Panamericana

Yesterday I crossed the border into Oregon! To get there I had to ride acrosse the Columbia River on a long bridge (about 6km) with a verz small shoolder. Moreover there was a strong headwind, so I had to hold on to my handlebars very tight when cars and trucks were passing me. I stayed at the Nehelam Bay State Park. They have a nice Hiker/Biker Site there. 8 years ago I stayed at the same Campground – memories are coming back;-).

Erich, a cyclist from Colorado, staeyd there as well. He‘ s on his way to Seattle, moving north. We sat at the campfire last night, drank some beers and talked about our trips, having a good time.

Now I’m at the public library in Tillamook. The last 2 days the weather was pretty good (I even bought some sunscreen), today it looks a bit like it might start to rain, but so far it‘ s dry.Tonight I’ll stay at the Cape Lookout Statepark, about 13 miles away from here. My time at the library is almost up and I have to get back on my bike again.

Anja

The sun is shining and I‘ m sitting in Raymond at a small diner waiting for my Hamburger! My battery is almost empty and I couldn‘ t find a plug yet. I only rode 24 km so far but already had quite a few climbs (about 340 m in elevation). Sun is shining, it‘ s about 20 degrees C warm. After lunch I have another 70 km to go!

Wow, the burger looks great – and it‘ s huge!!!

That‘ s it for now,

Anja 

26.09.08

Kalaloch CG – Pacific Beach SP

98,8km, 5:36h, total 1896,3km

Though I got up at 7am I didn‘ t leave untill 11 am! For a change it didn‘ t rain and once in a while even the sun was shining! There were times when the shoulder was pretty rough or not there at all. When I started there wasn‘ t much traffic later it became heavier.

After 50 km, around 2pm, I reached Lake Quinault. It was kind of early to stop, but the next Campground was another 50 km away. While having a coffee and I banana in front of the grocery store I decided that I could as well go for it.

Since I didn‘ t know if there was a campground in Hoquiam or Aberdeen and because names like „Pacific Beach, Aloha and Ocean City“ lured me I made a right turn after 10 km to get back to the Pacific. After 6 km I saw a black bear walking along the side of the road only about 50m in front of me. While I was wondering what to do a car drove by and the bear disappeared in the woods. I really didn‘ t expect to see a bear here!!! Since it was a pretty lonely road and I don‘ t really trust those bears I pedaled quite hard to reach the coast.

Around 5:30pm I checked into the Pacific Beach SP CG. As a cyclist you can pick whatever free site you like for 14 $. I picked a small tentsite anyhow, because I didn‘ t want to pitch my tent right next to a huge RV. The CG was pretty busy, many people where having BBQs and it seemed as if everybody had at least one dog!!!

After pitching my tent and taking a shower (3 minutes/50ct) I bought dinner at a Teryaki Chicken Place. I had to wait a while but the food was really good.

25.09.08

Forks – Kalaloch CG

58,3 km, 3:41h, total  1797,5 km

It was still pouring when I woke up. That didn‘ t really motivate me to pack but I did it anyway – the show must go on!!! At 10am I got on my bike only to stop again a few hundred meters down the road to stock up on some groceries at the store. I was already pretty wet when I got there – so far only on the outside! That changed quit fast – the rain was so heavy that I was totally soaked after only 10 km. The logging-trucks passed me carefully, but every passing truck was like a shower ;-).

I enjoyd cycling through the woods but I didn‘ t feel like making a detour to see the largest Cedar Tree. Chain Saw Work seemed to be popular here ‚cause many people showed their work along the road.

Gettin‘ to Ruby Beach I could smell and hear the Pacific. A few km later I stopped at a turnout to take a look at the Pacific – and it stopped to rain!!! Only for a minute though, then it started again.

At 2pm I reached Kalaloch CG and decided to stay there. I found a nice campsite next to the oceon covered by a large tree. It stopped to rain after a while and I strolled along the beach after I pitched my tent. There was a lot of driftwood along the beach, the water was pretty cold.

At every picnic-table there is a warning about bears, raccoons and cougars. Even during daytime you are supposed to have your food locked in your vehicle or in a foodlocker!

CU Anja

24.09.08

Another rest day. After looking out of the window at 7:30 am and a „weather check“ on the internet I decided to stay at the motel ‚till tomorrow. It started to rain at night and still didn‘ t stop.

I tried to get my blog organized and spent much time in front of my laptop. Since it rained the whole day it didn‘ t really matter. I‘ m just hoping that it works the way I expect it to. It‘ 9:45 pm now and still raining. Tomorrow will probably not be much different but I‘ m mentally prepared for a wet day. Moreover I was told there‘ ll be some „good“ climbs the next days! I‘ ll see when I get out there again!!!

Good night!

23.09.08

Port Angeles – Forks

106,1 km, 6:48 h, av. sp. 15,6 km/h

Tami had to leave at 8 am, so we got up at 7 am. It took a while to pack , but I was on the road by 8:20 am. I could stay on the Trail for the first 8 miles to Port Angeles. On my way I met 3 cyclists from California. They are cycling in the other direction. In Port Angeles I stopped at Save Way ( a grocery store), got a club card to get some discounts, bought a few things and drank the first Starbucks Caramel Macciato of my trip – and it was so good! Then I road on Highway 101 and there was a lot of traffic, many log-trucks and RVs.

