We have been blessed to have travelled to many parts of the globe. The allure of the American Experience has, however, remained within us. Now in retirement with plenty of time, we decided to see more of America at the leisurely pace of one spoke at a time.
In 2018 we travelled from Seattle to Savannah. In 2021 we rode/drove the East Coast from Canada to Key West. We are now crossing the U.S. to make our way from Vancouver, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico.
Jay has now cycled 800 miles. That effort put us in Crescent City in northern California. As we mentioned in our last blog, this cycling trek has been a challenge to Jay. Every day he faces a series of unrelenting hill climbs. This last section from Astoria, OR to Crescent City, CA, required Jay to climb 24,070’ over the rugged Oregon coast. He averages about 50 miles a day climbing over 2,500’ each day. The mileage and terrain have had an impact. When Jay rolled into our hotel in Crescent City yesterday, he was so exhausted Helen had to help him carry his bike up the 18 steps to our room. He now accepts that at 72 years old he has slowed down since his ride from Seattle to Savannah at the spry age of 67.
Despite the effort, there are vistas and views that one cannot see while zooming down the coast in a car or RV. Unlike the east coast (America One Spoke At a Time: 2021) that Jay rode with Helen’s support in 2021, the Washington and Oregon west coast is free of multi-million dollar estates or boardwalks with cotton candy and salt water taffy. The west coast is a natural environment. We have learned that legislative action was responsible for keeping the coastline free of development. Rather, the west coast is dotted with large beaches and impressive rock formations.
At this time of year (July and August), this section of the west coast is free of rain with moderate temperatures. In a conversation with a local bike shop owner, we revealed “we are not from around here” when we expressed how cold it was. Temperatures sometimes reach the low 80s, but all this week the high has been 73 during the day, reaching in the mid 40s at night, which is pretty chilly when you’re sleeping in a tent. Jay typically rides with his neon yellow jacket which keeps him warm and gives him higher visibility on the busy US 101.
The bike shop owner in Bandon, OR shared, with amusement, that they were experiencing a “heat wave.” Beach goers are typically seen wearing hoodies. You don’t know until you go. This trek down the west coast has given us experiences with our fellow travelers that we couldn’t have imagined if we stayed comfortably ensconced on our back deck in Roswell, GA. In addition to Americans and Canadians, we met two riders from France and a family from Israel.
Jay took Thursday as a rest day in Lakeside, OR. In the local literature, Lakeside was once the “go-to place for the 1930s Hollywood crowd.” That sheen wore off a long time ago. However, we met two lovely people, Dennis and Denise, who opened the Dune Rider Café in April. Dennis is the cook, and he made the best crispy hash brown potatoes we’ve ever eaten! Coffee is $1. Please stop in if you’re ever in Lakeside.
On that rest day we went to Reedsport, a few miles north, to see the Umpqua Discovery Center. Umpqua is the name of a native American tribe. The Discovery Center exceeded our expectations and more! The center contained beautifully painted dioramas of American peoples experiences. We are so glad we took the time to visit this gorgeous, educational center.
Sunday we drove by a Pirate Festival in Brookings, OR. Both Jay and Helen stopped (at different times) to see the attraction. Lots of “beads and trinkets” like the midway at any festival, but the vendors were all dressed like pirates! Quite a few of the attendees also dressed up for the occasion. This pirate has a real peg leg. Aaargh!
While in Crescent City we took the opportunity to visit Trees of Mystery in the Redwood National Park. Wow! What an experience! We walked the trails and saw giant redwoods, spruce, Douglas Fir, Hemlock and Red Alder. We walked on the aerial netted suspension bridges that were 50-100’ high and up to 130’ long. We took a gondola ride up to a large observation deck. One tree, a Redwood over 300’ tall and 19’ in diameter, has a name, the Brotherhood of Man tree. There are lots of signs and wood carvings along the trail, and a 5-room museum full of Indian artifacts, and of course, the obligatory gift shop.
Our lodging, the Curly Redwood Lodge on Highway 101, was built in 1957 from a single giant redwood tree that produced 57,000 board feet of lumber. It is directly across the street from a marina. Last night we thought a neighboring room had a phone that kept ringing and ringing and ringing. We called the front desk and were told that muffled noise was the fog horn at the marina!
The sign in front of our hotel in Crescent City, California, directly across from the marina.
