Cruising the Coast

Many, many thanks!

2008-06-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

Now that we're back home, I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone for their incredible support and encouragement during our adventure. This was an amazing opportunity that we are both very thankful to have had - truly a lifetime experience. Needless to say, we highly recommend taking the time and money to make such a journey a reality. I thank God that we were safe, healthy, and suffered zero flats or other technical issues - smooth as can be! And to end it all at family's doorstep couldn't have been any more satisfying!

So, until the next bicycle adventure...pedal much and share the road!

All my best to you and yours.

Fini with the Family!

2008-06-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

6-13-08

2008-06-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 13, 2008 at 12:50 in the afternoon...

1632 miles in 32 and a half days.

Seattle to just south of L.A. (Harbor City, CA).

Finished.

The Cruising the Coast 2008 extravaganza has come to an end.

We hope you don't mind, but Zo and I refuse to ride our bikes any further. It has been an unbelieveable adventure, and we are so grateful to have had this opportunity...

and how sweet it is to be able to complete the journey at the door step of my Uncle Per and Aunt Renee's home.

Today's Monday, June 16th, and we've decided to fly back to Seattle and ship the bikes rather than rent a car or travel by train. Thanks to Aunt Renee, who discovered a sale with Alaska Air, we were able to grab some great fares.

Ok, Below is a catch-up of the journal so please enjoy, and again, if you have any questions. Let us know.

6-4-08

This was Day Off #2 since Crescent City...we took B.A.R.T into town with Alec, who took time off of work to be our tour guide. Very cool. He first took us to see the Japanese Gardens - you can see us up on a funky bridge. We then walked to Stow Lake, where Alec treated us to a row boat around the lake...well, it was more like a moat around an island. We enjoyed some excellent rowing technique along with several lazy turtle, sunning themselves on a log. Alec dropped us off in the middle of the downtown area, Union Plaza, I think, where we wandered around for a bit until finding a quaint, little Italian restaurant in the North Beach neighborhood. The owner was outside on the sidewalk trying to sweet-talk pedestrians into coming in and trying his wife's homemade pasta. We were overwhelmed with all the different restaurant choices, so his sweet-talking was just the ticket. We walked through Chinatown and then hiked to Cloit Tower to watch the sunset - decided that we needed another day in this great town.

6-5-08

Day 2 in what's become my favorite city...next to Chicago, of course. At this point, we realized that we didn't have any civilian clothes to wear, so when Alec dropped us off at Berkeley, we went into a drug store and bought some clothes. Took B.A.R.T into the city and walked around quite a bit - visited Mike's Bikes, among a few other cool shops. We were trying to figure out what to do/where to go/what to see - when we were just about to hit up the MOMA, we called the symphony only to find out that the concert was not only an aternoon performance, but it had also just started! Better late than never - we ran, took a bus, and ran some more to the Davies Symphony Hall to catch the second half - Sibelius 2nd Violin Concerto and Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin - unbelieveable! The hall's located in this great area surrounding the City Hall - the opera house and the Asian Art Museum are also there. After the concert, we met up with Alec at his gma's house and then hit up a local Chinese Restaurant - served by a waiter who was rated the nicest waiter in S.F. 10 years ago - cool. He was nice. Alec took us to the Sutro Pools/Ruins on the coast, just outside of the city. You have google them - pretty cool. Headed back to the pier for ice cream at Ghiradelli's. All this time, we didn't get to spend much time with Mary as she was busy with work and a conference - bummer, but next time for sure.

6-6-08

Alec and Mary insisted that we get dropped off south of this nasty part of Hwy 1, called "Devil's Slide." Yes, thank you, again, to Mary and Alec for all their generous care and hospitality! We were treated just like family and that's the best in my book. We hit the road around 11am, stopped at El Gran Amigos for a couple extra large burritos. Continued on into Santa Cruz. Our timing was impeccable as we got to witness a demonstration put on by the university service workers. They were demanding better pay and benefits - not too much to ask, I think. Met Emerald, who offered her place for us to crash. We decided to find some brews and then stay the night at the New Brighton Beach State Park. Zo met an old classmate, also riding her bike down the coast - S.F. to L.A.

6-7-08

Santa Cruz to Andrew Molera State Park - however, we didn't quite make it to the park. We had lunch at Moss Landing and spent time in Monterey, writing postcards and eating candy at Old Fisherman's Wharf. Our pit stops were a bit too long as we ran out of daylight and had to pull over to ask if we could use a front yard to pitch the tent. An kind chap named Jim let us use his front yard - very cool.

6-8-08

Next morning, very wet thanks to the ocean - rode to Kirk Creek, this beautiful campsite located on bluff right on the shore. We had trouble deciding whether to keep riding and gain more miles or cut our miles short and stay. We couldn't pass up the view. The sunset photos are of Kirk Creek. Again, another very wet, foggy morning.

