Thursday, September 12, 2013

Day 21: Oregon turned out to be a beach so we left her for California.

While we were setting up camp the night before we briefly had a visit from our camp neighbor.  Arlene is traveling the country in her RV with her sweet 13 year old dog Pearly.  After telling us how cool our little expedition was, she left us for the evening and retired for the night.  As we were getting packed up for the days ride,  Arlene and Pearly sauntered up with an offer we couldn't refuse.  A hot, home-made breakfast.  Scrambled eggs, sausage, and hash browns do a body good.  After breakfast we ended up visiting with Arlene for the better part of two hours and listened to many great stories from her past.  As we were parting ways we gave her one of our fundraiser cards and it turned out she had lost her mother to breast cancer.  We had a great time visiting and were sent on our way with bellies full and a generous donation to Susan G. Komen.  Thanks for everything Arlene.  Soon we were off with the Oregon-California border in our crosshairs.  The Oregon coast has been nothing if not consistent and today would be no different. Foggy, rugged and generally beautiful.  A few rainy days aside, Oregon had been great to us. Great big shoulders, free showers in all state parks, what more could a tourist ask for.  We were definitely better smelling the last 10 days than we would become over the 10 to come.  Oregon more or less let us off easy and we had a pleasant day in the saddle.  I admittedly got a bit spooked as we emerged from a wall of fog to find ourselves nearly 350ft above the ground in the center of a massive bridge.  Finally, midway through the afternoon we came to the state line, Julie did a little dance, Jet left his mark on Oregon one last time and we were off to home for the evening.  It may just be us but at first glance some RV parks rub us the wrong way.  Salmon Harbor was just this type of place.  Run down, creepy bathrooms, and somewhat of a methanphetamine vibe going on.  Alas there is a lot to be said about first impressions. I am hairy and got of a transient/ mountain man/ homeless cyclists thing going on and   and no one seems to hold it against me. This place was no different although they should have named it seal harbor because they were everywhere.  After setting up camp, the sound of the ocean rocked us to sleep that night.

Thickest fog so far.

Our route through the entire state.
Oregon was easy, bring on California.
And then there was one.





Seals at Salmon Harbor













Meatballs Arlene made and gave us to eat for dinner.

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