"California, here we come ... Good bye beautiful Oregon Coast

Sorry fans, but this will be a short blog.  I was too busy yesterday taking pictures around Gold Beach, doing laundry, doing a bit of bike maintenance and getting my haircut and I never got my blog updated.  I promised Kris that I would mention her in my blog, so if you are ever in Gold Beach, Oregon, make sure you stop in and get clipped by Kris at Fair Hair.  You can’t miss it if you are doing laundry because it is in the same building.  So today we rode 61 miles, did a bit of climbing and rolled in to California.  And today we had sun and tailwinds!  Good bye beautiful Oregon coast and hello California redwoods for the next few days.  Tomorrow is going to be a big ride, 80 miles with the most climbing we have done yet in a day, so I am retiring early.  I hope to say more later.  I want to say more about our lovely SAG team and some of the riders we have met on the road. But for now, good night, gotta go to sleep.

"Tail wind? ... Has anyone seen a tail wind?"

Weather is starting to impact us and impacting our rides.  On our ninth day of riding, due to health, Bill had to set it out and ride in the SAG wagon and Jim and I had to cut our 60 mile ride short at about 30 miles due to rain.  We got up next morning and it was still raining.  We caucused and decided to dress for riding but put the bikes on top of the car and head south. After we had a leisurely breakfast, hoping for a break in the weather, we gave up and started driving south.  When we got down to the Oregon Dunes, we decided the rain had subsided enough to stop and take the bikes off the car and start pedaling.  I must say that the Oregon Dunes took me by surprise.  The dunes go for miles and miles and the juxtaposition of tall pines, mountains, dunes, dune grass and ocean was spectacular.  Well, I found it to be spectacular.  After we were out of the dunes, it was the Oregon coast I have described before; cliffs, ocean, off shore rocks, breakers, gulls, pelicans, fishermen and all. 

We continued pedaling south.  There was some head wind, but not too bad.  I have been starting to wonder about some of our research for this ride.  We were told by our research that we are more likely to encounter tail winds going from north to south than from south to north.  However this has not been our experience, but I will have more to say on that topic on our ride from Bandon to Gold Beach, whew!  However the ride from Oregon Dunes to Waldport was pretty nice, nothing incredibly noteworthy.  As I said before, the Oregon coast I have been describing.  That was until we got to the Coos Bay area and North Bend. 

I hope I do not offend anyone when I say that North Bend must be the arm pit of the Oregon coast.  What a sketchy town, and we have been through a few Oregon towns. Astoria was an authentic seaport, some fishing, some shipping and some tourist places.  Cannon Beach was all tourist,  but upscale tourist.  The locals call it California.  Rockaway was downscale tourist, lots of shops selling the same thing, large signs to pull you in, no evidence of any building covenants. Tillamook pushed cheese, of course.   Bandon was cute and enjoyable.  But North Bend; I could find nothing to compliment North Bend.  It had a rough start from our perspective.  On the north side of North Bend from the direction we entered, there was a very large and long bridge.  It was just about a mile long.  It was also so narrow that we could not ride over it.  We had to dismount and push our bikes up to the peak of the bridge and then down the other side on a very, very narrow sidewalk.  This was not fun in road bike shoes.  To make matters worse, there must have been some construction on the west side of the south end of the bridge, so there were orange cones in the middle of the narrow sidewalk.  That was too much for me, so I crossed over to the east side of the bridge, while Jim and Bill tried to maneuver their bikes around the orange cones.  Finally we made it off that God forsaken bridge and pedaled our way into North Bend. I usually like quaint, rustic, even primitive places but North Bend was none of this.  We were looking for some coffee and Jim stopped at a place, and I have to admit, I said, “this place is just too sketchy for me”, so we pedaled on, past the smoke shops, and the tattoo parlors.  We finally found a Safeway with a Starbucks, so we stopped.  I had a foofoo coffee (caramel macchiato) and Jim had a regular coffee, that was so bad that he returned it for a refund. We hope to quickly forget North Bend.

By this time, after our leisurely start in the morning, we were beginning to run out of time and light, so we contacted Dennie and decided to reconnoiter in Waldport.  We cleared North Bend and Coos Bay and headed towards Waldport.  Waldport is a very nice community and ahead we could see the van waiting for us in a parking lot.  We rode in, dismounted, took our front wheels off and put the bikes on top of the SAG van and drove south towards Bandon, where we had reservations.