6-9-08

Kirk Creek to Moro Bay State Park. Had lunch at a Point and met a kind tour bus driver who was just dumbfounded of our adventure. Had ice cream, mailed postcards, and had ice cream at the Rainbow Cafe in Cambria. We also stopped in at the Cambria Bicycle Outfitters. We enjoyed "face flies" in Gorda thanks to the nearby fires. This was our last day of the Big Sur area - not without hitting 2 HUGE climbs that clung to the side of the sharp, mountainous shore. It was getting much warmer with each passing day, by the way. Went grocery shopping, enjoyed a beer at Moro Bay Brewery (run by cool dude named John), and set up camp (in the dark) at Moro Bay State Park.

6-10-08

Today was a long miles day - we had to get to Lompoc in order to be in L.A. by Friday. The route took us away from the shore, onto flat farmland. I have to admit, a bit boring considering what we were enjoying for most of the ride so far. The sights reminded us a lot of eastern MT - not that eastern MT is boring, it's just what we're normally accustom to, you know? We rode past more produce growers - mostly lettuce and broccoli. I made another map error that took us on an earlier turn south to Lompoc - a sign that I've been on the saddle for too long? The new route took us past the Air Force base - also a place where teachers go for NASA space camp. We rode through San Luis Obispo. I think our mileage was just over 76 miles. Ate Little Ceasers pizza and a couple beers over a Lakers/Celtic game. Stayed at River Park just west of town. Slept so well - so very well.

6-11-08

Lompoc to Santa Barbara...or just south of Santa Barbara in Carpenteria. We hit the road very early and enjoyed what was to be our last big hill. By this time, the big hills were really not all that intimidating or hard for that matter - a clear sign that we both had grown stronger on this trip. Cool. Ate lunch on a vista on the side of the road. I swapped out the tires in Santa Barbara at a bike shop. Visited the Santa Barbara public library before stopping in Carpenteria. The park was not much more than a parking lot with a bathroom and some grass. It was crowded and the hiker/biker part was almost on the train tracks. We met a couple other folks also riding south and visited with them for a while. L.A. was so close!

6-12-08

Carpenteria to Malibu - had lunch in Oxnard at a Ralph's grocery. Visited on the phone with Uncle Per. The terrain at this point was flat, flat, and more flat - please don't get me wrong, not complaining, but we didn't like it when we left the shore. Stopped at Neptune's Net for fries and ice cream. This is a popular joint that often draws famous people from the Hollywood area. At this point, seeing surfers in the water was becoming a common sight. When we reached Malibu, I realized that our campsite was actually an RV joint. Not good. We decided to check the prices anyhow, only to discover how truly inflated Malibu truly is - $50-60 to simply put up a tent for the night. The folks at the RV place were kind enough to point out the Malibu Creek State Park about 5 miles inland, which we had NO idea existed. This was a huge relief as again, the day was coming to an end and we needed a place to rest. Plus, we enjoyed an added bonus of the ride up into this canyon to the campsite - steep valley with mountain road - my kind of road! There was even a tunnel thrown in the mix. The traffic, however, was unusually busy - I think folks were commuting between the coast and 101 further inland. We stopped short of the campsite and ended up in a day use only site that seemed abandoned. So quiet, so peaceful - a nice reward for our last night on the road. Tomorrow - L.A.!

6-13-08

Enjoyed a lot of beach path riding most of the day - went through Venice Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach - all the greats of L.A. We pedaled 32 miles before stopping for a bite to eat - in Hermosa. The maps led us a little too far south and ended up having to ask some folks walking their dogs for directions to Harbor City. Finally, just before 1pm, we found cousin Christian and the Anderson home on 252nd Street waiting for our anticipated arrival. Yes! Done! Fini!

After much cleaning and some laundry, Aunt Renee and cousin Michelle, her boy, Cameron, took us out for some Greek food. What a relief - took us a few more days for it to really sink in. The next day, Uncle David, picked us up and took us down to Mission Viejo to see the rest of the cousins and Aunt Ebit.

Good Day. Good day indeed.

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6-11-08

2008-06-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone...

We're in Santa Barbara at the moment - just rode in about 2 hours ago. I had to stop at a shop to use their floor pump to flip our tires. The rears are at that point of wear.

So, yes! We've made it this far! We're looking forward to L.A. on Friday morning. I'm going to download some more pictures for your viewing pleasure, but will wait on trip details until I have more time on a computer. I'm at the public library where the computers are at a 30 minute per usage per person.

We miss you all and look forward to the end of this great adventure.

Check y'a later,
Mark

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6-5-08

2008-06-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

More photos of San Francisco...

Today, we hit the road for L.A.

Talk to you soon!

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6-4-08

2008-06-05T00:34:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone...

