Days 62 & 63: Portland Bound

Day 62: 70ish miles
Day 63: 85 miles

I apologize, readers, for my utter negligence and failure to keep my blog updated. It turned out to be rather difficult to keep up with when I was traveling on my own, and after I got to Portland I just got distracted! Seeing as I am several days through with my journey, I'll just update y'all quickly on my trip up the Oregon coast.

After leaving the B&B outside of Yachats, I biked north along the Pacific Coast highway, stopping to purchase a used book (Dry by Augusten Burroughs) and venture down to the Devil's Churn to snap a photo.

Demonic, I guess

I had gotten a late start due to the excellent conversation at breakfast, so I only made it about 30 miles before stopping to eat lunch in a park with a view of the bay in Newport.

My afternoon trip to Lincoln City was uneventful. I ended up riding past town to get to a cafe I had heard a lot about, and then rode 6 more miles to an RV park to find a spot to camp.  The park was full, but a woman, a tent, and a bike don't take up much space so the owners set me up in a cozy spot behind the office. I got a shower and a nice place to set up my tent, and they didn't charge me a thing! And, I spent an hour that evening sitting around a fire with a group of Native Americans who were in the area for a powwow. I've never before heard the traditional singing and drumming of any tribe. I really enjoyed the time I spent with them, moatly listening but telling a bit of my story as well.

The next day I rode mostly on the highway, following 18 almost all the way to a Portland. The road transformed from a twisty rural highway to a multi-lane speedway about 15 miles from the RV park. But, the shoulder was plenty wide and I felt safer there than I have on many roads this trip. I stopped at a health food store in McMinnville to treat myself to a kombucha and eat the lunch I had been carrying with me. I stopped at the public library while there and printed out some bike maps of Portland.

My afternoon ride into Portland was hot and a bit long. The roads gradually became more and more bike-friendly (i.e. bike lanes began to appear in sporadic patches). But there were also numerous traffic lights to contend with and it took hours to slog through the suburban sprawl outside the city.

By some miracle (mostly Google Maps) I was able to navigate a reasonable bike route through the city to my hosts' house in northeast Portland.  Once I got into the city, there were bike lanes everywhere. I felt a tad bit strange to be staying in a room that I had found by talking to the owners of the house, not those who actually lived there. But Tess, their daughter and resident of the house, had been super helpful helping me get there and really friendly via text message so I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing.

I arrived around 7 and was greeted by Ross, Tess's brother and housemate. He showed me around, got me settled in  imy room, and was generally incredibly kind. When his housemate, William, got home we all ordered Thai together! How wonderful to be in a place with interesting food. If anything, Portland has too much nice food - its a bit overwhelming and its weird when there are multiple Thai restaurants within easy walking distance.

That night, I stayed up late hanging out with my hosts and reminiscing about the trip. I realized that there were many places and people I had forgotten about, many of which had made quite an impression on me. Mentally revisiting those things, I realized just how much the trip had shaped my attitude toward the world and the way I interacted with that world and with the people in it.