After we settled into our rooms, we checked email and weather and then headed out to grab a bite to eat.  From a rain standpoint it looked like there was a possibility of drizzles in the morning but early afternoon it looked like we were going to get hammered by a storm.  Also of concern was the wind.  The wind was again directly from the south but the intensity was going to build to about 20-25 mph by noon with gust to 35+ mph.  Again, I wondered about our research that said wind would generally be in our backs if we took the north to south CanMexPac route. 

Next morning we got off at about 8AM, heading south.  The route took us west of 101 on a beach loop route through Bandon.  It was very nice, I really liked Bandon.  I did not expect much and it was a pleasant little surprise.  The seascape and the offshore stacks were really neat.  The vertical offshore rock formations are called stacks and this is what the Oregon coast is known for.  We continued to pedal south and the wind continued to build.  Soon, we were trading places up front in our three man pace line.  Sometimes, as we came around a bay or inlet, the wind would hit us from the side and we had to concentrate to maintain the shoulder.  At one time, we were going downhill, full into the wind, pedaling hard to maintain 10 mph. Fortunately, most of the time when we were in a climb, we were sheltered by the hill we were climbing and we were usually able to climb without the wind in our face.  Until we started to crest and then we would be hit by the wind again.  A few times we would be hit by a gust and we would have to stand up in our pedals to maintain forward progress. 

Approximately about 10 miles from our destination, our route went inland and was more sheltered from the coastal winds.  We wound our way through valley and over creeks until we got to the Rogue River and then we started making our way back to the coast.  We were getting hit by more of the wind that blew up the Rogue river, but at least it was mostly downhill.  Just before we got to the coast, I yelled, “Stopping!! Pictures!!”  Jim and Bill are getting used to that now.  Sometimes they no longer stop and they just pedal slower and let me catch up.  This time they stopped though, because there was a herd of Roosevelt elk not far from the road.  The Roosevelt elk is an elk that is unique to this part of the coast.  It is smaller than the elk we have in southwest, but rather majestic anyways.  I snapped a few pictures and then we departed for our destination which was near.

As we were leaving the elk, there were a few drops of rain.  Within about 5 minutes, we were getting hammered as we crossed the bridge over the Rogue River and climbed up into Gold Beach.  It turned out, none of knew exactly where our motel was, so we pulled into a restaurant parking lot and tried to figure it out.  While we were in the lot, the blasted wind blew my bike and Bill’s bike over.  Mine was OK and Bill suffered a broken mirror.  I decided to call Dennie and see if she found the motel.  She had and she met us in the parking lot.  About this time, someone in the restaurant told Jim our motel was only about 6 blocks up the road.  So rather than put the bikes up on the van and take them down again, we struck out on our bikes again.  We decided later those were the toughest 6 blocks we ever rode.  Winds had us standing in our pedals to maintain some kind of forward velocity and the rain was pounding us in the face.  We pulled in the motel at 2PM and a sign was on the door: “3PM check-in. No exceptions!”  I did not care.  I was willing to sit in a warm lobby for an hour, but they did make an exception and we were able to get into our rooms.

Tomorrow is our rest day.  Minor bike maintenance and do a wash.  We checked the weather and it looks like Thursday is good weather and, hard to believe, a tail wind is forecast.  Also, Thursday we cross into northern California and finish Oregon.

"Achoo! ... We need the Sun!"

Well, I was worried about health issues before the ride (refer to my third post in this blog) but now we are starting to deal with some health issues that are a bit different than my prior concerns, but not surprising.  We have over 500 miles completed and over a cumulative 25,000 feet of climbing in 9 days of riding; and our systems are starting to be taxed.  We have been making sure we get enough fuel, both carbs and protein.  And we are doing a good job making sure we get enough sleep.  But probably due to some of our rides in the rain and wind, we are starting to get scratchy throats, sniffles, sneezes and coughs.  We attribute a lot of this to the restaurant we stopped at for breakfast in Oakdale, Washington, to fuel up and warm up after riding in the rain.  Unfortunately, it took 45 minutes for our food to get on our table and there was an air conditioner cooling us off.  We were very chilled when we left that restaurant.  Saturday was a very tough day for Bill to ride, due to shortness of breath and suffering from a cold and today he decided not to ride.  The saying is “discretion is the better part of valor”, and we think “wisdom is the better part of valor”.  Bill rode in the SAG car today so he could save himself and be able to ride another day.  Jim and I waited until noon, before we started our ride, and we decided to ride as far as we could before the rain stopped us.  And we got 26 miles down the road to the little town of Waldport, Oregon before the rain started in earnest.  We sat under an overhang, called Dennie and waited for the SAG car.