Back with some more updates. Now that you've seen the new pictures - the new, out-of-order pictures - it's time to put some words with them-thar pictures. Right now, I'm sitting in the lovely kitchen of our dear friend, Mary Seastrand, in Oakland, CA. We arrived into San Francisco yesterday evening at around 7pm. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, well, actually, we were blown across the bridge and met up with Alec Seastrand and his pickup truck near the Oakland Bay Bridge - rescued is the more appropriate term.

Now, after an afternoon in S.F., Zo and I have decided to spend another day, resting and enjoying the fantastic bay area...let's sit back with some hot chocolate and recall some more of last week's adventures...

5-29-08
After our short stop in Ferndale, CA and our surprise reunion with Dick, we ate a couple delicious truffles and aimed our wheels for the Avenue of the Giants. Thanks to their giant size, this made the temperature drop several degrees and required warmer gear. We stopped for a snack, I found a lost flipflop, which was sad and creepy at the same time, used the restrooms, and once again, met up with Dick. It's been such a pleasure meeting up with him unexpectedly as he is such a kind and considerate gentleman. The three of us pretty much rode into the Burlington State Park Campground just outside of Weott, CA, where Kathy K. won her very first high school track meet. The campsite was nice - dark thanks to the redwoods, but clean and cozy. We played cards with Dick and had a huge meal - yes, pasta.

5-30-08
The day began at 9:30am as we jumped back onto the Avenue of the Giants towards Leggett, CA, the town just before Highway 1. The day ended up being 50 miles and the night's stay was the Standish-Hickey State Park. Nothing too exciting about this campsite, except for the large family in the site nearby. One word, loud. Between their blaring country music, foul mouths, and disregard for the time, we slowly became more tolerant of the swarming mosquitos rather than our neighbors. Dick, who made it ahead of us and was camped nearby, finally asked them to please be quiet...at 1am. The highlight of this day was the Peg House market/grocery nearby the camp, and its owner, Gary. Such a nice guy who let us use his computer to take care of some business as the nearest computer access was going to be a day or two away. Not only does Gary run the store and the U-haul franchise in Leggett, but he also helps coordinate the music festival that takes place in nearby Benbow, CA as well as bring in bands to play on his sweet stage all summer long! He shared his few cycling adventures with us and served us up some delicious brownies! I had to change a tube as the tire came unseated from the rim - I think this was from a funky gauge used earlier. Problem easily fixed and happy that we were approaching 900 miles at this point with zero flats! Very, very cool. Specialized Armadillos truly do live up to their creative name. Speaking of good stuff, our Pearl Izumi shorts have taken a licking, yet comfort-wise, keep on ticking! Another good product to keep in mind - Pearl shorts and bibs.

Anyhow, after meeting up with Dick in Garberville at Ray's Food Place, we had lunch. Some wandering "nomads" made us feel a little uncomfortable, so we cut our rest short and hit the road - only to stop later for a dip in the Eel River outside of Benbow. The hills were big (one was called "Confusion Hill" cuz of its narrow, twisty-ness) and the beer at the Peg House was a just reward. Made some calls and wrote a couple postcards. The campsite came sooner than expected.

5-31-08
We left Standish-Hickey and hit Hwy 1 just west of Leggett. So far, this has been my most favorite road on the journey - a true mountain road - curvy, twisting, winding, banking assents with roller-coaster-like descents. Very exhilarating, even still as we kept our speeds down due to the trailers. Two huge climbs tried to beat us down, but the trees and distant ocean breeze prevented us from overheating. The ocean was a welcoming sight under the huge, blue sky. Finally, the California we were looking forward to for so long! The color of the water was a bright blueish green. We soon discovered a new characteristic of Hwy 1 that we didn't find in Hwy 101 - instead of bridges to take across the many gulches, the road simply wound back into the gulch and then had use climb back out and onto the shore. After several of these gulches, the day's ride began to wear us down. We had a nice, long lunch in Westport and then stopped for a spell in Ft. Bragg. Our average was an impressive 45 miles in 5 hours - it was clear at this point, that all our miles were making us stronger. Our campsite was at Russian Gulch State Park, under a massive, arching concrete bridge - one of the very few that relieved us of the in and out climbs. The hiker/biker site was just outside of the bathrooms, but we did meet a very interesting dude from S.F. named Brian, who shared some very delicious chai tea with us and told us to be sure to have lunch at Queenies in Elk, CA. He was headed north to the CA/OR border. 50+ miles.

