The Latest Bicycle Touring News from DownTheRoad.org

It has been a long time since I sat down to write in my journal, I have had a difficult time getting back into a rhythm of writing again.  I attribute this to burnout from finishing our second book, my recent bout with shingles, and most importantly, it has been hard to find a place to sit and write.  Traveling from on camp site to another is not conducive to writing.  In addition, we have met so many cyclists on the road and getting back in touch with other Americans has become a priority of mine as we all go through this economic crisis together.

Some notes on Canada, it is a stunning place, the scenery certainly kept my mind off the pain of shingles. Boy am I glad that is over.  Canadians are a cheerful and helpful bunch and in central B.C. we were caught in yet another rainstorm.  The night before we were invited to a mushroom pickers (the legal kind) camp and thought we would end up passing them by.  Instead, we turned into their camp and were greeted by a couple of friendly guys who invited us into their makeshift house with a wood burning stove.  Oh paradise, out of the rain and a place to dry our clothes.  The mushroom pickers were setting up for the season, they came to this area in the forest to pick pine, shandrel, lobster, and chicken foot mushrooms, all sold legally to mushroom buyers. The main mushroom sent to Japan is the pine mushroom. It is a cash only occupation and quite nomadic as well. Funny I have never considered where the mushrooms I buy in the store come from, now I know.

We took the ferry from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island was a bit wet for us but it is a rain forest.  Then we began our ride back into civilization for what seemed to be the first time in a long time and looking back the last large city we spent any time in was Auckland, New Zealand almost a year ago.  The first grocery store I went to in Campbell River was so overwhelming I had to get out of there quickly.  The choices I had were to numerous for me to make a decision, I honestly wondered if this difficulty in making a decision was related to having shingles.

While on Vancouver Island we stayed with Jim and Cory and their two kids on their farm near Cedar. We also stayed with a couple we met in the Subway Sandwich shop in Port Hardy, Marion and Noel and by the time we arrived at their house we were soaked to the bone. It was into the washer with all our wet clothes and I have to say we were a pretty smelly pair.  We took a day off with them and enjoyed the town of Parksville where we later did an interview with a local journalist. Refreshed, we cruised down the coast through Salt Spring Island and over to Victoria where we stayed with Madison and Thomas. What a lovely couple and a great city.

We took the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles on September 3 and rode the Olympic Discovery Trail to Sequim. Heidi our warmshowers host met us along the trail, now that was a nice reception home after being gone for the better part of 6 years.  Funny I felt like a guest in my own country, it would take a couple of weeks before this feeling would go away.

We covered Washington State in 7 days by taking the dry side of the Olympic Peninsula through the Hood Canal, we were running from winter and getting to Oregon to meet my friend Patti who I knew while I lived in Albuquerque. We did stay at Cape Disappointment and it was a disappointment when we wanted to stay in the hiker/biker site and we were told it was full, she put us in our own site for the same price.  This was indicative of what laid ahead for us.  The hiker/biker sites were mostly full all the way down the Oregon Coast.

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	Our campsite at Simmons Lake.
I hate these kind of bridges but hey it beats the alternative.

Visitor center near the lava fields. Camping on crown land.

Cindie picking berries on the way to Nass Camp. A sunny day for riding, yeah.

Water everywhere in BC.

Tim at our miracle beach camp site. A church on Salt Spring island.

We are in a rain forest, and a healthy one at that. A cute tug boat in the harbor.

We met Calvin on the way to Raymond, Washington.

Cindie whale watching in Oregon.	Close up of the lighthouse, very cool.
Harbor seals taking a break. Who is That in the Willies jeep?	Fort Clatsop, Where the Lewis and Clark expedition stayed over the winter. A musket firing demonstration.

View near Arch point.

Cindie with Megan and Autumn from Washington State.

Face Rock beach.

Our camp at Honeyman State Park, one of my favorite places.