Rigel and Erin

malibu

animalrv — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 17:23:00 GMT

http://erinplusrigel.blogspot.com/2013/10/malibu-rv-park.html

emma wood

animalrv — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 16:14:00 GMT

http://erinplusrigel.blogspot.com/2013/10/emma-wood-state-beach.html

Refugio!

animalrv — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 16:12:00 GMT

October 25

http://erinplusrigel.blogspot.com/2013/10/ref-ref-refugio.html

Lompoc!

animalrv — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 16:09:00 GMT

October 23

http://erinplusrigel.blogspot.com/2013/10/wednesday-october-23-to-friday-october.html

San Simeon State Park

animalrv — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:46:00 GMT

Monday October 21

We made it out of the Big Sur area and expected to find some grocery stores to restock our food. Nope. Closed, and small towns. Dam! We should've stopped at the Hearst Castle (largest private collection of art) but didn't largel due to the urgency of finding food for dinner and getting to the next campground. I found more prickly pears! My strategy for them now includes rubber dish washing gloves, a big paper bag, and a specially designated knife that we found on the road and cleaned up (the road giveth, the road taketh away - but mostly giveth). I harvested probably 40 pears. They are more colourful than the last ones and VERY sweet. Figured out how to Cut them and serve them without burning the spines off first. Erin got 2 splinters on her tongue. Oh dear. It is an interesting proposition pulling needles from someone's tongue. Good thing we have tweezers!

I managed to cobble together another meal with some expensive corner store groceries, the pears, the black bean flakes, and the last of our pasta. Erin is still hungry. She seems to be eating a lot lately. As soon as we get to a real grocery store, I will feed her right back up! Racoons, herons, moles, gophers, condors, hawks all were largely featured. Also, we went right by the ELEPHANT SEAL beaches and heard them belching at eachother in challenges. We've been setting up the tent without the fly on to keep the condensation down and simplify things. Ideally under a tree to minimize condensation. Set it up under some kind of maple tree (except the leaves feel thick and fuzzy) and pill bigs were crawling all over it and our stuff all night. Gross.

Left out the husks of our prickly pears for the racoons. Hope those bastards regretted raiding humanity at least for one night.

Big Sur Valley

animalrv — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:33:00 GMT

Friday October 18, 2013 - Monday October 21, 2013.

Big Sur is not as bad as it sounds. It is named after the river, not the mountains. That being said, our ride through the park was a lot of going up above the foggy clouds, back down through the clouds, and then below the clouds as well. THe fog seemed to roll in aroud 9 am, and stick around 3 or 5 hours. The area has jade! On the beaches. Beautiful green rocks that we collected from the beach and road ways. Just what we need on our bikes in the hills: rocks.

There are a few very small grocery stores in the big Sur strip. And they all charge 2-3 times the normal retail rate for food. Bastards. There are tons of redwoods here, as in most moist places along the california coast. The beaches are beautiful. We stayed first at the Pheiffer state park, then at the Kirk Creek national park. We had a rest day here after a couple of the big hills were done. No fresh water! We had to fill our dromedary from a creek and then run it through our hand-run ceramic filter into the other 10 liter dromedary. Lots of work, but there's nothing that replaces fresh, clean drinking water.

We met a couple friends we made on our trip earlier (Jim and Morene what had recommended Erin change her front crank - her knees are a lot better now) and shared a meal with them (we ran out of propane, and they let us use their stove so we fed them) and our water with them at Kirk Creek. They ran out of food at Kirk Creek and only ate a box of rice-a-roni for dinner. We showed them the 2 front panniers me and Erin carry full of food. Of course, since they had run out this seemed like a fabulous idea. But we generally run a LOT heavier than others that are touring due to our preparedness.

We were actually a bit tight on food too but found a big bag of black bean flakes left by previous cycle tourists in the coon-proof box. Even had a note saying they didn't enjoy the taste. I'm thinking they didn't have the recipe right (often people use too much water) or didn't have our spices. Because those flakes were fabulous on pasta. YUM! But ya, we basically ate all our food. Uh oh. Bryan and Maggie made friends where they took their rest day at Pheiffer and were fed two dinners there. They're still doing great for food. It was nice to be light for the hills though. Yow.

Monterey

animalrv — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:22:00 GMT

Thursday, October 17:

A big ride today. We discovered "moss landing" which is in amongst the farmers fields we were riding through. Wow! What prices on produce. Incredible. 3 red peppers for a dollar. 10 mini artichokes for a dollar. It was crazy. I'd love to live driving distance to the place. We got on the freeway again and this time got a yelling at/talking to by a state trooper. Oops. Back on the up and down bike paths. Actually, they're really good around Monterey.

What a town! The town is based aroud a bay and the bay is INFESTED with seals. They sink ships by jumping up on them in such quantities. The place is filled with the din of seal barks. We saw the Monarch butterfly tree in town. More like a small orchard of cleverly arranged comfortable trees for the butterflies so that they tend to congregate and rest there. Still, quite nice.

Then up a brutal hill in town and to another couch host. Yay! James and Rachel were awesome. Rachel is a beautiful blonde on her way to being a doctor assistant (or something, a new-ish position that is basically like a doctor but with less diagnosis and treatment dutiesknowledge). James is in love with doing everything he can as fast as he can do it. And getting his MBA in environmental business. Cool! sounds like something I would do. He couldn't shoot down my wave-power generator idea with his most immediate criticisms but then I didn't provide many details. I'll have to draw up a non disclosure agreement so we can talk more. ;)

Next stop, Big Sur!

Santa Cruz-Soquel

animalrv — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:01:00 GMT

October 16th,

We got a couch to stay at! Super lucky. Was a long, very hot ride in partially urban settings. Going thru Santa Cruz on the number 1, the highway became a freeway at some point which apparently means no cyclists. Freeway is an ironic name for the road though since we were passing all the cars on the parking lot road. I think that's the real reason we're not allowed on the freeway - too much road rage from all the idiots that haven't figured out that a bus or bike would get you there sooner.

