It only took a few days to get back to the midwest! We had great winds to carry us and it's mostly downhill.
Ack! I cannot live the lie! We took a train back home...a very long train. It was fun though. we got to see all the scenery again and even saw some of the same roads we rode out West. I'm not in too much of a bloggy mood right now, but in case pictures are of interest to you there are more up on my flickr. It's a stupid website and only lets me put on a few a month, so there will be more in a week or so. Right now there are photos up until Yellowstone.
We're having fun relaxing here in Illinois, and will be returning to Madison on Saturday! OMG!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
PDX
OK! Sorry for the delay. Things to do, people to see!
We made it, no buses, no rides from moms. It ended up being FAR easier than we had imagined and absolutely beautiful and we are very happy with our decision. From Walla Walla we rode to a campground on the beach just inside of Oregon which was awesome. we saw a nice sunset and woke up to the cahtter of seagulls :) We woke up the next day at 4:30 in hopes of beating whatever wind we were sure we would get, but ended up with an INCREDIBLE day of no wind/light tailwinds and made it 102 miles! We got in our century! And just when I was getting bummed because I thought it was impossible. However, that day was really really hot and we were in the desert the whole time. The next day was beautiful and again, light winds. We talked to a cyclist at this lookout point on top of a hill and we said we got into the gorge at a really good time. The next 2 days just got prettier and prettier. The hills weren't too bad, and even when there was wind we were kind of up in the trees so we got some cover from it. We rode on the Historic Columbia River Highway for the most part. It's America's first scenic road, and boy is it scenic. The developers made it a point to have the road go past all the most beautiful parts of the gorge, so there were waterfalls and deep woods and lots of lookout points way high up. We had an awesome reception by Peter and my mom here complete with champagne and fruit. Since then we've been exploring the city and eating a lot of food. Portland is awesome-such a pretty place, easy to get around and a lot to do. We're going to get to as many parks as we can and go to all the little shopping/cafe/restaurant places while we're here. I want to eat at every vegan restaurant there is!
We're a little homesick and the post-tour depression has definitely set in. It's an incredibly strange feeling being done, like, what do we do now? It's hard to describe....I'm sure once we get back into normal life (working, living, city life) we'll feel better. We got our train tickets today and are heading back to the midwest this weekend. We're not sure what will come next...we decided to NOT think about future plans while we're here. This is the end of our vacation and we're going to remain as carefree as possible!
I'll have Dylan write a blog with his deep philosophical biking thoughts, and maybe I'll write a "How My Bike Ride Changed Me" blog. And pictures will be here soon!
Until then, we can't wait to see the good ol' midwest again!
We made it, no buses, no rides from moms. It ended up being FAR easier than we had imagined and absolutely beautiful and we are very happy with our decision. From Walla Walla we rode to a campground on the beach just inside of Oregon which was awesome. we saw a nice sunset and woke up to the cahtter of seagulls :) We woke up the next day at 4:30 in hopes of beating whatever wind we were sure we would get, but ended up with an INCREDIBLE day of no wind/light tailwinds and made it 102 miles! We got in our century! And just when I was getting bummed because I thought it was impossible. However, that day was really really hot and we were in the desert the whole time. The next day was beautiful and again, light winds. We talked to a cyclist at this lookout point on top of a hill and we said we got into the gorge at a really good time. The next 2 days just got prettier and prettier. The hills weren't too bad, and even when there was wind we were kind of up in the trees so we got some cover from it. We rode on the Historic Columbia River Highway for the most part. It's America's first scenic road, and boy is it scenic. The developers made it a point to have the road go past all the most beautiful parts of the gorge, so there were waterfalls and deep woods and lots of lookout points way high up. We had an awesome reception by Peter and my mom here complete with champagne and fruit. Since then we've been exploring the city and eating a lot of food. Portland is awesome-such a pretty place, easy to get around and a lot to do. We're going to get to as many parks as we can and go to all the little shopping/cafe/restaurant places while we're here. I want to eat at every vegan restaurant there is!