Tomorrow we are going to keep an eye on the weather again.  If it is dry, we will ride and ride as far as we can again before it rains again.  Unless scratchy throats, sniffles, sneezes and coughs dictate otherwise. We are so looking forward to sunshine again however the weather reports do not look promising for the next four days.

"The Ride of Aromas ... Our Eighth Day of Riding"

Saturday ride was a ride of aromas for me.  I think the sense of smell is one of the five senses that I never think that much about.  The sense of sight is so obvious and right there in front of me, but aromas and smells kind of sneak up on me.  Today we were assailed by many smells and aromas.  It was kind of funny and sometimes the adage “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” became ”beauty is in the nose of the beholder”.  Jim and Bill have spent most of their life in Albuquerque, and grew up in the Southwest.  The smell of chile roasting will always be a memory  smell for then.  But I grew up on the coast in California, so I am familiar with the smells of the coast and they are pleasant memory smells for me.  So as we cycled along, what to Jim and Bill was the odor of low tide on the tidal flats, to me was a pleasant aroma of a childhood memory.  It took me back to fishing with my brother when I was growing up, or camping on the coast, or exploring tide pools.  To Jim and Bill, I guess it was strange and foreign and not appealing at all. 

But the tidal flat smells were only a few of the smells and aromas.  We rode through the Tillamook area, famous for its cheeses.  So of course, there were cattle smells, and sour milk smells from the dairies.  And there were pungent smells of cheese from the creameries.  As we rode through the forests, there were the familiar smells of pine, and the redwoods and the musty odor of the forest duff on the floor.  Occasionally we would pass a campground and see and smell the smoke of an early morning camper getting up and starting the fire.

Other smells, that I won’t elaborate on, of course included the exhaust of a passing vehicle, or the smell from a creature that did not get across the highway fast enough, or cooking smells from the local restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants, we had lunch at what we are told was the world famous Otis Cafe.  The Otis Cafe has five tables and a counter to sit on and not enough space outside to handle the wait.  We were lucky to show up and the time between lunch and supper, so there were only two parties in front of us.  The town of Otis has a population of 25, and maybe they are all Otis's, I don't know.  It's recent claim to fame was that the whole town was up for sale on eBay, however the sale did not go through and the 'for sale' signs are no longer posted as you enter the town.  The lunch/din was great and the famous molasses bread was all the it was advertised to be.

And of course, in addition to the ride of aromas, there were all kinds of views from the famous Oregon coast.  Today we rode just over 75 miles and we are being hosted by my friends, the Zawalski’s.  Looking out their window, up above the sea and beach, you can see the surfers through the trees, you can see the pelicans on the bluff.  There is surf crashing on the point and crashing on a reef of rocks just off shore and occasionally you can see the plume when a grey whales spouts just off shore.  They have a priceless view out their window.

"And on whatever day it is ... we rested"





Joe and Dennie, on beach at Manzanita, OR

Today is a rest day and we are just chilling and doing wash … and checking out the metropolis of Manzanita, Oregon.  I am privileged because we got to stay at one of my very good friend’s house.  Joe and I were in the trenches at Intel for many years.  Sometimes we were in the same trench, sometimes we were in opposing trenches.  But somehow we developed and have remained very good friends.  This probably due to shared interests, shared faiths and basically we are a couple of great guys, of course.  Joe made dinner for us last night, and then today Joe, Dennie and I walked the beach and then took 15 minutes to walk to the end of Manzanita.  Well that is not entirely true.  It could have taken 15 minutes or less to walk Manzanita from end to end, but it would mean passing a shop and that is difficult to impossible for Dennie, “Ooooh, look at that!”, “Oh, that is so clever!”, “What time will this shop be open, I want to come back!”  I was able to find coffee and a bear claw pastry, so I was happy.  That took care of the morning.  In the afternoon, I caught up on some PC stuff.  Jim and Bill chilled.  We checked the next few days ride and the next 4 days are going to be 70 or more miles a day, plus what looks like some considerable climbing.  That is less concerning than the weather, though.  It appears we might be in for some considerable rain.  If that is the case, we will ride from coffee shop to coffee shop until we reach our destination; or if worst comes to worst, we will call Dennie and have her pick us up.  We do not need to get drenched and sick.  Here are some pictures of the Manzanita, Oregon area.