I harvested a large number of PRICKLY PEARS in my ongoing quest to live closer to the land (try to prepare to survive the baja). They are well named. Those bloody tiny prickly slivers easily penetrate any exposed flesh. I burnt them off with the stove but it was not 100%. Got about 15 of the prickly beasts. Mostly green, they were still quite sweet. Yum! Also tried prickly pear pads. These are super gooey when cooked and must be an acquired taste because I couldn't figure out how to make them not taste like mucous from the back of my sinuses. Ya - yuck.

Stayed with Ciara and Jamie. Two awesome people who hung out with us, played catan, talked, etc. They even had dinner ready for us when we arrived. Thanks!

Oceano

animalrv — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 10:34:00 GMT

October 22nd, 2013

Some parks have all the amenities. Hot, not warm, showers. Electricity. Fresh clean water. Grass. Tress.

San Simeon had warm needle showers that tried to pierce your skin. Fortunately, after a long ass ride over crazy rolling hills we got to look forward to a couch to sleep on! We first went into Cambria looking for the world famous cambria bicycle shop. It has moved to San Luis Obisbo unfortunately. Cambria was filled with freaky scarecrows on every subject the artists involved could think of from bicyclist scarecrows in front of the skeleton of the cambria bike shop all the way to a wizard of oz themed foursome in front of the school.

We left Cambria with plans to have fish and chips for lunch after a 21 mile ride. The hills were very generous though! Rolling, calm, good wind. We were in Morrow Bay for lunch by 11 am. Bryan and Maggie had left later than us (they stopped for coffee) and actually failed to catch up with Erin. She is getting faster/stronger indeed! The fish and chips were good, and I processed some prickly pears to go with them. Yum? Lol.

We went to the Albertson's grocery store and met bryan and maggie who had just had an excited time at the dollar store. Half their shopping items for the lowest prices we've seen! Of course the constant and cruel temptation for junk food and sweets plagues you harshly in there and we too fell prey to it.

After our shopping we headed on to Oceano and after 30 miles met a delightful host named Bonnie who did the same trip as us 25 years ago with the first edition of our book! Maggie cooked her dinner and me and Erin pigged out on our New cheap food (pack of 500g of gnocci for $1? Yes please).

Erin was starting to energy crash from the sugar she ate after the dollar store though... ominous!

San Francisco! and Half Moon Bay

animalrv — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 17:22:00 GMT

San Francisco is hilly. Not too bad in the city, but definitely around the city. It is also a very very popular tourist destination. There were a ton of people there taking photos and riding bicycles on the sea wall. The ride up to the golden gate bridge was reminiscent of the photos of old Spanish cities from movies and pictures.

The city itself is very similar to Vancouver in its bike friendliness, cultural feeling, art focus, tourism focus, and proximity to the ocean. We rode through, ate some fish and chips and sandwiches on the dock, observed the ridiculousness of pigeons, and split up. Bryan and Maggie wanted groceries, Erin wanted art supplies. The Dick Blick was a bit of a disappointment in that they did not stock as much as, and certainly not more than, they do online. However, Erin picked up burnt sienna as well as a couple other colours of water colour paints before we proceeded to the rapid transit system.

We got off at Daly City and went to the local grocery store for a couple makings of dinner before hopping on a bus into Pacifica. Wisdom would've put us on another bus to Half Moon bay before sunset, but we rode the last 25 miles ariving around 8pm in the dark. Ate and set up camp and went to bed. We tried going fly-less under a tree and had great success with both staying dry and keeping down the condensation.

Corte Madera

animalrv — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 17:07:00 GMT

Monday, October 14:

We headed south through the valley and Fairfax on a slow incline hill after our night in the redwood forest. Once we crested the hill, the ride down was FAST and very steep but the trip quickly became an urban one. We were diverted into bike lanes and side streets in a complex series of turns and steps as the highway became a freeway and riding it illegal.

By 11 we were ready to head into Marin City and then across the golden gate bridge. However we stopped to communicate with Bruce and Sarah (two people we met at Richardson Grove) about staying at their place just south of San Francisco and ended up going to the bank and then discovering that there is was an REI and lunch there ready to be partaken in.

The other big question, when our attempts to contact Bruce and Sarah proved fruitless, was where to stay for the night. With the national park closed, San Francisco becomes a large urban wall as the hostels are expensive and the parks are pulled out past the suburbs. We really leaned on REI's staff for some answers but the best idea we got was to stealth camp the hills north of San Fran for the night and then continue in the morning before dawn. Then one of the staff, Joe, offered his place for the night. We rode back north and stayed in Corte Madera at his very beautiful house in the redwoods. He let us sleep in the bottom floor, gave us a box of clif bars, and bought ingredients for breakfast in the morning. Lucky!

Tomorrow, into and hopefully through San Francisco.

Samuel P Taylor State Park

animalrv — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 21:48:00 GMT

Sunday October 13th,

With Rigel's chain being a bit weak we rode to the closest bike shop which happened to be in Point Reyes about 30 miles away. I rode a good portion of the way by myself as I missed the picnic tables on the side of the road that everyone stopped to make food at. I arrived in Point Reyes quite tired as I was trying to catch up with everyone and so didn't eat lunch until town. I circled the town twice looking for everyone and the bike shop but couldn't find anyone. I thought they had left me behind, but I was hungry so I parked my bike in front of a mexican restaurant. Then Rigel rides up and everything was explained.

Once we got to the bike shop we found out Rigel's chain was long past due for a changing. Bryan and I also changed our chains as they turned out to also be stretched. After puttering around the cute town we headed up the hilly road to the campground where we spent the night cooking and sleeping under giant redwoods. Next stop San Francisco!

Gualala err..Bruce and Lynns'

animalrv — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 21:02:00 GMT

Friday October 11th,

Since the books day was extremely hilly and accounted for about 60 miles we decided to cut it a litte shorter and end up at one of the many campgrounds dotting the final 20 miles of the day. We road by the road we could have taken to Point Arena Lighthouse but decided against it because it went back north and we could only assume it would have added way more hills to our day. We did manage to see it from the distance though. We arrived in Gualala and spent some time picking up some groceries and while we were loading our bikes up again this lady came over and asked where we were staying for the night. We honestly didn't know which campground we were going to end up in so we said 'don't know yet' She then asked 'Do you want to come stay at my place?' We were quite surprised, but immediately accepted. We got directions and turned out we only had to bike another 7 miles or so south. We cooked up a nice pasta for supper (we eat pasta almost every night), talked about my art, and lazed about in their hot tub before hitting the hay in their loft bedroom. Bruce and Lynn's hospitality was greatly appreciated by all of us.