Riding on the gondola at Trees of Mystery
Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox at Trees of Mystery
Face carvings at Trees of Mystery
Info about Redwood bark
Helen and Jay
Four foot high fire engine red geraniums in front of the bike shop Bandon, OR
We are now 530 miles into our 1,800-mile trek down the West Coast. Our good fortune has been good weather. It is not all sunny skies, however. Some mornings we find ourselves inside a low hanging cloud, but by late morning the sun either peeks out or takes full control of a blue sky. Another challenge is finding hotels or campsites. August is high season when hotel rates hit the stratosphere. Helen found a potential vacancy at a small hotel in Seaside, OR. When she contacted the property owner, he shared with great encouragement that he indeed had one last vacancy that we could have for $319.00 for a single night. Yikes! Helen continued looking and found an RV campsite for $30.00.
We deployed a strategy for securing a hotel or campsite in this high season, high rates, low vacancies situation. We found a campsite midway on Jay’s bike route. In the morning, Helen drove Jay to his starting point and retrieved him at his endpoint in the afternoon. We got to avoid the high sticker shock of hotel rates and Jay got to ride his full route.
The cycling reviews of this West Coast ride stressed that this route is very hilly. Jay booked 16,221 feet in the first 400 miles. The next 400 miles will require 24,000 feet of climbing. Hills on major roads like Route 101 are long graceful climbs. Others on backroads are sharp, steep climbs requiring Jay’s lowest gear, a firm grip on his handlebars, and very determined strokes on his pedals. As a result, Jay plans to ride between 45 – 55 miles per day, fewer miles than originally anticipated.
The rewards on this trek are great vistas and wonderful experiences along the way. Three highlights of the past week include going to the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center, camping on a dike at Elochoma Marina in Cathlamet (pronounced cath LAM et), WA and visiting the Tillamook Creamery in Tillamook, OR. While we were in Cathlamet we ate lunch at The Spar restaurant and bar on Main Street. It’s an old dive where the locals hang out, but we found it fascinating! There were a number of interesting signs on the walls, and they have an electronic juke box! Six plays for $1. The food was so-so, but the atmosphere more than made up for it.
The Tillamook Creamery Visitors Center was recommended to us by our friends Keith and Marcia. We arrived on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 and signs on the doors let us know they were closing at 3:00 that day for a private event. We immediately got in line and spent our 30 minutes waiting to get ice cream. Fortunately, they didn’t kick us out and we had time to sit at a table and eat our delicious frozen confection.
On Monday morning we packed up our gear at the Paradise Cove RV Park, Helen drove Jay 26 miles to Tillamook where she had picked him up on Sunday afternoon, and then drove two miles back to go to the Tillamook Creamery again. This time she took the self-guided tour, took lots of photos and a couple of videos, and bought some cheese to enjoy along the way. We ended the day at a KOA in Otis, right outside Lincoln City, OR.
Jay sitting in front of The Spar restaurant and bar.
We took the ferry from Washington to Oregon.
A sign in a campground restroom.
Some people are so creative! These posts were painted to look like minions.
This David statue replica is at the end of a driveway on Route 101. You neverknow what you're going to see!
A typical camp breakfast.
We laughed out loud when we saw this cemetery and recycling center sign!
The sign on the restroom door at the Spar restaurant and bar.
We completed our drive across the country. Before arriving
in Vancouver where Jay will begin his ride down the West Coast, we stopped in
Bend, OR to visit the last Blockbuster on Earth (really, in the whole
universe!), then on to Eugene, OR to visit Jay’s cousin Max and his wife
Valerie. Next, we headed north to Anacortes, WA for dinner with Bryn and his
wife Shelley. Jay and Bryn met 45 years ago when they both attended university
in Malaysia.
We signed up for a bus tour for Vancouver. It was a great
way to see the highlights of the city (Stanley Park, Granville Island,
Chinatown, etc.) and not worry about parking! One highlight was lunch at the
Sandbar Restaurant. Jay ordered a gin & tonic and it was purple! We learned
Empress Gin is made in British Columbia from blossoms that make the gin purple.
We found a liquor store and bought a bottle. Not sure any of it will make it
back to Atlanta.