We're a little homesick and the post-tour depression has definitely set in. It's an incredibly strange feeling being done, like, what do we do now? It's hard to describe....I'm sure once we get back into normal life (working, living, city life) we'll feel better. We got our train tickets today and are heading back to the midwest this weekend. We're not sure what will come next...we decided to NOT think about future plans while we're here. This is the end of our vacation and we're going to remain as carefree as possible!
I'll have Dylan write a blog with his deep philosophical biking thoughts, and maybe I'll write a "How My Bike Ride Changed Me" blog. And pictures will be here soon!
Until then, we can't wait to see the good ol' midwest again!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Walla Walla, Washington
Hey folks. I would move here just to say the name over and over! And it's a cute town...
Since We last talked in Lewiston, It's been lots of desert, hills and headwinds. We aren't making progress very fast. It doesn't help, I suppose, that Dylan and I are both just feeling sort of done with it. Mentally and physically, we're exhausted. And we keep hearing all these horror stories about the winds in the gorge...we met a couple the other day who hitch-hiked through it. I guesss the plan for now is to bike as far as we can/are able and take a bus the rest of the way. Who knows, maybe we'll get a second wind and fight our way through! But after all is said and done, we're on vacation. We're here to have fun, not to prove anything to ourselves or anyone else, and headwinds are NOT fun. We got to 3000 miles yesterday and thats good enough for me!!!
The scenery in this area is wierd. Like I said, at first it was just depressing hills of dead brown grass everywhere. It's beginning to turn a little more green, and now we're completely surrounded by wheat fields which is actually really pretty. Trees would be nice, but on the other hand I think it's cool how the land can change so dramatically in just 50 miles. It hasn't been quite so hot the last 2 days thankfully, or maybe it just seems that way because we always have a breeze on us (ok, theres one good thing about the wind...it keeps us fairly cool).
It feels very strange to be almost done. I feel like we're just starting to get good at this! We can finally bike a good distance every day, and we're getting good at setting up and taking down camp and knowing what to eat. I suppose we'll put everything we've learned on this trip into practice on the next one. What will we do every day when we don't have to bike? A lot of the time we think we're ready to get back to regular life, but there are definitely times when we consider just turning a new direction to see whats over there! We could ride forever! New York? Canada? Mexico? Across the ocean? But then I think about little Buckley and Abby, at home all alone wondering where mommy is...
In conclusion...ok, I guess I have no conclusion yet. Next time you here from Dylan and I will probably be Portland. We'll gather our thoughts and write up some kind of ending thing for you (and us). Send us strong thoughts and maybe we'll make it all the way!
Since We last talked in Lewiston, It's been lots of desert, hills and headwinds. We aren't making progress very fast. It doesn't help, I suppose, that Dylan and I are both just feeling sort of done with it. Mentally and physically, we're exhausted. And we keep hearing all these horror stories about the winds in the gorge...we met a couple the other day who hitch-hiked through it. I guesss the plan for now is to bike as far as we can/are able and take a bus the rest of the way. Who knows, maybe we'll get a second wind and fight our way through! But after all is said and done, we're on vacation. We're here to have fun, not to prove anything to ourselves or anyone else, and headwinds are NOT fun. We got to 3000 miles yesterday and thats good enough for me!!!
The scenery in this area is wierd. Like I said, at first it was just depressing hills of dead brown grass everywhere. It's beginning to turn a little more green, and now we're completely surrounded by wheat fields which is actually really pretty. Trees would be nice, but on the other hand I think it's cool how the land can change so dramatically in just 50 miles. It hasn't been quite so hot the last 2 days thankfully, or maybe it just seems that way because we always have a breeze on us (ok, theres one good thing about the wind...it keeps us fairly cool).
It feels very strange to be almost done. I feel like we're just starting to get good at this! We can finally bike a good distance every day, and we're getting good at setting up and taking down camp and knowing what to eat. I suppose we'll put everything we've learned on this trip into practice on the next one. What will we do every day when we don't have to bike? A lot of the time we think we're ready to get back to regular life, but there are definitely times when we consider just turning a new direction to see whats over there! We could ride forever! New York? Canada? Mexico? Across the ocean? But then I think about little Buckley and Abby, at home all alone wondering where mommy is...