Manchester KOA

animalrv — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 20:30:00 GMT

Thursday, October 10th,

We set out from Van Damme around 9 ready for a hilly ride, and a hilly ride we got. It was absolutely stunning the whole way. I described it as a deluxe prairie as on the left there were grassy hills dotted with trees and shrubs while on the right there was hardly anything but sheer cliffs and gorgeous sandy beaches. I couldn't figure out if there was any way down to them, seems a waste to have a beach you can access...I kept fantasizing about living in one of the cliff top houses and waking up to the blue ocean, but then I think about cleaning the ocean spray off my windows...

The road barely gave us a shoulder to ride on and we often encountered signs saying 'narrow winding road next 21 miles, watch for bicycles' Some of the worst parts were when the road goes inland on a downhill then does a hairpin turn and steeply climbs the cliff back to the ocean. Just awful. Luckily for the most part the drivers give you enough space. Going by our guide book we went through the steepest section on the whole coast; a set of three switchbacks that carried us up a canyon. Rigel and I decided it was better to walk it. The day ended at the KOA with all the amenities. Hot free showers, nice camping area, outdoor electric burner cooking area, and the best part; hot tub! The KOA was a lot better than the state park down the road which had outhouses and no water. :( Overall a great day!

Bodega Dunes State Park

animalrv — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 15:01:00 GMT

Saturday October 12th,

Since Bruce and Lynn were leaving their house by 7 it was an early morning for us. Luckily we didn't have a tent to take down or sleeping mats to roll, all while our hands and feet are freezing from the brisk clear morning. but once on the road the cold hands happend anyway. It was really nice to have an early start as we made quite the progress by late morning. Talking about my art the night before gave me some good ideas for what I want to start working on but it made for many stops for pictures.

We were just starting to climb the one big hill of the day when Rigel broke his chain. We had the right tool to fix it so we figured it out and were back on our way. Then a little while later snap! there goes Rigels chain again. We fixed it again and it turned out it was the same link. We moved on but a little more warily this time. We made it to Jenner and noticed the chain was about to break again. Rigel put it right again and started climbing a hill, and then guess what? It broke again. Rigel got a little angry and decided to walk the rest of the way to the campground (about 10 miles). Luckily for him it was mostly downhill so he could coast.

Once we got to the campsite Rigel tired to fix his chain with Bryan's spare links but the chain was still stiff in the place it was rejoined. One of the other bikers at the site gave Rigel a spare quicklink to use and some useful information on how to fix broken chains. Turns out you don't put the old pin back into the link and should only use quicklinks. A quick link is a link that just slides right into place without the use of tools. Very handy. Didn't see much of the campsite or dunes since we were a bit busy with the chain.

Van Damme State Park

animalrv — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 09:29:00 GMT

October 8th,

We had planned a rest day today but with the wind being so windy, we decided to move on. Bryan and Maggie left early, whereas Rigel was quite sore from the day before and I wanted to paint the amazing view that I woke up to. It was a gorgeous cliff and beach that I had the pleasure to poke my head out of the tent too. And I proceeded to paint it from the comfort of my sleeping bag. So we took our time, made breakfast and left around noon.

In the afternon we headed south, hitting the major town (pop 7000) of Fort Bragg. Along the way, the road made some CRAZY dips and dives. Highway 1 in California really tries to hug the coast, and wherever creeks empty into the ocean a valley occurs. Rather than making a large bridge across the gorge, the road hugs the gorge inland dropping sharply in elevation until a short bridge (in the form of a culvert) can be achieved. This makes for wild drops and extreme corners that steal all your momentum and then steep uphills with an onshore headwind. Brutal. Exhilerating.

Did some shopping in Fort Bragg for groceries and then headed to our campground of Russian Gulch. Campground was closed, and we found a note from Bryan and Maggie saying they continued on the extra 4 miles south of Mendocino to Van Damme State Park to camp. We got there around 6pm, made dinner and set up camp and went to bed.

Westport Union Landing State Beach

animalrv — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 09:08:00 GMT

October 7th,

Leaving Richardson Grove it was time to start the ride of the highest hills yet peaking at 2000 feet. We sarted at around 1000 feet and went up and down for some time before reaching Leggett. Here we took the turnoff to Highway 1 and started up the giant hill. It was a 4 mile hill at 7% grade. Rigel and I started out before Bryan and Maggie but they caught up sometime in the middle. I guess even my lowest gears are no match for the speedy Bryan. It was a windy uneventful top of the hill as it did not have any viewpoint but all the same we made lunch (turkey sandwiches and energy bar)and then headed down the hill. It was a different sort of hill than the ones we had been on. Starting off it was quite steep and curving, then it turned to crazy switchbacks where you had to slow right down in order to take the turn, then flattened right out and went uphill forcing you into a low gear, then a crazy downhill again. It was like a roller coaster but without the bit of safety from being in a regularly maintained machine. To follow that big hill was a nice big hill to end the day. It was about 700 feet. Rigel was just pooped by the end of it. It was like the hill that never ends. Steep switchback after steep switchback. But we got through it and at the bottom was greeted with a beatiful view of the ocean. With the raging wind at our backs we made our way to Westport Union Landing State Beach. It was a lovely $3 per person, with the best campground view of the ocean you could want and friendly neighbours.

Richardson Grove State Park

animalrv — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 08:44:00 GMT

October 6th,

The morning we wild camped we packed up quickly and made it out to the road without any issues. We continued along the Ave of the Giants until Phillipsville then crossed over back to the 101. We didn't stay on it long as a man told us to take the Redway up to Garberville as we would avoid a really steep hill that in his words "would kill us". We were thankful because although there was still a really big hill, it was quieter and we got to be back in the redwoods.