Vancouver, BC to Ferndale, WA
On Thursday, July 27 Jay started the ride in Hadden Park in
downtown Vancouver. The city streets had very little traffic and in some places the
bike lanes or sections of roadway are closed to vehicles. There were a few
sections of real city biking, but nothing too bad.
Jay’s crossing of the Port Mann Bridge was accomplished by a
protected bike / pedestrian walkway. Unfortunately, once he reached the bike
path entrance for the Alex Fraser Bridge, a big “Access Closed” sign appeared.
Jay was on an island and the bridge path was the only way off the island for a
cyclist.
A call was made and Helen came to the rescue. Jay was on his
way again. Today’s ride included a crossing of the Canadian – US border. Jay
had learned earlier from another cyclist’s blog that the crossing guards want bike
riders to move to the head of the line. With volumes of cars, trucks, and buses
crossing the border, getting a lone cyclist out of the mayhem is a good policy.
Helen, on the other hand, ended up spending over 90 minutes
in line with other motorists waiting to cross the border. She did get a good photo
of the Peace Arch that signifies Canadian-American friendship. The only thing
she had to declare was the bottle of Empress Gin 😊.
Jay’s ride continued without further incident. We stayed at
a Super 8 hotel in Ferndale that had secured underground parking. A first for
us.
Ferndale, WA to Anacortes, WA
The next day, Helen drove and Jay rode the scenic Chuckanut
Highway. The road, once part of the Pacific Coast Highway, has it share of
climbs, scenic views, and downhills. After passing through Bellingham, Jay had
a lovely ride along Birch Bay.
We stayed at the Cap Sante Inn that has a catchy tagline
“Best Value and More Fun.” Why would anyone stay elsewhere?
Anacortes, WA to Port Townsend, WA
The next day, Jay had a short 35-mile ride from Anacortes to
Townsend, WA. This ride had its scenic elements, but one common characteristic
of riding in this part of the country is the hills. Jay has put 145 miles on
this 1,800 ride down the West Coast into the books.
One of the reasons we came to Port Townsend was to attend a
Saturday night potluck dinner with a group of UUs called the Tomato Soup Group
(TSG). Jay was the guest speaker and made a presentation that covered long
distance bike riding, his book Used to be UU and his take on the state
of affairs within the Unitarian Universalist Association.
With lots of correspondence before arriving, we were offered
home hospitality by Doug and Pat Rodgers, members of the Quimby UU Fellowship
and the TSG, and a lovely tour of downtown Port Townsend after the dinner
by Joyce, Nils and Ron. Ron and his wife Judy invited us to attend a BBQ at
their home on Sunday afternoon and we had the opportunity to socialize once
again with a wonderful group of UUs.
The continental United States is big! We have been driving for six days. We have logged over 2,400 miles and we have still not reached the west coast. Sunday (today) we are in Eugene, Oregon, 60 miles from the Pacific shoreline. We are visiting Jay’s cousin, then we'll head north for another visit with Jay’s college friend in Anacortes, WA, then finally to Vancouver, British Columbia. After a day of touring in Vancouver, Jay will begin the ride on July 29.
There are two strategies for a cross-county drive. One, drive until you get there. Two, drive until something goofy catches your eye and stop. We are pursuing the latter strategy.
Below is list of goofy things that caused us to stop and smell the “whatever.”
Crane’s Country Store
As we drove on I-70 west of St. Louis, we fell prey to the allure of an interstate advertising campaign. “Boots, Bullets, Britches, Bologna.” True to its advertising, this country store in Williamsburg, MO had the goods.
Truckhenge
We drove another 225 miles to Topeka, KS where we visited Ron Lessman’s Truckhenge. We have visited the real Stonehenge in the Salisbury Plain in England as well as the dismantled Foamhenge in Centerville, VA. So, a henge of trucks was right up our alley. The visit was a bust. Ron, known for his engaging humor (e.g., a boat OAR inserted into the KNOT of a tree with the punch line of “do you like gorillas in thong underwear, OR NOT. . .ha!). Both Ron and the henge have lost their luster. Ron was pleasant, friendly, inviting and engaging, but could manage only a whisper of a voice. The graffiti spray-painted three trucks, long ago planted tail end in the ground, have been overtaken by vegetation. The acres of eclectic chainsaw carvings and beer and wine bottle displays in concrete are also losing the battle of time. We are glad we can now include Truckhenge in our henge experiences before time and nature reclaims this wonder.
