Mosquitoes, Rest and Recovery

Day 6 - 55 miles (Montesano to Nemah)

Although we rode pretty far, today was pretty leisurely. We woke up around 8am from the comfort of our motel room, performed some bike maintenance, and explored the small town. After we got our fix of tourist attractions, we headed out.

I think today was the first day we didn't have to climb uphill in the first 5 miles of riding. We biked about 10 miles and reached one of our final directions: turn left onto highway 101. We will be on this road for the remainder of our trip. The next 15 miles took us along the Pacific Coast Highway through wonderful forest preserves. We met some fellow bikers who are riding from Vancouver BC to San Francisco along our same route and stopped in the town of Raymond for lunch.

We went to a local ale house and the food was surprisingly good. I've come to not expect much from small town cuisine and was truly delighted by our meal. Those guys know how to cook a burger. If you ever pass through Raymond, get a burger. After chatting with the owner's mother and some other locals, we headed out again.

The next 30 or so miles was a beautiful blue for me. We rode over rivers and sloughs and overlooked the Pacific Ocean while riding through the forest. Truly gorgeous. We arrived in Nemah which had no lodging (no parks, motels or anything in between) so we found this awesome campsite off the side of the highway and set up for the night.

The mosquitoes threw us a welcome party so we pitched our tents in record time and settled in for the night around 7:45pm. Apparently there were so many of them that they blocked all satellite signals, leaving us stuck in our tents with no phone service, left to our own devices.

It's day 6 and I am feeling the first pangs of homesickness. I miss my darling back in Utah. I wish I could talk to her just to hear her voice. I miss stroking her head as we fall asleep. As much as I appreciate solitude and see the value of using it to reflect upon who you are, I'm convinced that you can't live a fulfilling life without loving people in it. Interacting with people is built into our DNA. We thrive on the company of others; even if it's just one other. I know this feeling will pass once I strap on my helmet and head down that first hill in the morning, but tonight in my tent I'm holding onto it.

Tomorrow is our recovery day. We'll be biking 20 miles and spending the day in Cape Disappointment State Park. I can't wait to give our legs and butts a much needed break.

LIVE FROM CAMP

I can hear something shuffling 20 feet away outside of my tent. I think it's a deer but I couldn't see anything when I peeked out. I'm hoping it's a deer...and not a passive aggressive murderer...or a bear...yeah it's gotta be a deer.

Day 7 - 42 miles (Nemah - Ilwaco)

We biked 20 miles to Ilwaco and stayed in Cape Disappointment State Park. Not sure what is up with my cell service but apparently Sprint and the Pacific Northwest don't go together. Bo grew up in Ilwaco and spent a lot of his time in the town of Long Beach, which is only a few miles north of where we stayed. After setting up camp, we dropped off our gear and spent the day in Long Beach, eating Tiger Claws at a local bakery and enjoying the extensive ocean views. Today was the first time since we'd started where we biked without any gear. It felt flimsy and, dare I say, easy!

Bo has a friend in Long Beach so we stopped at the restaurant she manages and had a delicious dinner of salmon Mac and cheese with a side of a bleu cheese burger. Best dinner yet! After having a few drinks, we biked back to Cape Disappointment in the dark. The fog created an ethereal effect on the forest road, which was enhanced by the glowing orange eyes of two deer we passed. We didn't 'recover' as much as I would have hoped on our off day but it was a good day. Tomorrow is day one of week two! I can't believe we'll be in Oregon already.