Throughout the day we passed over many high bridges with spectacular views of the forested mountain sides and meandering creeks. I wish I stopped to take a picture of every one, they were so gorgeous. The hills were large but not very steep so I could (finally) put my bike in a low gear and just glide up the hills. It is finally a pleasure to ride my bike. Who knew I was just always in too high of a gear. I wish I knew more about bikes so that the last month was not so hard on my knees and mental strength. Very happy I spent the $364 on my bike.

The day ended at Richardson Grove State Park and to our surprise, was somewhat closed. It is a large campground and only one part was still open which was a short hilly ride away from the closed hiker/biker area. We didn't see any rangers anywhere and there was still water available so we stayed the night. On the trip to the bathroom (in the open section) we meet a couple that were out camping for their wedding anniversary; Bruce and Sarah. It turned out that Bruce once worked at a bike shop and helped me to become even more comfortable on my aero bars and saddle. Sarah gave me some coconut water that is high in potassium to help with the muscle burn as well. Thanks Bruce and Sarah!! Once we finished talking to them we rode back to our site where Bryan and Maggie had an egg curry dinner waiting for us. Yum! (it was their turn to cook)

Avenue of the Giants

animalrv — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 08:20:00 GMT

October 5th,

Getting an early start at the KOA we headed to Eureka to stock up on our staple foods and explore the well kept Victorian homes. We found a great (although expensive) natural foods co-op so we were able to stock up on our bulk foods such as minced garlic and onion. The days ride was a real treat with my new low gears. It made carrying my old cassette not so bad. I was able to shed even more layers since the temperature got up to about 86 degrees..(don't know what that is in celcius but it was HOT) There weren't too many hills but I couldn't believe how much water I drank. Just kept refilling my bottles. The 101 had turned into a freeway so there were not very many trees to provide shade until we got to the turnoff to the Avenue of the Giants. Having not really read much of the book for that day I didn't know what I was in for. Turned out it was not giant hills but the giant redwoods again. Phew!

We met up with Bryan and Maggie right before the turnoff and decided the day was quite draining with the heat and to start looking for a nice spot to camp as we knew we didn't want to ride to Burlington campground. We found a nice clear spot on an old overgrown service road and made camp. This was our first 'real' wild camp. Rigel was quite worried we would get caught so he kept his voice down and used his headlight at a minimum. Some other bikers had told us that with the federal government being shut down rangers were going about kicking people off the park that had decided to drive in and squat. I was not worried as we were far enough off the road no one would see anything.

Eureka KOA

animalrv — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 07:49:00 GMT

October 4th,

With the knowlegde of bike shops in both Arcata and Eureka, we got an early start riding out of Elk Prairie (even having a yummy breakfast at a small cafe in Orick). We decided to not circle back north out of the campground and headed south on the biking trails fully loaded and ended up not reaching the 101 for almost three miles. The trail was wonderful as it went through the redwoods and we found out our tires are pretty puncture proff as we rode over sharp rocks, sticks and branches. Just about to the 101 we came across a large herd of elk in a field; biggest we saw for the time we were there.

It was a bit of a hilly ride coming out of the park but with all the adjustments we had made I was able to use my aero bars a fair amount. We passed a couple of lagoons where on one side was the ocean and on the other was freshwater only separated by a thin bit of land. This was the first day in a while that I was able to shed some of my five layers of clothes I had been wearing. The weather was absolutely georgeous! Hardly a cloud in the sky! We stopped in Trinidad at The Lighthouse (small restaurant/cafe) and had their famous mashed potato waffle cone and homemade ice cream. Delicious.

Finally making it to Arcata by early afternoon we found the bike shop (Lifecycles) and set to figuring out how I could make it easier to go up hills. The cheaper option of changing the rear cassette was exhausted as the guy said I already had the lowest gears I could for my bike. Bit of a bummer but then he decided I could change my front crank and cassette to a smaller, mountain biking one and get a more significant change to the gearing. This sounded great to me so I shoveled out the $364 in order to make it happen. They guys there said I could also drop some of the weight I was carrying and that would help too. Compared to all the other cycle tourers we have met, we are travelling in quite the luxury with all our bags of food and tarps.

That night we stayed at the KOA kampground by Eureka where we enjoyed the wifi, showers and hot tub at $34 a night (of course split between 4 isn't so bad)

Elk Prairie

animalrv — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 07:35:00 GMT

October 2nd to October 4th 2013

Obama was lambasted by congress on october 1st and couldn't pass his new budget. We were hoping it would be temporary because Oregon's Redwood state and national state parks was federally run and therefore closed. Now that we were entering another park, we hoped that the campground was going to be open. Actually, our thoughts were not so sophisticated as that. Erin battled the hill. It was agony. Slow, long. Halfway thru, the elderly couple (retired grandparents) passed us going up the hill. Embarassing. Erin was full of bile and hatred as the agony makes cycling not beautiful, or fulfilling but rather a torturous wheel ploughing her leg bones into each other.

The ride back down the hill after all the hills was incredible. It was a lengthy, serpentine route that required minimal effort. The redwoods cast such a shadow though that we turned on our lights to be more visible to the many tourists in the park. The trees are so big as to dward Erin on her bike and cars alike (See photos if they're attached).

I had fun photographing Erin and the trees and the cars while riding down the hill. Elk Prairie is beautiful enough to warrant a rest day, and so we took one to enjoy the sights. Erin painted, I cycled down to the coast and hiked the fern canyon, Maggie hiked down to the coast and also up the fern canyon (meeting me there at the precise moment I arrived, as unlikely as that is). Bryan lazed around camp refusing to cycle or hike on his down day.

Chatrelle mushrooms were plentiful in the forest since the rain occurred so shortly ago. Yum! I am developing a love for foraging for food during our voyages. I can spot an apple tree now by the silhouette alone without even the colours of ripeness.

Crescent City, California

animalrv — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 07:21:00 GMT

October 1st,

We were set to finally hit the redwood forest. Mill creek campground awaits us! We started late having done laundry in the morning, but only 30 miles or so to go. We made it to Crescent City by 3:30 or so and were looking for internet to update the blog. Unfortunately, we learned that the camp ground closed! It was, in fact, double closed. Once for being out of season (oops) and once because the federal government is run by children in the USA.