Evel Knievel
Those of our age remember the daredevil Evel Knievel and his motorcycle jumps of buses, tanks of sharks or pits of vipers. Anything to get attention and put on a show. The museum in Topeka did justice to this showman, but a line on a closing display captured the fate of this unique man who died at age 69 in 2007. “Robert (Evel’s birth name) never made me a dime. Evel made me $33 million, but I spent $35 million.”
Abilene, KS – Ike’s Hometown
We visited the hometown and museum of a war hero and US president, most likely known now only by senior citizens, Dwight David Eisenhower, or Ike as he was affectionally known. We did not have time to visit his library but toured his burial site and museum. The museum depicted Ike’s humble beginnings, his time at West Point, his marriage to Mamie (nee Doud), the well-heeled daughter of a Midwest meatpacking magnet, his time as Supreme Commander in World War II, his presidency, and post presidential years. Very glad we stopped here!
Oakley, KS
Two hundred miles later we stopped for the night in Oakley, KS. In 2018 on our trip west for our Seattle to Savannah bike ride, we stopped in Oakley to visit the nearby rock outcropping known as Monument Rocks. Now the draw of Oakley, KS for us was the Annie Oakley Motel. The motel’s large signage is irresistible, offering direct dial phones, queen-sized beds and color TV. The signage also offers a more than life-size illuminated visage of a miniskirted Annie Oakley. We dined at Buffalo Bill’s Bar and Grill, followed by a visit to the county fair.
Before leaving Oakley, we visited the huge sculpture of Buffalo Bill riding a galloping horse and shooting a buffalo. Social commentary aside, the sculpture was impressive in size and detail.
Loveland, CO – Family
We spent the evening of July 19 in Loveland, CO visiting family. Gathered were three generations of the Borland family. We had a wonderful meal, excellent conversation, and confirmation that if you are family by birth or marriage, you are always welcome.
Lincoln Statue
Just outside Laramie, WY on US I-80, we visited the Lincoln Memorial Monument. Built in 1959, the 30-foot granite spire with a 4,500 pound bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln commemorated the 150th anniversary of the 16th president’s birth. It was originally located on the highest point of the Lincoln Highway. That highway, conceived in 1912, was the first transcontinental highway running from New York City to San Francisco.
Idaho Potato Motel
Before concluding our day’s journey to Ontario, OR, we detoured about five miles off the highway outside Boise to visit the Idaho Potato Motel. While Idaho supplies almost a third of the country’s potatoes, in 2012 the state’s Potato Commission, knowing it couldn’t rest on its laurels (or is it spuds?), commissioned the construction of a giant, hollow, fake tuber as the centerpiece of its 75th anniversary celebration. Borne on the back of a massive red truck, the 28-by-12-foot tater travelled the country for seven years, finally retiring in 2019. The travelling spud was then renovated to an Air BnB for $200 a night option equipped with an outside silo-bathroom. Call us crazy, but we continued to drive for another hour and stayed at a Clarion Inn in Ontario, OR. Our spirit of adventure stops at outside silo-bathrooms.
We are in the final preparation for another long-distance bicycle ride from Vancouver, British Columbia, down the coastline to the Mexican border. This adventure adds to our other epic biking trips, our 2018 Seattle to Savannah and 2021 Canada to Key West.
Each ride has its challenges, and this ride is no different. Helen, who is driving our Prius as a Support and Gear (SAG) vehicle, will probably log 8,000 miles. For Jay, who rides solo each day, his route of 1,800 miles is shorter than previous rides but is filled with many challenging days ahead. Overall, the route has 100,000 feet of climbing. We live in Atlanta and are taking advantage of our time on the West Coast to visit family and friends. With our late July start, we will encounter the last of summer vacationers for the first few weeks. We know campgrounds and coastal hotels are pretty much at capacity. We have made a few early reservations, but from past experience, we have found weather and riding conditions restrict our ability to plan too far in advance. We will take things day by day.
The Bike Course
Jay is following the Adventure Cycling Pacific Coast route. He has downloaded electronic versions of the route to his Android phone. However, he has converted that route to a third-party app called Ride with GPS. Unlike Adventure Cycling’s Bicycle Route Navigator app, Ride with GPS provides verbal queues on upcoming turns. Without verbal queues, a moment of inattention will result in a missed turn and a need to backtrack, an experience Jay confesses has occurred more than a few times.