"Cycling the Oregon north coast ... MAAAHVELOUS"

Wow! What a day! Sometimes I just felt like yelling at the top of my lungs, “This is SOOO MAAAAAAHVELOUS!!”  I did not know if the day had the potential to be marvelous.  We are doing our best to find comfortable, but low budget accommodations each night. Last night our lodging was a waterfront motel in Astoria, Oregon.  The room was comfortable, not luxurious, but comfortable. Then about midnight the sound of road construction commenced. And from midnight until about 5 AM new pavement was put down in front of our motel.  I attempted to sleep with a pillow over the top of my head, fitfully. 

But next morning, I said, “See you later”, to my lovely wife and Jim, Bill and I headed out of Astoria.  The route surprised us.  We thought we would immediately take US 101 to and down the coast, but instead, we headed east and then south on US Business 101.  Once again, Adventure Cycling had chosen an outstanding route.  When Dennie and her mom left the motel to catch up with us, they actually took longer in the SAG car then we did biking because of their sightseeing.  The route apparently followed the Lewis and Clark Trail and through state parks, inland valleys and then finally down the coast at Seaside, Oregon.  At Seaside we were routed to a beach walk and pedaled a comfortable pace in between the morning beach walkers and beach cruisers.  It was definitely a place to take a break, sit down, chill and eat our sandwiches.

After Seaside, we were told the real climbing would start.  We were told this by a guy in a bike shop in Seaside, Adventure Cycling said the same, and my friend Joe, who had a place in Manzanita said to expect some good climbs.  So I know that Bill and I were a bit apprehensive about the climbing, and of course Jim said little.  Jim rarely conveys any concern about what we would consider a cycling challenge.

It turns out the only extraordinary thing about the climbs were the views.  The climbs were solid, a good push, but not as hard as we had expected.  However the views, the views were absolutely awesome, fantastic, and mahvelous.  Everyone knows the Oregon coast is famous for its beauty, but here we were, cycling and actually experiencing it.  We would climb with forest on both sides and then there would usually be an overlook and of course I would bring our ride to a halt, “Stopping! Photo stop!”  And then another descent through the forests and another climb, repeat and repeat.  Like I said earlier, it made want to just yell, “MAAAAAAHVELOUS, JUST MAAAAAAAAAAAHVELOUS!”

At the end of our last descent, we turned into the little coastal town of Manzanita where my friend Joe was going to put us up for a couple of days.  Friends are precious and catching up with Joe was ample evidence of this adage.  It was fun catching up and Joe was able to share some early Intel stories about me during my more savage days of corporate middle management.  I tried to deny the dirt he was heaping on me but I do not think I was too convincing, or he was more convincing than I was.  We all shared a wonderful home cooked meal and everyone retired, except me, because I had to complete my blog for our fans. And now this post is complete except for the following pictures.




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"One State Done ... Three More to Go"

It was a misty, meisty morning this morning.  Jim, Bill and I rolled out of Longview, Washington in a light fog, with a tail wind, no rain and great pavement.  Life is good and we are lucky to participate.  One thing I need to mention is this is going to be a very short blog, because today marks the day that Dennie and I have been married 31 marvelous years. So, short blog and then Dennie time and y’all are not invited.

We are done with Washington. Today was our sixth riding day and we completed Washington and are currently overnighting in Astoria, Oregon.  For the statistics fans we rode 327 miles in Washington and climbed 14,736 feet, which means Washington was a 14’er. 

So, here are a few more pictures and you will hear more from me tomorrow.  Having a mahvelous time.

"Our Fifth Day of Riding ... Simply Mahvelous"

Today is our fifth day riding after a day of rest in the beautiful metropolis of Chehalis, Washington; population 7057.  Yesterday, in addition to being a day of rest, and doing our wash, and doing some bike maintenance and cleanup; yesterday was also a day of high wind and rain, so we were glad we were not riding.  Today’s ride was about 55 miles and I was not expecting much of a ride.  It looked like we would be going through some populated areas and we were no longer on the coast, so I confess, I was kind of thinking today was going to be a slog.  The last 15 miles looked like they might be interesting as we climbed along a creek and then descended into Longview, but I thought the rest of the ride could not come close to what we had experienced in our first four days of riding.  How wrong I was, but more on that later.