Puttering around until 5:30, it got too late to chase the errant couple up the hill only to have to problem solve a place to sleep so we were excited to learn about a state campground in town (fuck you coos bay) in Shoreline RV park. Erin immediately hit it off with the grumpy, drunk, site host. He gave us a bottle of smoked salmon, which is better than the glares we learned he gave an older cycling couple we were neighbours too in the park. Jim and his wife had set up already, knew we were riding with Bryan and Maggie and saw them earlier riding through town (around 3pm) to go up the hill (a giant hill, bigger than we'd done thus far in one go. 1100 feet). They also gave Erin a shoulder massage, encouragement, and advice about changing the front crank on her bike from the road bike set up to a mountain biking setup. Now Erin had hope for handling hills in the future without the agony and frustration.

The campground was nice, if simply, $22 for the two of us with all the amenities though we only used the toilet and fresh water. Oh, and wifi! More updates followed here.

In the morning, since we guessed we couldn't stay at Mill Creek (checking Bryan and Maggie's spot we knew they had anyhow), we would have to do both the whole big hill and a subsequent medium sized hill and hope the next campground was open.

Harris Beach State Park

animalrv — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 07:09:00 GMT

Monday September 30th

The weather turned in our favour! After a couple days without us, Maggie and Bryan apparently decided to ride with us (more so, Bryan decided to ride with Erin instead of Maggie, and Maggie continued not waiting for anybody but I'm fast enough to keep up with her). This would be the only day so far that Erin has had the chance to ride with anyone other than me since the first day or two of the trip.

Harris beach is a considerable distance south (60 miles) and marks the first of a few book days (same distance as the authors of riding the pacific coast) that we did with Bryan and Maggie continuously. We've done book days before, but always just the two of us (once it was two book days in one! ). Erin's knee trouble continued despite the now warmth, so we moved her seat forward a bit in the hopes that it would change the angle of torque (though it lessens power) thru her knees. It helped but further considerations to take advantage of the aero bars (tons of power by laying down almost across the handlebars with forwards facing grips) meant angling the seat forward and kind of messed up the knee improvement. Still, the concern for Erin's speed and comfort in terms of gear and position is now forefront and being remedied methodically.

The ride was nice, if a bit hilly, and the campground beautiful. The REDWOODS ARE COMING! Soon. For now, we ate dinner at a little mexican style restaurant (Rigel loves Chile relenno, but dislikes a tamale). And the camp ground has a laundromat! What a treat to get things clean again. Because being dirty in dirty clothes gets itchy and sticky and stinky.

On the way out of the campground, we found apples in a tree and harvested them. Bryan and Maggie resumed riding without us.

Humbug mountain state park

animalrv — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 06:51:00 GMT

September 27th to September 29th.

We had a plan to stay at Sunset state park and then go to humbug the next night. We didn't make it to where they stayed though (and missed out on dinner i hear) but the next night we had planned to meet at humbug mountain. So we set out south and went first to Bandon (not Brandon! ) and met a fellow there that had stayed where bryan and maggie did at sunset state park and confirmed their direction (thanks jeff! ). The road included a momentous hill, but generally pretty rolling and well insulated from the now head wind by trees. Thank you trees! The headwind is a tell tale sign, however, which we are now well acquainted with. More of that soon.

South of Bandon we started coming across Ocean Spray factories and the cranberry road began (the cranberries spill out of the over-filled trucks so that, if one were so inclined, one could eat a pound of cranberries ever half mile by picking up all the spillage). The hills were okay, the shoulder was okay for the most part too, but the headwind was quite cool and erin was getting a severe ache in her shoulders, knees, and hands. We stopped and picked up riding tights in Bandon (they cut the wind like a miracle and keep the muscles warm as well as fast drying) and then found Alpaca wool neck warmers along the way too. The pain continued, but probably was greatly lessened.

The rain was trying to start, though lightly. We were getting hit with rain right back to Astoria, but now people were giving us warnings about severe winds coming. Apparently a typhoon in Japan means a pretty good storm (50 mile per hour winds) in Oregon. We were aiming for Humbug, however, and the night was coming. We ended up riding after dark, down dark winding hilly mountain passes (where the road is partially dropped away into the ocean along the cliff edge) with only our bike lights arriving in a gully/valley of humbug mountain around 7pm. The rain was still threatening to fly though, so we set up a 12 ft by 16 ft tarp we bought and made dinner and hung our food.

Then the storm hit.

The tarp did stay up despite the winds, but the angles on it changed and the water was draining onto sloped ground and going under the tent. what a hassle. Frequent maintenance visits, one complete campsite move, 3 days, max wind speeds of 90 mph in gusts, and a tree that fell on the mountain side 40 meters away or so up the slow. We have been carrying 2 full (small - 20 litre) panniers of food with us and dipped into them pretty heavily over the weekend. By monday, though the weather was iffy, the wind was dying down and cabin fever (under tarp, neck craned, cooking still getting soaked by horizontal rain fever? ) was set in pretty good so we continued on.

Coos Bay

animalrv — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 06:34:00 GMT

September 26th

We stayed at Honeyman State park next to the dunes and woke up in our forest gloom. The trees keep out the sun, and so, even though it was clear, the dew and condensation from breathing thru the night really builds up on the tent. We noticed black spots on the body and fly of the tent from all of the wet we've been thru. The instructions on the tent say to set up within 8 hours if the tent is packed wet and the temperature is over 80 (or something like that - warm) and within 24 hours if below that. Though we've set up in a 6-10 hour timeline daily, there's little chance for the tent to actually dry as we're rarely in direct sunlight for long.

A typical riding day, given the time of year now, goes something like:

6:30, dawn twilight. Awaken.

7am, clothes changed and sleeping bags packed

7:30 am, taking down tent and folding tarps

8am, loading bikes and eating

8:30 - 9am. on the road.

11am, first snack

12:30, lunch

3, more snacks

4pm, arrive at a campground, meet bryan and maggie if we're travelling with them, begin to set up, and start dinner. Typically I will make dinner while erin puts the tent back up.

