dunk tank. The other fireman were setting it up for the next day for a fundraiser. They told me I could get breakfast at the senior center in the morning too.

Saturday, August 25th/Day 37: 87.96 miles
I woke up to a woman saying you look cold and threw a giant blanket on top of me, then fell back to sleep for another couple of hours. I slept fine, I wasn't actually cold but I'm not gonna turn down a blanket. I packed up my stuff in the morning as the fire truck came to fill the dunk tank. I left the blanket with the firemen 'cause I couldn't find that woman and I didn't really remember what she looked like anyway. I went to the senior center and they fed me two big plates of breakfast for 5 bucks, I was excited about that deal. I headed out from there back onto the bike path. I stopped in Centralia to get a better map. I looked around online at a local copy place andfound the map for the Seattle to Portland bike race. I used those maps to get all the way to Portland. I went over the Lewis and Clark Bridge into Rainier, OR, I know there were three different Rainier on this trip (Mountain, town in WA, and a town in OR). I found a frisbee golf course and park but I got kicked, so I slept in the back corner of the parking lot after the guy left.

Sunday, August 26th/Day 38: 62.03 miles
It was only 45.05 miles to the Gelber house in Portland. Jackie's parents graciously offered to let me stay with them until I got a job and a place. THANK YOU endless amounts to them. Once I unloaded my bike and got settled, I had to go to ZooBomb. I participated in the so-called badass challenge, where instead of taking the MAX up the hill you ride up. I rode up and down once and came back to sleep, IN A BED.

For pictures (These are more interesting than my storytelling, I promise): Marc's Photos

So...Yeah it's over, I'll miss it, I'll do it again. I'm sorry it wasn't longer or more epic, but we did bike over 1200 miles. I'm sorry I didn't get to see and visit as many of you as I thought I would. So now I'm in Portland with a sweet resume but no job yet, therefore no place, but I'm applying to schools too for the winter and fall.

MARC