My morning of getting prepared ride also hit a bit of a hiccup.  Well, it was kind of a major hiccup.  The top strap on my road bike shoe totally broke at the connection to the shoe.  The strap is connected to the shoe by a screw and the strap broke on either side of the hole in the strap where the screw attaches.  Dang!  The metropolis of Chehalis does not have a store that would carry straps for the Specialized Pro road bike shoe.  In fact, I was fairly confident that none of the metropolises in front of us would be carrying replacement straps for my shoe.  So, what to do? Maybe I just duct tape my shoe to the end of my leg.  After some thought, we grabbed a pocket knife, cut another hole in the piece of strap that remained, shaved of some of the strap to thin it so the screw would go through it and attached it to my shoe again.  The ankle pad can no longer be centered over the top of my ankle, but I am able to get down the road, 55 miles down the road today.  Also, after dealing with solving my shoe problem, I forgot to take my sandwich out of the fridge, and left without my lunch.

So, like I said earlier, I thought the day was just going to be kind of a slog, no big deal.  I was wrong.  I need to put in another good word for the Adventure Cycling routes.  They do their best to keep the route away from high traffic thoroughfares.  They do their best to skirt cities and populated areas, and they seem to find the routes with the best riding experience to include local scenery, views, et al. Today’s ride was evidence again of their excellent results.  Weather was damp, but not too damp.  Temperatures were cool but great for riding.  Wind was not too bad.  Our route went through deep forests, open country roads, along the side of a river, climbed up a valley along the side of creek that could sometimes be glimpsed through deep forest and then descended down to the Columbia river.  Today was a GREAT ride, I loved it.  It was simply mahvelous.

Tomorrow we ride along the north side of the Columbia River and then cross over into Oregon and ride to the coast and overnight in Astoria, Oregon.  Washington has been absolutely beautiful, and now the coast of Oregon.  We hope we are ready for the climbs.  

"And on the Fifth Day ... We Rested"

So today was a rest day, not much to report.  I did catch up on some email and phone calls back home.  I was also made aware that it is impossible or at least difficult to post comments on this blog.  I am glad that someone brought this to my attention because I was feeling so neglected.  No one was commenting on the blogs.  A big thank you to Mark Williams who told me how to go into settings and open up the ability to comment, so now everyone can comment to their hearts desire.  Try the comment feature out and make my day.

Today was a day to hit the Laundromat and catch up on our laundry.  Plus we put the bikes up on the stands and did a bit of bike maintenance general cleaning.  I guess I could take advantage of this rest day and tell a bit about our choice of steeds.

Jim McGirk is our Cannondale rider.  He briefly considered riding his 2011 Cannondale Super Six but decided to go with his 2011 Cannondale Synapse for a bit more comfort.  Components are Ultegra SL Compact with a 11-25 cassette.

Bill Rahe is riding his 2010 Scott CR1 Pro.  His components are also Ultegra SL and he is riding a triple with a 11-28 cassette.  I will say, much to my surprise, Bill has been waiting for us at the top of most of our long climbs.  I am not sure if it is his superior conditioning or the fact he is riding a triple and Jim and I riding compacts.  Bill is quick to claim it is the triple and not his superior conditioning, we shall see as the ride goes on.

For comfort, I briefly considered riding my 2009 Specialized Roubaix Elite; also a triple with Shimano 105 components.  But I went with my 2009 Specialized Tarmac SL with SRAM Red compact componentry and a 11-28 cassette.  I just found the Roubaix to be too soft in the climbs and so far, I am happy I left it back home in Corrales.

We have another day and a half in the beautiful state of Washington, and Wednesday we will overnight in Astoria, Oregon.  Then Thursday we roll into Manzanita, Oregon (about 20 miles south of Cannon Beach, Oregon) and we spend a couple of days with a very good friend of mine, Joe McAvoy, at his place in Manzanita.  Joe and I were colleagues at Intel and we spent time in the trenches together.  It is going to be fun catching up.  And then Saturday night we are privileged again to stay with another friend of mine, Theresa Zawalski, near Depoe Bay, Oregon.  Theresa is going to continue to let me believe that I was her favorite boss at Intel.  We used to work together in New Mexico and then she left to work for Intel in Oregon.  Hmmm, maybe I wasn’t her favorite boss. Oh well, she is my favorite Theresa Zawalski and I look forward to seeing her again.  Friends are precious and I am blessed to have more than I deserve.

Time to get some sleep and roll down the road again tomorrow.