In conclusion...ok, I guess I have no conclusion yet. Next time you here from Dylan and I will probably be Portland. We'll gather our thoughts and write up some kind of ending thing for you (and us). Send us strong thoughts and maybe we'll make it all the way!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Clarkston, Washington
What up! We're out of Montana, which is quite bittersweet. Sweet beacuse it means we're making rad progress and are almost done, bitter because Montana was so cool and we're almost done. We're 350 miles/a weekish from Portland (OMG). We've gone over all of our mountain passes (yay!). This last map will be fuuun but hard. lots of crazy hills and upcoming headwinds in the Columbia river gorge. We're going to try and wake up really really early so we can be on our bikes by 4 or 5 to beat the winds. But people keep telling us about how absolutely beautiful that area is, so that should make up for the difficulties.
So we sadly left Missoula 3 days ago (thats right, 4 days! this was our quickest map yet-250 miles in 3 days of riding) to cross over Lolo Pass. The pass was, once again, much easier than we expexcted. We crossed into Idaho and the Clearwater National Forest which is incredible! Everyone HAS to go there! It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been-really lush forests covering the surrounding mountins, and the road runs right along the Lochsa river which is my favorite on so far I think. There are little waterfalls and streams all over the place and everything is so so so green. And I suppose the fact that we went downhill for a good100 miles didn't hurt how much we loved it. We met several cyclists along the way, including a vegan couple around our age from Portland in Kooskia. We hung out with them for awhile and talked about how hard it's been to be vegan (and all our cheats) on the road. They are radical and we got their numbers and we wish them the best! They're going all the way across the country! The next day was no good. After that the terrain changed quite rapidly to desert. We biked 75 miles in 100 degree heat along a narrow shoulderless busy river road. We made the mistake of opting for a flat alternate route to Lewiston instead of going up hills and were punished with lots of cars and lots of bike hate from the drivers. But I suppose our other option would have been going up and down hills all day in that heat which might have been no better. We've been here for 2 days now, taking a break and eating and sleeping. It's not so hot today thankfully!
Ok my time is about up here...As usual there is much more to tell, but my little brain cannot sort all of our experiences while I'm sitting at this computer. I have lots of pictures too, which unfortunately will have to wait to be posted when we're finished, so stay tuned for that. Until next time, stay cool! Go swimming! eat some ice cream! Drink some beer!
So we sadly left Missoula 3 days ago (thats right, 4 days! this was our quickest map yet-250 miles in 3 days of riding) to cross over Lolo Pass. The pass was, once again, much easier than we expexcted. We crossed into Idaho and the Clearwater National Forest which is incredible! Everyone HAS to go there! It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been-really lush forests covering the surrounding mountins, and the road runs right along the Lochsa river which is my favorite on so far I think. There are little waterfalls and streams all over the place and everything is so so so green. And I suppose the fact that we went downhill for a good100 miles didn't hurt how much we loved it. We met several cyclists along the way, including a vegan couple around our age from Portland in Kooskia. We hung out with them for awhile and talked about how hard it's been to be vegan (and all our cheats) on the road. They are radical and we got their numbers and we wish them the best! They're going all the way across the country! The next day was no good. After that the terrain changed quite rapidly to desert. We biked 75 miles in 100 degree heat along a narrow shoulderless busy river road. We made the mistake of opting for a flat alternate route to Lewiston instead of going up hills and were punished with lots of cars and lots of bike hate from the drivers. But I suppose our other option would have been going up and down hills all day in that heat which might have been no better. We've been here for 2 days now, taking a break and eating and sleeping. It's not so hot today thankfully!
Ok my time is about up here...As usual there is much more to tell, but my little brain cannot sort all of our experiences while I'm sitting at this computer. I have lots of pictures too, which unfortunately will have to wait to be posted when we're finished, so stay tuned for that. Until next time, stay cool! Go swimming! eat some ice cream! Drink some beer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