6-1-08
Left Russian Gulch to Gualala for a 53 mile day. We had a nice breakfast at a cafe in Mendocino and wandered around the town for a bit before running into Dick! Mendocino's a very hip town - full of artists, musicians, and other like-minded folks who have such a creative perspective on things. We wanted to stay for the film festival, but S.F. was calling us from afar. Lunch in Elk was delicious, and the cook was an interesting, yet gifted cook. Let's just say that she literally had a black moustache. Another bright, sunny day with a strong tailwind. I called cousin Stacey to congratulate her on her wedding yesterday. So sorry that we couldn't be there to celebrate with the family. We later found Dick hanging out alongside the road, waiting for us. He had changed he mind on campsites and decided to ride into Gualala with us. The Gualala campsite was another dark one - this time with a raccoon. Slept with our food.

6-2-08
50 miles to Bodega Bay Dunes State Park. Found Dick already camped out and enjoyed some champagne with him in celebration of our arrival into S.F. tomorrow. Very cool of him! We will for sure miss him on our next leg into L.A. We had lunch at Ft. Ross, CA at the grocery - warm and plenty of food. Hommus sandwiches! We also visited the Ft. Ross itself! Fascinating history - Russians moved down to escape the harsh climate of Alaska and settled in Ft. Ross. From 1812 to 184something, they lived on this fort - with cannons and everything! The road was curvy and twisty as usual but this time, we enjoyed riding up on high bluffs overlooking the ocean.

Chas's birthday! Happy 21st, dude! Hope it was an exceptionally special day for you?

6-3-08
Today is my brother, Elie's birthday! Happy birthday to you, E-E! I hope you had a blessed one? Bodega Bay to S.F.! I thought the day was going to be about 60+ miles, but it actually ended up being 78 miles! And because we were rolling into a big city with suburb after suburb and thickening traffic, it took even longer. But let me tell you, having the Golden Gate Bridge in our sights was motivation enough. Along the way we ran into Dick again, and share a lunch(in Marshall, CA - oyster fishing community) and then said our final goodbyes. He was going to camp one more night before meeting his wife in S.F. We took a few side roads and road along the Marin Trail, which took us off of the busy roads and gave our minds a rest from the traffic. We came into the city from the north, going through the pleasant suburbs like Fairfax, where I thought I saw Robin Williams on a bike and later found out at the Breaking Away bike shop in Ross that he indeed sighted on his bike in Fairfax! Hmmm...interesting. The dudes at Breaking Away were great - very kind to offer us grub and stuff to drink. They also gave us a flavor of the cycling community in S.F. Sounded pretty cool - a lot of clubs and a LOT of people just on bikes all of the time! Doubly-cool. We had one more ridiculous hill to climb before the bridge - up and around Mt. Tam. It was very cool to see all the commuters and recreational cyclists out on the road.

Alec met us along the Embarcadero, just east of Fisherman's Wharf. We were cold, hungry, and spent, so again, it was more of a rescue than a pickup. We arrived to Mary's house and was greeted with a huge hug and an absolutely fantastic meal! Wow! Needless to say, the extra miles were well worth it and it was so good to see Mary and Alec again.

Ok, so, I will retire for the night - tomorrow, more of San Francisco and I'll get you up to speed about today's happenings.

Miss you all and thank you so much for reading...
Check y'a later,
Mark + Zo

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5-29-08

2008-05-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Good Morning! Well, it's now the afternoon...about 1:30pm. Zo and I just rode into Ferndale, CA, home of the Victorian homes. She's out trying to find them and I'm in here to get you caught up...

We thought Dick, our travel friend, was way ahead of us, but guess who just walked into the library to say howdy...yup! Pretty cool. He took some time in Eureka and that's where we passed him. We had a great breakfast and visited some more and then hit the road at 10am. It was a fast ride into Ferndale. Ran into some truckers, taking a break in Loleta, who told us to definitely visit Ferndale. Nice dudes.

I forgot to mention our stop at Tree of Mystery in Klamath - interesting tourist stop. It's a section of the redwoods that has a bunch of funky-shaped redwoods that resemble things like animals, for example. There's also a huge trunk, called the cathedral tree where many folks have exchanged wedding vows. They also have an Easter service there every year. Interesting and unlikely. Apparently, Paul Bunyan visited there also. We had lunch next to his foot - big foot.

Alrighty...no for some lunch, a few Victorian houses, and then camp at Weott, CA. We're going to ride down a stretch called the "Avenue of the Giants" - an area with some of the largest redwoods ever. Nice.

Thanks, again, to Sue and Harvey, for their fantastic hospitality as well as Kath for having such great parents. I can see now why you're so cool, Kath.

Check y'a later,
M

5-28-08

2008-05-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody - all you good people that we miss so much,

We're back! Please let me begin by apologizing for the lengthy delay between posts - it seems that the Memorial Day weekend snuck up on us and took 3 days of time that we were hoping to spend updating the blog. I guess librarians need a break too.