"Four Days into the Ride ... Going Strong"

We now have four days under our wheels and tomorrow is our rest day.  Due to rain, we considered making today our rest day. But when the forecast predicted less than a half inch of rain today and more than an inch tomorrow, plus high winds, we reconsidered and remained on our schedule of ride four days and rest the fifth.  I know that is not biblical, but we are not yet up to riding six days and resting on the seventh.  Yesterday was an 80 mile day with 4200 feet of climbing, dry and windy.  Today was 44 miles with less than 1000 feet of climbing, very wet and less wind. About half way into the ride we decided to stop for coffee and something to eat in Oakville, WA.  There was only one diner in the little town and I was a bit concerned because there were only three cars in the parking lot and I think two of them belonged to employees. So I was violating one of my general rules when traveling.  I believe that the quality of the culinary experience is going to be directly proportional to the number of cars in the parking lot.  However, like I said, it was the only diner in the town of Oakville. At this time I can add the name of this diner was Jag’s, for your future reference.  We dismounted, pulled off our rain gear, leaned our bikes up against the front of the diner and went inside.  Two of the tables actually had customers, a family with a baby and a group of three … all waiting for their food.  We were able to find a place to sit, making our choice from ten empty tables.  The waitress came over and figured out we actually were going to make a food order, and thought to bring us menu’s when we started ordering from the menu items that were written on the walls, that she let us know they were no longer current or available.  At twelve, as in high noon, we made our order.  It was not a complex order: ham and eggs; two pancakes; and biscuits and gravy.  Jim, Bill and I started talking about the ride, talking about the weather and the rain.  We talked about what city would be coming up next and how far way was it.  We wondered where Dennie and her mom might be and what they were doing while we were riding.  We talked a while and then wondered where our food might be, because it had been a while.  We looked at the other tables and they did not have food at their tables either, very odd.  At 12:20, one of the other tables was served.  To make what is becoming a long story short, at 12:35 the second table was served and at 12:45, we were finally served, 45 minutes after a very simple, not complex, order was made.  After a very, very long meal break, we got back on the road and headed to Chehalis.  As we were leaving Bill leaned over and said, "Did you see that baby at that other table?  When they came in, it was a newborn.  I know it had it's first tooth when they paid their bill."

So after 4 days of riding, we have ridden 242 miles and we have climbed just over 10,000 feet.  Weather has been a combination of sun, wind, and rain.  The countryside and scenery have been awesome.  The first couple of days were rainforests, mountains meeting the sea, off shore islands, harbors and smells of the ocean.  The past couple of days have been forests, lakes and rivers.  Needless to say, it is very, very green.  With the rain and all, we find it amusing that when we pass forest service stations, the fire danger is always posted as moderate.  We are not sure how to get a moderate fire started, everything looks so wet. 

About all of the cars that pass us have been very, very courteous.  They often hang back and when they pass, they usually cross over the center stripe to give us plenty of room.  Only twice, that I remember, has a car come unnecessarily close and once a high school kid in the passenger seat leaned out and yelled at us. I guess high school behavior is universal and not regional.  In prior blogs I mentioned that Jim is using the maps from Adventure Cycling and I have GPX files from Adventure Cycling (the GPX files are free downloads) on my Garmin Edge 705.  Also, in our SAG vehicle, Dennie has a set of the maps from Adventure Cycling so she knows where we are.  Now that we have been on the bikes for four days, we are not sure how someone could do this ride without a GPS with map features, especially in the cities.  The Adventure Cycling routes are excellent at providing routes with low traffic or wide shoulders but sometimes this means you could easily miss an obscure turn and ride right by your intended route.  We have done that a few times and I will glance down and say, “Jim, check the map.  We are off GPS.”  The nice thing about a GPS is you can see where you are in a city or where the route is indicated and how far away we are from it.  If we did not have a GPS with map features, there would be a number times when we would either be miles off course or lost in the city or find ourselves on a busy boulevard without a bike lane. 

We have seen a number of other riders with panniers and we suspect they are possibly heading to Mexico also.  When we pulled into our Microtel last night, I saw a young couple with panniers looking longingly at the hotel from the driveway, so I went out and chatted with them.  They were from Los Angeles and he had accrued six weeks of vacation and they were going to go as far south as they could from the Canadian border also heading towards Mexico.  They had been riding for six days and had gone about 200 miles (we had been on the bikes for 3 days and covered the same 200 miles).  They also told us about an older, retired Korean couple that they met in Bremerton that did not speak much English.  They had flown over from Korea, bought bikes in Seattle and planned to ride to Mexico.  They completed 12 miles their first day. I am going to wake up in the middle of the nights wondering how far they get.  What an incredible sense of adventure … or is ignorance bliss?  Oh, the young couple with panniers decided Microtel was above their budget and they rolled away looking for an RV campground.