The conversion of the route was supported by downloading a map of the route by another rider who also used the Ride with GPS app. With his paid subscription, Jay was further able to adjust the route. A few detours were needed to avoid road construction and road closures south of Monterey, CA. The mapping and adjustments are tedious, but the time is well spent getting familiar with the course. Understanding the hilly conditions helped with planning daily riding distances. It is not uncommon, for example, to face 2,000 to 3,000 feet of climbing in a 50-mile day ride.
Future Posts
We hope to upload a new blog post each week. The next time you hear from us, we will be in Vancouver ready to start the ride!
After 42 days of cycling 2,579 miles, two hurricanes, and
two flat tires we arrived at the southernmost point in the United States at
12:15 pm on Sunday, October 10, 2021. After a rest and shower at our hotel, we headed
back to old town Key West and spent the rest of the afternoon walking Duval
Street. At the end of the day, we returned to our hotel and celebrated with a
bottle of champagne and two slices of key lime pie. After popping the cork,
eating dinner and enjoying our pie we slowly began adjusting to a life not
focused on weather, traffic, and route options down the east coast.
This trip was not only a cycling but also a logistical feat.
We suspect none of you are currently logged onto the weather app on your phone
to determine where you will be sleeping later this evening. Once we understood
weather conditions, Jay would project his riding distance, Helen then began the
search for accommodations, whether camping or a hotel for our stay each evening. Sometimes
a 60-mile ride became a 70-mile ride so we could finish the day at a facility
that met our needs. As Jay rode, Helen would seek out a grocery store to buy
food for breakfast or dinner. She also did laundry and occasionally had an
opportunity to take a day tour in a city we visited. The next day, we
would repeat the cycle of checking the weather and plotting out our day’s
journey to the next location. This was an adventure that took the art of team
work to a new level.
One observation about our trek is that ocean
saltwater and sand is an undeniable magnet to humans. As we traveled down the
east coast, we witnessed the many ways a coastal location attracts our
attention.There are amusement-filled boardwalks
where saltwater taffy and pizza can be purchased on a whim.There are also endless complexes of high rise
beach front hotels that line stretches of the coastline for as far as the eye
can see. Wealth configures the shoreline into exclusive enclaves with gated
entrances accessible only to the top sliver of the American economic food
chain. Occasionally, a shore front bungalow erected a generation ago appears.
These last hold outs from a quieter time have survived hurricanes, shifting shorelines
and surely the overwhelming family economic pressure to “sell out” and take the
money.
It is hard to consume these observations if you are zooming
along in a car at 50 – 60 mph on a road designed to move you as quickly as
possible to the next location on your itinerary. More details are seen when you are
hugging the shoreline on roads named “Beach Front Ave” or “Ocean Boulevard” at
15 mph on a bicycle. There is more time to absorb, and cycling provides
“infinite” think time as you propel yourself forward.
We are grateful that we had no mishaps or injuries to
report. Although it was anticipated but never vocalized, Jay was the most
vulnerable to a traffic accident. However, it was Helen who had the occasion to
be run off the road and thankfully avoided a last second collision with a
bridge abutment.
The Last Leg
Having completed our cycling adventure, we departed Key West
and headed up the west coast of Florida to visit friends in Venice, FL.With the drive back to our home in Roswell completed, Helen
logged 6.434 miles of support driving over the 62 days we were out
exploring the east coast.
The Prius is now unpacked, and we are beginning to adjust to our
“normal” life.Surely there is another adventure
in our future. We don’t know what that adventure is, but the possibilities seem
endless to us.
We are in the home stretch of our east coast adventure. We are now in Key Largo, just 100 miles from our destination. If the weather cooperates, we will be at the southernmost point in the US by Sunday, completing our Canada to Key West trek.
Over the past several days, we have been adjusting our riding schedule to synch up with our kids' Miami vacation plans.
They flew down to Miami from Atlanta on Thursday and we were at the hotel to greet them. They will continue touring Miami and then plan to drive down to Key West on Sunday. We are hoping that the whole family will be present when Jay arrives.
It is hard to believe that this adventure will soon end. Thanks to all who have provided supportive comments and encouragement.