Anyhow, right at the moment, we are visiting the family of Zo's dear and beloved friend, Kathy, in the hip town of Arcata, CA. We just had a delightful dinner of BBQ chicken and salad with a couple of delicious Lost Coast brews (Downtown Brown - try it!). Sue and Harvey are fabulously gracious and closely resemble family in that they left the house totally open for our arrival with instructions to shower, wash clothes, eat whatever we find, and even drive around town in their car, if necessary. Wow, that's family-esque for y'a. So, once again, we have clean clothes, full bellies, and we ourselves are clean as well.

Let me catch you up to the miles that you have missed since the 20th of May - seems so stinking long ago, but nope...all the miles and unbelievable scenery will do that to a mind, I guess.

Ok, last Wednesday, 5-21-08, we rode in Waldport, OR and visited the visitor's center over some breakfast and warmth as it was already raining and windy. This was a good move because we ended up learning about the engineer who designed all of the bridges we had already crossed over and were about to cross over along the Oregon coast. Conde B. McCullough was his name, just in case you were wondering. He worked for Oregon during the Art Deco era of architecture, so that's the predominant style of all of his bridges. Fascinating. We ended up riding 48 miles, reaching the Oregon Dunes State Park. We enjoyed sea lions and Zo ran into a classmate of hers from Puget Sound at the Sea Lion Caves just off of 101. Our views of the coast were getting more and more beautiful - lighthouses and biker-friendly tunnels (you hit a switch that turns on flashers to warn drivers). The road curved along rocky cliffs, overlooking the rocks off of the shore. It rained off and on the entire day. Our meal was huge and sleep began at 9pm.

5-22-08, we rode from Siltcoos Lake State Park along more dunes on the coast to Sunset Beach Park. The profile for the day was much easier as our miles ended up being 50+. We had to walk over the McCullough Historic Bridge - the wind was strong and that coupled with the heigth made the mile plus trek exhilarating. We visited Umpqua Lighthouse and spent a few minutes looking for whales just off the coast - none spotted. Lunch was eaten on Wildwood Drive - literally. We made it into camp at 5:30pm.

5-23-08, we left Sunset Beach State Park at 8:15am for Humbug Mtn State Park - this, again, was an easier day. We even managed 61 miles! We had a late breakfast at a coffee shop in Bandon, OR called "Brewed Awakenings" where we also charged our phones, visited with family, and ate powdered sugar donuts. Nice. This was all after we tackled the Seven Devils Road in foggy/rainy conditions. At first, I wasn't sure of the name, but yes, the seven devils are seven climbs - seven, early morning climbs. These were our "brewed awakenings." We also did some grocery shopping - marshmellows! Humbug Mtn is beautiful! The road winds landward, just after giving you one more look at the steep drop of Humbug into the ocean. The campsite was the best yet - the hiker/biker site is tucked up and away from the RV'rs and bathrooms, etc. We stayed in #6, while our new friend, Dick, from WA and also riding down the coast, was in #3. We first met Dick in Tillamook at the cheese factory, and since then, we've run into each other off and on. He's such a kind gentleman, and we are so very happy to have met him!

5-24-08 was a very difficult day. We aimed our wheels at Harris Beach State Park just before Brookings, OR and 50 miles and several climbs later, we put up the tent. The route took us over a 850+ climb and about 5-6 other significant ones as well. Zo declared this to be the hardest day since day one, 12 days ago. We feasted on pasta, again, ramen and ate marshmellows. We had to pack our food in the tent with us as the ranger mentioned something about raccoons. The park was well laid out - with the hiker/biker spots set apart from the RV'rs again; although, you could hardly tell with all the noise they were making! One group even brought a karaoke machine along for fun! Ah, the joys of camping in the great outdoors...heh. We hung out with Dick some more - even taught him how to play Liverpool - a famous Soueidi card game. Turns out, Dick is a biologist who works (or has worked) for the state of Washington for a number of years. His wife's a school teacher and he has 2 daughters, all of whom he speaks quite fondly. It's been so nice to meet up with him and share our day's adventures.

5-25-08 - today we rode into Crescent City, CA - California FINALLY! It took us just about 8 days, which was 1 more day than I had predicted. I'm incredibly impressed with Zo's strength and determination, despite her knee pain and the rash. Very cool! We were up early again and on the road by 8:30am. We decided to camp one more night just north of Crescent City and then "hotel" it the next day to rest, shower, and wash clothes. The ride was short, lunch at Ray's Food Place (a popular grocer along 101), and the rest of the day was mainly spent finding a hotel for Monday night and then just hanging out before camp. I've rediscovered potato wedges! And Red Vine licorice has become a normal treat for us. 2 lbs bags do not last long, and with their help, nor do our rides seem so long. Coffee at this great coffee shop in Crescent City, Seaside Espresso. Camp was at the Florence Keller County Campgrounds, the absolute worst, most disgusting place you can imagine. There was garbage everywhere, the sites were run down and filthy, and best of all, both bathrooms were stopped up with poop. We had a very difficult time deciding on whether or not we should actually stay there or ride the 4 miles back into town to stay at an RV camp. Since we vowed to avoid the RV camps at all costs, we decided to just grin and bear it with the crappy site.