6pm, Have dinner during twilight or around sunset, and usually feel extremely exhausted as soon as the day's light is gone (biology! ) and then go to sleep shortly after.

Anyhow, we were supposed to ride to the coast west of coos bay (Sunset bay state park) but the day was getting late (4pm) and Erin was feeling particularly run down and so we started scouting around the area for a campground. We didn't find one in the coos bay area despite going to the tourism info centre and asking and calling all the local rv parks so we cycled south of town and asked someone with roadside property to use their extraneous lawn for tenting which they graciously permitted. Our first wild camp! Sort of. Given we had consent, definitely not a stealth camp (set up after dusk, leave before dawn). Also, given the grass was mowed, hardly a wild camp. Nevertheless, a triumph because we were in bed shortly after sun set, safe, and fed.

Washburne to Jessie M Honeyman State Park

animalrv — Fri, 4 Oct 2013 20:50:00 GMT

Wednesday October 25,

Finally a break in the rain!! The ride started out uphill, of course, then went through a tunnel and then more uphill on the edge of a steep cliff but topped off at a sea lion cave, where I was able to sample fudge and popcorn. They couldn't garantee sea lions to be in the caves at this time of year so we opted out of a $10 ride in an elevator and looked around the gift shop instead. I didn't make any tea for the morning so I bought some espresso. The lady making it forgot what she was making and ended up giving me about 6 shots of espresso instead of the normal 2 so I was quite hyper for the rest of the day. Still only had to pay for 2 shots though! yay!

The ride down the mountain into the sand dunes was absolutely spectacular. Ocean on one side and forest/dunes on the other. It was nice and clear that day so we could see quite far along the coast as well. During the ride Rigel found some chantrelle mushrooms, got a local to identify them properly, and preceded to sit in the Fred Meyer parking lot cooking them up with some fresh veggies for a pre supper, supper.

Once we set up camp, Rigel and I went for a walk amoung the sand dunes. It was amazing. Alot like Spirit Sands but much sandier and bigger. We spent a couple hours walking on the berm and climbing the giant hills and endind the day watching the sun set on top of the tallest one.

Newport to Carl G. Washburne State Park

animalrv — Tue, 1 Oct 2013 22:04:00 GMT

September 24th,

It was sad to leave the wonderful walls and heat of the motel but with a bundle of muffins and bagels from the free breakfast we started pedalling again. And then it started raining, again. It seemed like we couldn't escape it. We stopped and sat under trees and buildings' awnings as much as we could but it soaked us through. Err.. it soaked Rigel through as I actually brought rain gear. He just has this really thin sort of material that is water resistant. I am usually the driest one out of all of us. Even the people we were biking with part time had very little rain gear. But they also were not carring two panniers of food and two tarps and all the other luxuries we have....I think this is where we decided its time to cut down on the amount of food we carry. There are enough grocery stores along the way I think we can start planning meals the night before.

After a wet but wonderful ride (view wise, not terrain) we cut the day slightly short and stayed at Washburne State Park. It was a gorgeous park with the huge trees and mossy ground but it never stops raining when you are camped in the trees. So another night went without the ability to dry anything.

After a nice long sleep (as we pretty much go to bed when the sun does) I woke up at 7 to see that racoons had been snooping in the only pannier on my bike and had found my stash of powdered milk and unopened candy. Man what a mess they made but at least they didn't chew through my bag. Alas, nothing like a clean wet pannier to start the day with. I now store anything and everything edible in the food bags that get hung every night. Except my tea since they apparently can't get into davids tea canisters.

And..We found wi-fi!!

animalrv — Tue, 1 Oct 2013 17:04:00 GMT

Just a quick hello to say we are okay.

We will be posting blogs for: Pacific City, Newport, Washburne state park, Honeyman State Park, Coos Bay, Humbug mountain state park and Harris Beach State park shortly. Unfortunately, the federal government closed down the campground we were planning in staying in tonight by not passing a budget so we've gotta go out and figure where we're sleeping tonight. But, in short, there was a typhoon or the remnants and we've spent the last week soaking wet but we're now in california and things seem to be going a lot better. We'll be in touch soon!!!

Pacific City to Newport

animalrv — Tue, 1 Oct 2013 14:14:00 GMT

September 23,

The ride to Newport started out nice and cloudy but soon turned into a rainy mess. Going through Cape Foulweather made that quite clear when we decided to ignore the route guide and stay on the 101 going up a huge hill (second big hill of the day) in the pouring rain. The only fun part about the ride was going through a small town right on the edge of the ocean and as you get close to the cliff edge a giant wave comes up and splashes you. Quite cool since I was already soaked from the rain.

As we came into Newport we caught up with Bryan, Maggie and the new friends we made at Pacific City, at the local bike shop. While getting our bikes tuned up by the awesome staff we decided to skip the campground 5 miles up the road and stay in a motel for the night. After some sweet talk we got the guy down to $55 for the four of us in a large enough room for three beds and our bikes. We hung up the tents to dry (finally), did laundry, ate food and went to sweet sweet sleep in real sheets on a real bed. Lovely.

Tillamook and Pacific City

animalrv — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 11:11:00 GMT

Nehalem to Tillamook was a rainy adventure. Tillamook is a centre of bovine based agribusiness. That is to say, we bought jerky and went on cheese and wine tours at the Tillamook cheese factory and the Blue Heron winery. Yum!! We weren't very excited about cycling very far given the rain. About 30 miles and then we visited the tourist centre for directions to an old airport museum (largest wooden structure standing in the world: housed the blimps that patrolled the north west) and a small active airport and most importantly, RV and camping park. The park warden was out so we pitched a couple tents, made use of the amenities and then made our way again early in the morning.

On Saturday we made it to Pacific city and were pleasantly surprised to have a reprieve from the rain. All indications were for more rain, hail, and other catastrophes. Someone must've expected the clear weather because a scheduled surf competition in Pacific City was condensed down to one day of action. We chose to splurge ($8 per person) and stay at the Kiwanda RV resort for the night. The busting weather though has turned our one night into two. On the plus side, hot tubs, pool, free showers, and a primo forest for setting up camp has been quite enjoyable. The other cycle tourists that have happened into the space we're in are taking lessons on how to set up tarps and have a dry space to cook and chill. Well, I think we can share a dry picnic table for one day anyhow.

