Olympia to Portland!

Days Four and Five: Olympia to Portland: 135 miles

We woke up at dawn on Monday.  The supermoon was still hangng over the Puget Sound.  We ate some oatmeal did a little stretching, packed up our bikes and ventured Southbound to Portland.  We had planned to ride about 62 miles to a campground in Castle Rock, and then ride the remaining miles into Portland the next day to arrive before my show at White Eagle. 

The morning was crisp and beautiful.  The route took us weaving in and out of the 5, and out into the Washington countyside, and passed by all kinds of farms, ranches, forests and even rode by Mt. St. Helen's, the volcano!  More sunshine, too.  This whole time, we had planned for rain and gray clouds and cold rides, and it's been so warm, we rode in tank tops and shorts most of the time.

We made really great time to the campground!  We got there at about 3pm, and there was still lots of light, since the sun wasn't going to set until about 9pm.  The campground was just an RV/tent campground next to a railroad track.  It wasn't beautiful or interesting enough to justify spending the next 6 hours of daylight hanging out at, and we had plenty of energy, so Sarah googled the next campsite on our route.  We decided to knock out another 17 miles to a campgroud in Longview, just about the Washington/Oregon Border. 

The ride was a breeze.  After about 10 miles or so, our energy began to wain.  Sarah's knees started to get sore, and I was just getting tired. Dustin's always in a great mood and super positive.  We got to Kelso, the city right before Longview, and the area seemed pretty sketchy and nowhere near where a campsite would be. 

In Longview, the area started to seem a little better, but there were no campgrounds in site.  Sarah's GPS kept going in and out, and we had trouble figuring out where we were and where we were supposed to be going.  When we finally got there, the RV/Tent site was actually an RV wreckage site! 

It was 8:30pm, there wasn't much daylight left, and we were exhausted.  We stopped by the side of the road and decided to ask for directions or suggestions.  We talked to a man putting his helmet on, about to get on his motorcycle in front of his house. 

"Campgrounds?  Around here?"  It didn't sound hopeful.  He pointed one direction... maybe 30 miles.  He pointed another direction... up a huge hill.  We decided it might be best to grab a room at a motel or a hotel, and asked for suggestions.  He asked his wife to come out, and they had a few different suggestions.  More fingers pointed every which way. 

"Honey... Why don't we let these folks just camp out in our backyard?  They seem pretty nice." 

"I don't know...."

Then their daughter pointed out that I had my gutiar, and I explained that I was on a music tour.

"But mom!  Music's your PASSION!"

So that was that.  We camped out with the Goforth/Musso family.  They fed us pizza and beer.  Cheryl helped us do our laundry.  They let us take showers.  I gave them a mini concert.  And their daughter, Courtney, who had been learning violin, gave us a little performance.  Their other daughter, Cassidy, was probably the sweetest, happiest little girl I've ever met.  She gave us a little serenade, too.  Randy, the pocket carpenter/motorcyclist, told us all about the family, and sent us home with some sweet do-rags.

We were blown away by their hospitality, and so thankful to have a safe place to stay for the night.

The next day, they even gave us a wake-up call, and sent us off with leftover cold pizza for the road, which we chowed down shortly after we crossed the bridge to Oregon. 

We weaved in and out of the 5 some more, and followed the Columbia River.  We stopped at a bike shop on the way, because Dustin needed a kickstand. When he got his trailer, the directions said that if you put the bike and trailer at a right angle, that it would act as a kickstand, but it never quite worked.  The workers at the shop were the most unenthusiastic group of people in a bike shop I've ever seen. And the kickstand didn't end up working out.

We were a little tired after pulling through those 80 miles the day before, and Sarah's knees were really starting to bother her.  We tried adjusting the seat a few different ways, and ended up stoppign to stretch a few times and takign the rest of the ride at a slower pace.

We pulled into Elliott's house in Portland at 3:45pm, and Tyler and Chad met up at the train station to meet up with us at 4pm. 

Joshua and Megan met us there, and as soon as Chad and Tyler arrived, it was like starting the trip all over again.  They're great guys, and so enthusiastic, and just ready to ride.

A few hours later, I played at the White Eagle bar with Welfare and Brave Julius.  White Eagle is a bar in NW Portland, run by McMenamins.  It's intimate and has a great vibe and the people that work there are so nice!  SO nice!  After the scarf I was using for a makeshift guitar strap failed, Mike, the bartender even dug through the lost and found for an old one and gave it to me!

The show was wonderful.  I love portland.

The next day, Chad got right to work on our bikes, since he just got finished with bike mechanic school in Colorado.

We went to a bike co-op to look for some parts.

We went back to the house, and made and ate a big dinner together.  We all  picked a veggie to toss into a big pasta. Pretty amazing. It was the perfect way to start the next leg of our journey, together.