5-26-08 DAY OFF! First day off since the beginning - hard to believe. We were still stunned from finishing the Oregon Coast! Crescent City didn't have a particular aspect about it to differentiate it from the many Oregon towns we had enjoyed the week before, but the more we spoke the word, "California," the more real it became to us. After enduring the night in the county "pitground," we woke up, put the tent away and just rode into town - sans breakfast or even changing into our riding gear - straight to the Curly Redwood Lodge. The kind folks at the lodge agreed to open up a room for us at 10am! Nice! Before we even shut the door behind us, stuff was everywhere and I was in the shower. We bought some detergent and started the laundry process. I ran into Dick, who happened to be crossing the street up the road. He, too, was taking a day off to clean up and rest. We made plans to meet up later for dinner - it was great to see a familiar face in a strange place. We went out for coffee again and checked out Crescent City - ok, for our first day off, I guess we had our hopes up. I think both Zo and I were expecting a college-town type of atmosphere, but instead, we got an old, run-down town type of vibe from Crescent City. We couldn't even find a joint that served a burger and a beer - we ended up having pizza and a beer with Dick. He has already ridden from San Francisco to L.A., so he had many good stories and advice to share with us. Such a great guy - we're blessed to have met such a nice person on our adventure - someone we can call our friend, really. Zo and I decided to hit up a movie and went to the new Indiana Jones flick - it's ok. My thumb would probably be down, while Zo enjoyed it for they type of movie that it was trying to be. Thumbs up, way up on the Curly Redwood Lodge, however! The hotel was built using redwood from an enormous tree that was cut down nearby back in 1957. Very old school style with a lamp in each room's window and older, 50's style furniture. Dig it.

5-27-08 - Up at 8am and repacked our B.O.B's for the next week. Ate the left-over pizza for b-fast and watched our last T.V. before hitting the road. We had to stop by the post office to mail my glasses to be repaired as I accidentally sat on them the night before. Rode 47 miles to Dry Lagoon State Park, just south of Orick, CA. The Drury Parkway was incredible - I felt like we were in a canyon of redwoods the entire time! We managed a photo with both of us and the bikes in the trunk of one of those big mamas! Some nice folks from OR took our photo and even gave Zo some ointment from the Amazon jungle for her knee. The campground was beautiful - just a stone's throw from the ocean up on a hill. There was a mtn lion warning posted, so I was a bit nervous, but some other campers up the hill assured me that we not to worry. We played cards again and hung out on the beach until just before sunset.

5-28-08 - this leads me to today - it's very late and I should be in bed, but I will not leave you hanging...today we got up at 7am and packed up for Arcata, CA - about 32 miles away. We made it to town at about 1:30 and had lunch outside the Safeway on 7th Street. French bread, turkey meat, and potato wedges were on the menu. After making our way to Kath's place, we cleaned up and hung out until Sue, Kath's mom, returned from work. Her folks are some of the most kind, generous folks - we felt right at home and our bellies felt even better with Sue's hearty cooking! Harvey hadn't returned from a conference just yet, but we finally caught up with him later, after we made a grocery run. We're ready for San Francisco now, but will not ride over the bridge until next Tuesday...most likely.

Ok, I must sleep...thank you so much for reading and enjoy the photos. Please let us know if you have any questions. We miss you all and will update this sooner next time...promise!

Check y'a later!

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5-20-08

2008-05-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

Today we are writing from the Lincoln City, OR public library- one of the more populated towns we've seen in a few days. (This is Zo, in place of Mark). Since Astoria, I have endured and healed a full body reaction of hives with a week's worth of steroids, and Mark is coping with one useful eye as the other was injured in a run-in with the bob trailer bunjee cord. It's been eventful but the riding continues as we cover important miles.