Nehalem State Park

animalrv — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 18:15:00 GMT

Yesterday we took to some giant hills on our way to meet up with Bryan, Maggie and Kirsten for Kirsten's last couple nights with us. We were supossed to camp at Oswald West State Park but they have shut down the campground in the last couple years so we decided to keep on south to Nehalem. The campground is huge here with around 300 sites complemented by a long ultra fine sandy beach. Its quite strange to stand on the edge of the land looking out to only see the horizon.

We went through the tunnel wonderfully located on the side of a really really long hill and luckily when we were in it there were no big trucks to squeeze in beside. I rode close to the side but Bryan told me once we met up with him, that he rode in the center of the lane and made all the vehicles drive behind or pass him. Maybe I'll become more dominent on the road in tight spots too.

We are spending another night here then riding to Tillamook tomorrow which is home to a cheese factory! I'm pretty excited about this part of the trip. We've been enjoying Tillamook cheese all throughout the trip. And while in Seaside I found some free wine tasting coupons in a brochure which we will be sure to make use of.. :)

Photos: Oregon

animalrv — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 17:34:00 GMT

Oregon!

animalrv — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 18:29:00 GMT

"If you want to be seen, you go to Cannon Beach. If you don't want to be seen, you go to Gearhart. If you want to be obscene, you go to Seaside."
This is what our couch surfing host told me last night. Seaside is the tourism town in the strip that is 20 miles long in Northern Oregon just south of Astoria. Gearhart is a wealthy "second home and summer cabin" community with very few consumer services and barely a restaurant and Cannon Beach is an art and culture center with a disproportionate number of art galleries.

Seaside is normally known for its surfing but right now the normally huge southern swells are fighting a wind going northerly rather than the usual southerly winds (also means cycling is about 35% slower going south with the current weather pattern. Fortunately, ever since a jetty was built here, the beach has gone from a rocky shore to a incredibly nice fine grit clean sand. The beach here is superb. The chocolate/candy shop in Seaside is also superb.

We are staying with a pair of teachers in Gearhart. They impressed us with their very fine dinner prepared last minute (reminds me of last Easter/Christmas at Grandma Wells'). We received lots of encouragement in our travels as well. They have a small field of flowers as a side business with a flower stand on the highway for self-serve sales. Apparently a fairly lucrative project. The area is also rural enough that they are able to keep a few chickens in a chicken coup with their greenhouse. What a beautiful way to live! Sleeping in a real bed is also proving to be quite the treat.

erin here:

Backing up a bit...the ride down from Cape Disappointment to the 101 made me feel like I was on a rollercoaster! The road was so hilly you go from 35km/hr down to 8km/hr on the uphill in seconds, and the bends in the road on the downhill are so sharp the road is angled. Boy did that give me butterflies! And the best part about it was the quality of the road, unforunately narrow shoulders but not a crack in it the whole way.

On the way to the state border we went through our first tunnel, pushing the 'bicycle in the tunnel' button on the way in. Supposed to be going through another further south which sounds much longer and harder to ride..uphill and curving to the left. Yikes.

In light of Pete's nagging about riding more visibly we stopped at a bike shop today and picked up some more lights for our helmets and wheels. The ones for the wheels are motion activated so they create quite the glow when the wheel is spinning fast. Can't wait to try 'em!

Attached is a hoakey picture of us in Seaside Safeway. We're still hoping for an update to the app that uploads photos to the blog site. Until then, watch for good photos in your email, or comment if you're not on the email list and would like to be. Cheers!

Twin Harbors to Cape Disappointment

animalrv — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 18:42:00 GMT

Hello Cape Disappointment! This is our final state park in Washington before heading over the Columbia River and into Oregon. Nothing too disappointing here except the giant hill to get up here. Rigel and I left Twin Harbors Saturday morning around 8 and rode two days worth in our book to the state park; about 130km! It was a pretty flat ride the whole way with a few big hills throughout. We've met up with Maggie, Bryan and Kirsten again and now Kirsten's parents and partner, Kris, have joined us for the night.

We had great weather for our ride but now since were back on the coast its raining and misting again, very different from the thunderstorms of Manitoba. Apparently there is a nice beach here but I think we will mostly stay in our campsite tonight since its so cold and wet out. We did ride into Ilwaco today for some clam chowder and fish and chips, delicious! Later we are going to cook up a tuna steak and drink more local ciders.

Next stop we head into Oregon, either Astoria or perhaps Seaside. Rolling the couch surfing dice again! In Twin Harbors I ended up painting 2 more small watercolours, and Rigel tried out surfing for a couple days. The crazy things is that, even though the sun is hidden by misty cloudy fog all the time, Rigel still got a bad sunburn around his eyes from removing his glasses to Surf.

Twin Harbors

animalrv — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 15:55:00 GMT

We did not end up riding in the dark back to camp at Potlatch as the fellow Bryan, Maggie and Kirsten were staying with gave us a ride in a truck back to our tent. Alex seems to entertain himself now fishing, but is a retired security agent "for the federal government." Not sure which one, the US presumably. Monday we woke up, left a note for the rest of our group, and rode south west. 45 miles to lake sylvia (making it the longest ride we'd done yet) and got there at 4pm, but decided to keep going to Twin Harbors. This is a ride from the book! We did a full 1 day, 75 mile ride as described in the book. We were on the road at 8:30, and were setting up camp at 8:30 in Twin harbors in the dark. That's a long day. Still, we get a couple rest days out of the deal that we are enjoying for sure.

Twin Harbors is a fishing community and yesterday we enjoyed a video about oyster farming done in town before buying a pound of "small oysters." Each one was more than a mouthful, and we probably had 20 in the tub. We cooked them up with a lemon, white wine, dehydrated onions & garlic and butter. Delicious! Erin wasn't hungry enough for it though and now questions how much she likes oysters. Dam! Still, just meant I got a huge meal out of the deal.

