Monday 5/16/ 16 A scenic day to Pacafic City

After first posting these pictures I am trying now to go back and write for my own fading memory some thoughts of what the pictures were. This rock is called Haystack rock. 

These photos I put up yesterday were in backwards sequence for the day. That is sunset first and the morning last. I'm still not entirely proficient with publishing this blog. Besides after riding all day and sometimes sleeping in my tent I am not at my sharpest. 

View from where I had a delicious salmon dinner. 

This need no comment. 

I usually had the road pretty much to myself. 

On incredible view after another. Usually after a modest climb. 

There were a lot of these huge rock outcroppings. It is hard to see but that small dot in front of the rock was a guy hang gliding. And I thought I was crazy riding a bicycle down the coast. 

Still in amongst all of the beauty there were the occasional spots where corporate America and the lumber Barron's had decimated the landscape for profit. 

This is the rig that the guy in the previous picture used to hang glide far out over the ocean. I came across a group of these courageous daredevils running and jumping off a 500+ foot cliff. They said they would fly around if the wind was right for 2 hours before landing on the beach below. 

It was a beautiful clear day. 

One great view after another. 

Proof that I was actually there. You can see that although sunny it was chilly.......about 50F. 

Saturday 5/14/16 A rainy day to Astoria and Sunday 5/15/16 to Cannon beach

Saturday - The ride from camping in Twin Harbors to Astoria was a long day that I posted from my Hotel in Astoria. But some how got deleted from the blog. Not sure how but it was a long day and ended with a harrowing ride when exhausted I had to cross he mouth of the Puget Sound on this 3 1/2 mile bridge. 

No picture of the road because it was narrow with about a 12 wide shoulder foe a bicycle between traffic and the railing to ride.

I checked into the same Holiday Inn I had stayed in in 2012 when I began with America By Bicycle my Pacific to Atlantic cross country ride. Astoria is an old sort of down and out old lumber town but I had a nice dinner and slept well in a bed with sheets for the first night in 4 days.

This is something I wrote for the morning, when I leftTwin Harbors but the posting has gotten screwed up because of my incompetence in using this IPad ..........

Sure enough I woke in the morning to a steady rain. I was dry and cozy in my little tent and slept awhile longer and talked on the phone to my sweetheart at home. After about an hour the rain slowed to a misty drizzle and I packed up and headed out.

It was a gray cloudy day but the rain let up. 

The road hugged the shoreline and was fortunately flat, with a nice tailwind. 

Often I could get off of he main Roure 101 my mainstay but sometimes the old highway disappeared .....ominous signs of Climate change!!!

Very confusing cronologically ......This is now Sunday.....I am not very good on the blog with this iPad

The views were stunning. And at the end of the day I was exhausted after about 80 miles when in the quaint village of Cannon Beach I saw just the place for me.....

A Inn that fashioned itself after a New England country inn. Just like home.

I stopped in and the owners were thrilled to have someone from New England and when they saw I was from Stockbridge asked if I knew the Red Lion Inn which they said was the model for their place.

I lied a little and told them how just like the Red Lion in Stockbridge it was. 

But my little room had a gas fired Vermont Castings stove and it was perfect for drying out my things from a wet day.

I saw this historic plac on the beach about the Oregon beaches being free to everyone with no private ownership allowed by State enactment in 1912. Bernie who did the same thing in Burlington VT would be proud. The eastern state of CT could learn something where 90% of their shore line is privately owned.

After a beautiful sunset and a great dinner....

......it was jammie time and I hit the hay.

Friday 5/13/16 To the Pacific coast

Again having camped I was up early and headed down the road. I should remember to take a picture of my little tent. Very cozy and comfortable with a blow-up mattress and my ONE LUXURY ITEM that I allowed myself.......a feather pillow.

Today for the first time I was inland and away from a shoreline.

The land was flat here south of the Olympics and there was a nice tailwind.

I could do some business here with many lumber mills.

I passed through 2 Native American reservations and saw some of the Natives gathered at times when I would stop for water or food. They seemed sad, lonely and bored, not very talkative. I saw this historic sign near Aberdean WA and think I could understand. 

A treaty signed by the Governor and ratified by the US Senate in 1859. I wonder what promises the Governor and Senators made to the Natives that were never kept. Oh well the Natives now have casinos popping up everywhere in WA and the Natives seem well fed but very unhappy. It makes one think about what it is that makes a person happy.