The riding along the Oregon coast has been mainly on highway 101 which has more traffic but follows the shoreline beautifully. We really have seen some amazing views. After the Astoria update on Saturday we rode on to Seaside, OR and stayed in Venice RV park overlooking the Highway and a small river. Sunday, we rode through Cannon Beach and Hugpoint State Park where many of the pictures posted were taken. It was a foggy, misty day but the ocean looked beautiful. Sunday night we stayed in Bay City, OR which is clearly a town on it's way out. Soon- to-be-Ghost. The camping options were the city skate park where kids played late into the night and where we both had trouble finding a place to use the bathroom- very odd. But free. Yesterday, Monday was a challenging day, especially for me. We spent most of the day climbing and conquered some of Oregon's biggest climbs, which is a relief. We made our start at the Tillamook cheese factory after a free tour and a very cheap, very filling, farm fresh breakfast. On our first climb of the day we were passed by a San Diego riding club who were on their spring trip in Oregon. They hire cars to follow them and drive their stuff so they are able to ride 100 plus miles a day around Oregon. Quite the life, I'm sure. After hauling our loads up and down the climb we descended into Pacific City Pub and Brewery where we grabbed a beer before hitting the road again. We met the members of the club and chatted for a while- very nice men. We rode on yesterday and ended the day in Otis, OR after another long climb, a beautiful scenic loop, and 53 miles. The Otis Fire Dept. put us up for the night which meant, yet again, another free stay. As Mark said to me last night as we were cooking dinner between two horse pastures and the quite hills of rural Oregon "I can't tell yet if this is my very favorite camp." It's true. It was a prime spot. We woke up during the night with pouring rain but as we rode southwest this morning closer to the ocean, the sky cleared and it might be a drier day for us.

We are planning on having a lighter day today as it is almost noon and we are still icing the eye, resting the sore knee from the climbs yesterday and figuring out how to enrich our all spaghetti and ramen diet we have left. In the meantime, hope everyone is well and Matey-Mark gives his best to you all. We will write again soon.

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5-17-08

2008-05-17T12:57:00.001-07:00

Hi everybody...

I just discovered that my post from the 14th didn't post - so sorry about that! Ok, so now Zo and I are in Astoria, OR. We arrived just about an hour or so ago. We tried to hit up the local college to use the computers; however, their server was down. A very, very nice teacher, Helen Dvorak (yes, related to the composer and whose son used to work in Billings for the Mustangs calling games over the radio/internet), gave us directions to an internet cafe and the library. I'm at the library at the moment and it's 1pm.

Alrighty, here's the scoop - we have photos! After we left Centralia, we headed towards Castle Rock and enjoyed some of the most beautiful countryside. It reminded me a lot Italy - green pastures with rolling hills. There were probably about a dozen different greens out there - very peaceful. We road along the Chehalis River for quite sometime. After arriving at Castle Rock, we chose to push ahead for about another 10 miles in hopes of finding some campsite in Coal Creek along the Delameter Road. We made it as far as the Delameter Spur when we pulled over to ask someone for directions. This kind elderly lady, named Dorothy, told us to ask the neighbor up the road. Wayne gave us approval to stay on this private land that was once owned by an old man named Mr. Moffet. Mr. Moffet, a retired mailman, bought up 1200 acres of land before dying and arranged that that land be logged for 100 years with all the proceeds going to charities. It's a bittersweet deal. Anyhow, we also met another neighbor, Brian, who left us water and trail mix for the next morning. Again, more abounding graciousness. (Insert by Zo: Eric H. it was very obvious that these are your stomping grounds....so thank you for all the kindness).

The next morning, we headed towards Cathlamet, WA along HWY 4, which was very busy and had little to no shoulder. We had lunch in Cathlamet, took the ferry across the Columbia and finally reached Oregon! We decided to push on ahead, but that wasn't until after a kind couple from Peuget Island offered their backyard for the night. We climbed a LONG, enduring hill and put up tent at the Gnat Creek Campgrounds. Yes, the creek lives up to its name quite nicely.

Today, we may ride to Seaside, OR or Cannon Beach. The weather has been incredible and the people even more so...

We miss you all!

5-14-08

2008-05-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Well, we're actually still away, but you get the picture. Speaking of which, we have many pictures, but unfortunately not a library that will allow us to download them onto a computer. We're looking, though and once we land one, you will see many a photo of this crazy adventure. Thank you for your patience, and may I recommend dusting off the ol'atlas and turning to the state of Washington to follow our town-by-town travels? Great...

Ok, right now, Zo and I are sitting in public library at Centralia, WA - it's in this cool, ol' town hall-type building in the city center. We found lodging at an RV park just inside of the city limits, and we're going to set up camp snug between two enormous RV's. I'm talking plush of the plushest rigs - occupied by the nicest people - which leads me to the theme of the ride so far, "Abounding Graciousness." The people we've met so far have been some of the nicest, most accommodating strangers one could meet. Seriously. We already typed about Gus and his wife, Clyde from the Belfair State Park, now get this - last night after riding in the rain for most of the day, we realized that our goal for the day was not going to be met and a new plan had to be planned. We passed turn-off to a YMCA camp - Camp Bishop - before Elma, WA. We rode down to the gate and rang to see if anyone was home, and if we could put up our tent somewheres for the night. We met Doug, the caretaker of the camp, who not only allowed us to camp out on their property, but also opened up the bathrooms/showers and a cabin for us to use! Nevermind that he and his wife had never had such a request in all their years of managing that site, they opened their doors to us and then some! Wow. So, Zo and I endured the rest of that rainy patch in the warmth and comfort of a YMCA cabin. We shared 4 packets of Top Ramen (chicken flavor) and many glasses of water for dessert.