We've been eating 4-10 meals a day depending on our level of exercise. I'm finding that erins fatigue level is directly related to how well fed she is. eat more often, less complaints about soreness and how long the ride is. Hoping to surf tomorrow. Soon we'll be into Oregon. The beach here is incredible. Here's a photo of our Twin harbor camp.

Townsend to Potlatch

animalrv — Mon, 9 Sep 2013 13:16:00 GMT

(Rigel Writing) In Townsend we stayed at the camp ground in town at an old Fort. The boat festival in town was a good excuse to rest without covering much distance. There was dancing, big wood boats being shown, and a whole fair. We camped in a tiny site that really couldn't accommodate our group size, the only saving grace was an invitation to "use the paths." Still, the rain stopped and we started to dry out.

After Townsend we went past (South of) Quilcene and camped halfway up Mt Walker. It was an exhausting ride with a big altitude climb at the end. The weather further cleared and we benefitted from more drying. Still, I had hand washed some clothes in Townsend and they could not dry much past hand-wrung all day. The campsite, called "falls view" is a hole with no water, rotting picnic tables, and a gorge for water access. Still, given that the whole region is a temperate rainforest, the trees were still incredible as with all the previous places. Huge tall things swaying by meters at the top like grass in a field.

Today we arrived in Hoodsport and discovered the active marine industries here from a hydro electric dam to a hatchery to different farmed foods in the ocean. A local fisherman shared his salmon while Bryan, Maggie, and Kirsten who had ridden ahead and set up on his lawn stayed in town, we went further ahead to the Potlatch campsite and stayed there about 5 miles further down the road.

Now for a ride in the dark down a nearly shoulderless highway. Turn on the lights and head for the tent!

Last night was Rhododendron park, now port Townsend

animalrv — Fri, 6 Sep 2013 05:21:00 GMT

Rigel Here:

"It rained, and it rained, and it rained. Never in all his life, and he was 4 was it? or 5? Never, had piglet seen so much rain."

Two nights ago there was a lightning storm and it lasted an hour and was spent. The sky cleared up and was beautiful. That was Friday Harbor.

Last night, the lightning lasted over 5 hours. It was raining before we went to bed. It was raining when we got up. It was raining when we got on the ferry. Then we sailed somewhere drier. Huzzah! Now we are in Port Townsend and dreading another drenching as we are all quite thoroughly damp. We've started trying the "rely on the kindness of strangers" technique by tapping the couch surfing website.

There is a wood boats festival this weekend at Port Townsend so we'll either stay here on a dry couch, floor, bed, etc or we'll cycle onwards to Quilcene and couch surf there (hopefully again). The requests are out. On the plus side there is a camp ground right in townand the forecast is for sunshine next week. That will be welcome.

The view off the ferry was so grey that the horizon, sky, and even water were all equally obscured by a grey mist that only let up when the land or waves were close enough.

Photos: Washington State

animalrv — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 06:04:00 GMT

san juan island

animalrv — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 04:36:00 GMT

We started the trip Tuesday Sept 3 by taking an 11am ferry from Tsawassen to Victoria and then in the evening from there to San Juan island.

The customs officers pre-screened us in Victoria and there we got another cursory conversation on the island and a wave to pass. Arriving as the sun was setting, we set up our tents and ate trail mix at a local fair ground camp RV site with hot showers, power,wifi, and running water. Not bad for $7 each. In the morning, we planned to hit the beaches in the sun and explore the island, however the weather has turned marginal and so I sit writing this quick post in a soggy tent in the rain. The weather can turn quickly though so we will re-emerge when the sun comes out.

Tomorrow is forecast thundershowers. Our site host, Serena says we can stay here for up to two weeks. I highly doubt we'll take her up on even half of that offer as there are more islands ahead of us before we hit the mainland, and ferries between them are free!

Tonight we plan to eat fish and chips at a local restaurant for a late lunch and then rehydrated vegetables in a stew for dinner. Fun!

Summer in Vancouver

animalrv — Mon, 2 Sep 2013 16:00:00 GMT

(From Rigel's PoV)

Starting mid June Erin and I came to Vancouver after a short stop in Calgary so I could see family that I haven't seen much in the last few years. My nephew, Zen, turned 5 this July and I guess I visited him about 10 times over the course of the summer. Mom has been coming to terms with her rheumatoid arthritis that she discovered she has and trying to avoid the pain thru diet changes. Camilla is putting off going to grad classes while she works in the field she was going to go to school for anyway which is in the planning department of the City of Vancouver and her boyfriend, Daniel, is an entrepeneur with all sorts of adventurous stories about trying to get things done on Vancouver island with kelp and such.

I would definitely like to continue working on the wave power generator dad and I came up with in collaboration with friends and get a working model of it together. The biggest and best waves for a wave power generator are between Vancouver Island and Alaska, but I will not be doing it this year, it appears, as I am about to go on a travelling adventure!

Speaking of which, Erin bought herself a Surly Disk Trucker, which is the disk-brake version of their classic steel touring bike and I bought myself a Steelwool Tweed which is another steel touring bike with disk brakes. We bought both bikes after we arrived in Vancouver this summer and plan to adventure on them with all of the camping gear and modifications we bought at MEC and neighbouring shops over the summer.

We added aero handle bars to our bikes so we can almost lay down while cycling straighter highway sections as well as lights, bottle holders, front and rear racks, paniers, sprung brook's leather saddles, clipless peddles, reflectors, mirrors, handlebar bags, and trip computers. We had to buy almost all of our camping gear from a tent all the way to a tiny can opener blade.

Today is Sunday, tomorrow we have to pack up all of the stuff we're taking and load our bikes to our satisfaction, and then clean up dad's house where we've been staying so his life can go back together and our stuff is safely stowed in a closet or what not. Tuesday morning we will be starting our by going to Swartz Bay on a ferry, and then cycling to Sidney, and then a ferry again (after customs I suppose) to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Unfortunately we'll be ariving after 7:30 pm and haven't figured out how we're going to get to a suitable camp ground before dark - so we'll discuss it more tomorrow but so begins the adventure!