Portland!

Hey all! I am finally able to update this from a real computer! Apparently my phone doesn't work so well for updating blogs.

So to continue from the last post...after getting a flat and spending an hour and a half patching the tube in several different places, some really nice man pulled into the gas station and offered to go buy some tubes for us and bring them back! (people never cease to amaze me some times)

We ended up in Milton that night in this horrible motel in which you could smell the mold growing in the carpet. Gross.

The next day, we rode through Tacoma, which is one of the least bike friendly places I have ever been in the north west, and pushed through to Centralia after not finding any camping (apparently there is very little along the I-5 corridor) and ended up in a motel there after riding around 70 miles. We ate dinner at a place called Burgerville which is fast food, but is, as much as possible, local and organic (walla walla sweet onion rings!)

The next day we started our ride with the one day riders of the STP, since we were following their route. It was nice to be cheered on after such a long day of riding the day before. Some of the older men on the STP were really interested in my trip and had a lot of good pointers since many of them had done similar tours 20-25 years earlier. It was nice to have the encouragement. 50 miles, and the best 50 for me so far, later we rolled into kelso and ended up in yet another motel :( .

The forth day, we tried to get an early start and failed miserably as I was having tire trouble again. I pumped my front tire and when I tried to remove the pump nozzle from the valve and the inner piece pulled out!! I changed the tube (with the brand new one that the guy brought us at the gas station) and we were off. Five minutes down the road I checked the pressure of the tire, AND IT WAS FLAT AGAIN!!!! I couldn't find the hole in the new tube and it was a slow enough leak that I could fill it every 45min to an hour and it would be ok, but it certainly didn't make slogging up hills very easy.

We started off towards the lewis and clark bridge and got in the line of two day STP riders who were crossing, and ended up getting a sweet escort across an otherwise not terribly appealing bridge. (for anyone who hasn't crossed one of the washington-oregon bridges over the columbia on a bike, between the wind, the tiny bike lane, the traffic and the steep grades they are often the scariest parts of bike tours in the north west. ) We biked into portland with all of the two day people finishing the STP and got to share a bit in their glory of making it to the finish line. Along the course that day I ran into my friend Remmington, who rode the STP pulling a trailer shaped like a covered wagon!! He gave me another new tube and gave me some recommendations for different tires that would make touring a hell of a lot smoother. My tire held air the rest of the way to portland, where we split off from the STP and road to Ian's friends house, where we spent the night last night.

I am spending the day today gathering more supplies and recuperating a little, and tomorrow I set off for the base of mount hood.

I am hoping to be in Idaho in 7 days, and then off to wyoming to meet up with the next set of friends for probably the easiest, as well as most difficult leg of the trip. The mid west and ...THE ROCKIES!!! (dun dun duuunnnnnn)

-Katy-