This morning greeted us with less rain, but more drizzle. We headed south thru Elma and on towards Rochester, WA. We briefly stopped in Oakville to gather our whits (relieve our bottoms), refill the bottles, and move forward. The next stretch was the hardest traffic-wise - highway 12 between Oakville and Rochester was about 80% semi-trucks and the rest cars. The country out here is filled with logging patches and logging trucks. I've been calling the clearings "gravesites." The scenery is very, very green - it looks like the rolling hills of Ireland. We've seen sheep, goats, baby goats, horses, cows, and a few sprinting dogs. I'm very proud, if I can be, of Zo and the 50+ miles she conquered today. Sweet. We're going to call it a day - about 6.5 hours of riding. Tomorrow, we're Toledo, Castle Rock, Coal Creek-bound. Find Longview, WA - we're running south towards Longview, WA and the mighty Columbia River. Hope this finds you all well...later, M.

5-13-08

2008-05-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Hi to everyone! Finally found a computer...

It's Tuesday afternoon, and Zo and I are taking a lunch break in the Shelton, WA public library. Our shove-off was a little delayed due to packing issues, but we made it none-the-less and arrived in Belfair, WA - at the Belfair State Park - at around 7ish pm. We rode down 15th Street from NW 75th St and took the 4:20pm Bremerton Ferry across the sound to the Olympic Peninsula. From there we rode 20 miles south, past 3 old aircraft carriers, resting in the Naval Yard in Bremerton. All in all, it was a good start to this adventure, made even better by two of the friendliest Belfair State Park camp hosts this side of the Mississippi. We arrived and were not aware that the park was closed to camping until the 15th. Gus and Clyde still allowed us to stay and even brought some firewood over to keep us warm. That's pretty darn friendly, if you ask me. The next morning will be brought to you by Zo...

Morning #2 began much earlier with a hearty portion of instant oatmeal. Although there were minor complications with large amounts of water versus indivually sized packets of the cereal, Mark quickly learned this new-age Quaker process. We pushed off around 10am and rode back to Belfair where we took Highway 106 to Shelton. Unfortunately we made some error in our directions and ended up hugging the Hood Canal on 106 instead of making our way on less traveled roads. After a quick regrouping session at Alderbrook Resort and Spa we found our way back on track and 30 miles and 4 1/2 hours later in Shelton. We still have 25 more miles to do this afternoon before our campsite in Elma so we will be getting on the road again very shortly. It's darn cold STILL, mid May, in WA so I'm looking forward to moving again as I'm soaked to the skin and pretty chilly. We're told there's going to be sun tomorrow so we're looking forward to drying out. Talk again soon....

Some inspiration for the road...

2008-05-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our friends at Adventure Cycling Association.

John Hathaway was a legendary bicycle tourist long before most bicycle tourists were off of their training wheels. When Hathaway, an Adventure Cycling member, passed through Missoula in the summer of 1993 on his 30,000-mile, 24-month tour of the U.S., he was 68 years old.

Hathaway had ridden about 110,000 miles since he began touring in 1953. In 1955, he pedaled from Vancouver to Montreal via New Orleans. A trans-Canada ride, Halifax to Vancouver, took him only 24 and 1/2 days and gave him the trans-Canada world record, a record that stood for 20 years. "I had to cover 1,000 miles of that on gravel roads," he said in the Toronto Globe and Mail in 1998. "The Trans-Canada Highway didn't go all the way." His 50,600-mile, 100 week world tour in 1972-74 led him through 52 countries and six continents, and earned a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records.

Hathaway, who began cycling as a racer in England at the age of 18, compiled a list of health problems and cycling injuries he's suffered from since 1950. Among the more remarkable include a broken hip in 1972, of which Hathaway writes, "Secured with three pins, still in, no problem." In 1987, he was hit by a truck while riding in Argentina. He listed his injuries as "Broken back, two compressed vertebrae, no problem."

Yah, no problem, Mr. Hathaway, no problem.

2008-05-03T21:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, the west coast from Seattle to the border...

Welcome!

2008-05-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone...

Welcome to Cruising the Coast with Mark and Zo!

If you're reading this then you've heard about the crazy bike trip that Zo and I are about to embark upon in matter of days. I'm still getting everything together before the drive out to Seattle where I'll meet Zo and shove off for our adventure down the west coast.

This has been a dream of mine for many, many years, and thanks to Zo, who approached me with the idea last fall, we decided to pair up our passions for cycling and mountaineering to ride the coast totally self-supported. This means that we'll be camping out everyday.

Both Zo and I are both excited and nervous for the tour and we invite you to join us every mile of the way. We're going to try our best to update the blog each day with stories and pictures.

Thank you and talk to you in about a week's time!

Mark