When I came to lake Crescent there was a button I could push so that 2 lights would flash to  show that there‘ s a cyclist on the road. That‘ s because the road in very winding and the shoulder is narrow for 16 km. Cycling along the Lake was very nice and I made good progress.

I met a cyclist from Canada who wants to cycle to San Francisco in 2 weeks. He‘ ll have to ride about 160 km each day. After I passed the Lake there was a long climb, it just didn‘ t seem to end. I already thought that I would never make it to Forks but then the road was (except for a few short climbs) flat or a litttle bit downhill almost all the way to Forks (45 km). I‘ m staying here at the Forks Motel, I was really tired and didn‘ t want to ride on to the Campground about 8 km further. It was a great but long day.

CU Anja

22.09.08

Old Fort Townsend SP – Sequim/ Port Angeles

64,9 km, 4:12 h, Ǿ 15,4

Hi there!

After a great ferry ride I‘ m back on the road for 4 days already but I couldn‘ t get internet access. I’m in the „Lower 48“ now, that‘ s how the people in Alaska like to call the atates south of Canada. The last few days were pretty wet, so I was very glad when the sun came out today. Right now I’m staying at Tamis‘ house. When I was sitting in front of the library at Sequim after they closed at 5pm she came over to me on her bicycle and said she saw me earlier on Highway 20. After talking for a while she invited me to stay at her house! That sounded really good to me! We road the 8 miles together and I really had to work to keep up with her. We could ride along a bike trail, that was pretty nice. We had a great dinner, my clothes are in the dryer and I‘ m sitting at the computer! That’s awesome – thanks a lot, Tami!!!

Well, more later, I’m tired and a real bed is waiting for me;-).

 Though I cycled around the Olympic Peninsula already in 2000 I decided to do it again. It didn‘ t rain today and for a while I could even ride on the Olympic Discovery Trail that kept me off the Highway.

Anja

21.09.08

Fort Ebey SP – Old Fort Townsend SP

24,7 km, 2:05h, Ǿ 11,8 km/h

At 9 am I was ready to go – and it was almost dry. The Ranger showed me on a map which trails I could take to get back to the Highway. Unfortunately I made one wrong turn and had to get back. Those 15 minutes made me miss the Ferry from Keystone to Port Townsend, I got pretty wet again and had to wait 1 ½ hours for the next ferry. While I was waiting I ate a soup at the café next to the terminal. Being on the ferry (30 min ride) even the sun came out. In Port Townsend I stopped at a grocery store and bought the huge sandwich you can see on one of my pictures.

Though I didn‘ t go very far it was a hard day. At 2:30pm I already reached the campground. I pitched my tent, boiled some water for coffee, walked down to the beach and read for a while. There was nothing to do, but I had to make a decision. I still didn“ t know if I wanted to cycle around the Olympic Peninsula or just go south on Highway 101 and then get to the coast later.

20.09.08

Larabee CG – Fort Ebey SP

81,3 km, 5:18h, Ǿ 15,3 km/h

When I wanted to get up around 7 am it started to rain – and it didn‘ t stop until 7 pm! So I stayed in the tent for a while and after some oatmeal and hot coffee it was almost noon when I left the Campground. It rained so hard that I was soaked after a while. The worst thing about it are my feet. They just get really cold when they get wet.

After only 25 km I wanted to stop at a Campground – it didn‘ t make any sense to me to ride on. But the fee was 19 $ and check-in wasn’t until 3pm. So I moved on anyways.

Somehow I passed the Deception Pass Campground. At 5pm I stopped at a gasstation, bought a sandwich and some coffee and asked where I actually was! The town was called Whidbey, just like the island I was at. It was another 18 km to the Campground but after 5 ½ hours in the rain I didn‘ t care anymore, tried to ignore the rain and just kept pedalling.

When I reached the Statepark it was already getting dark, I saw some deer along the road – and the rain stopped!!!

19.09.08

Fairhaven – Larabee CG

22 km, 1:41h, Ǿ 12,6 km/h

At 8 am the ferry arrived at the terminal in Fairhaven. Kai, Erin, Cassy (from Australia), ? (from England I think?!? – sorry, just too many names!) and I had a great breakfast at a nice café. Later Kai and Erin walked me over to the bikeshop where I had my broken spoke replaced. After a few great days together on the ferry it was time to say goodbye.

Fairhaven really is a cute little town, I liked it there. At the Visitor Center in Bellingham I picked up some maps and then I was on my way again! There were some climbs at Route 11 and the shoulder was pretty narrow.

After only 22 km I stopped at the Larabee CG and pitched my tent at a Walk-In-Site for 14 $. I met a couple from Bellingham who invited me to sit at the campfire and sing some songs with their church group later in the evening. Since they were having dinner first I decided that it was time for a short nap. It was only 6pm but I fell asleep right away and slept ‚till 2 am!!! There was some noise outside my tent. After a while I looked out of the tent with my flashlight on and saw a raccoon sitting on the table and eating my noodles! Since I didn‘ t plan to sleep that long I didn‘ t store my leftovers good enough and didn‘ t close my panniers properly, either!!! After I made some noise the raccoon finally walked away for a while but it came back. Due to my own fault I had a pretty bad night.