The other striking thing I noticed were the cut down trees.

There were vast stretches of land with all of the trees gone. A few huge stumps spaced quite far apart led me to imagine the forest not so long ago when the Natives were in charge. Fewer trees but huge ones each reaching higher to gain the sunlight. 

Again Except for a few old mill towns with no place decent looking places to stay accommodations looked sparce so I rode on to the ocean and another State Park. This on Twin Harbors was right on the Pacific beach.

Rain was predicted for morning so I pitched my little tent in anticipation.

Thursday 5/12/16 Down the Olympic peninsula to Hoodsport

First of all in response to several questions about my health and stomach issue. I didn't think that anyone would actually be reading. But for those who asked, I ate a huge dinner of fish and chips on Tuesday and a big bowl of chili con carne on the ferry from Victoria, then rode hard and ignored it. And the problem cured itself. Amazing how the body will fix itself under duress. I have to watch what I write, now that I find that people are actually reading and not just looking at the pictures.

Well Thursday began early since I camped. Heading south on the East side of he Olympic peninsula it was relatively flat. The day was sunny and warm.

I watched a beautiful sunrise......

Passed through some bautiful farmland with the towering Olympic range behind in the distance.

There were many small rivers I crossed flowing down from the mountains. It was too cold for a swim, though I was tempted.

There were many similarities to Maine with low tidal flats. I was told that the tide was about10 feet. And lots of great habitat for shellfish ......like Oysters. 

My stomach was fine so I had some raw for lunch.

The only problem for the day was that the road was narrow with quite a few logging trucks which didn't scare me.....those guys are professionals ......but also lots of RV's and pick-ups with huge campers. Those were the ametures........danger.

Bridges were narrow with NO shoulder, but fortunately were not long and traffic was light.

It was a beautiful day and a great ride. There were few to no hotels so I made it early into a State of WA park for a hiker/biker camp site and hot shower. No restaurants were around so I made due and grilled some fresh scallops, a steak and a baked potatoe on an open fire. I was very impressed with myself for remembering some long thought lost Boy Scout skills.

I shared dinner with an amazing young Swiss man who had ridden his bicycle from Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. I learned a lot from him about gear and survival and felt very humble by comparison. I am a neophyte and not even close to his league. He left me with a great book Bicycling the Pacific Coast that he had carried from Mexico and since he was almost to Canada asked that I bring it back to Mexico and give it to a rider headed north. He signed it with his name and dates of travel.

The view from my campsite at sunset looking north along the Hood Canal, actually a natural long narrow bay in the Puget Sound.

Wednesday 5/11/16 Ferries across the San Juan Islands

I woke early and broke camp to ride the 12 or so miles north to Anacortes where there was an 8:30 ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. I had a bit more energy after yesterdays nap and a good nights sleep. 

The views were terrific with the snow capped peaks in the distance.

I caught the ferry and the ride was picturesque to say the least.

We passed through narrow channels and spectacular views. Then into Friday Harbor, which was quiet  remote and definitely unique. My friend Bob from Stockbridge who told me not to miss this spot was right and for this I thank him. Bob if you read this, all I can say is, why did you ever leave? What a fabulous little town.... Quiet ..... and in need of a drummer.

I wanted to spend the night, but it would take another whole day and with having lost 2 days with Helen's late arrival I had to take the last ferry out to Canada.

I made the international crossing to the Vancouver peninsula then rode south to Victoria BC. 

There was a great bike path that took me right into Victoria. 

Beautiful country .......

A first class bike path.

Very friendly people. With some light industry, maybe I could find some work here.

I wanted to stay a few days here because my friend Steve raved about the city and it is everything he said. Great Chinees food, friendly, a sence of history and PALM TREES. 

Yes Sarah we should move here to Canada if Trump gets elected. PALM TREES in Canada.

Great street life and a picturesque harbor.

But I needed to move on to make up for the 2 lost days if I was going to meet the Climate ride and daughter Hannah in Eurika on the 20th. So I boarded the Black Ball Ferry that would take me back to the USA and Port Angeles.

I was headed across the Straight of Juan de Fuca toward the mountains in the distance and Olympic Penensula.

I finished the day to a state Park where there was another Hiker/Biker camp site waiting. 

This one had a field of old farm equipment and I slept in a freshly mowed field and had a hot shower after a long day.