Entry Two

We are finally well underway, after all these months of planning and waiting. After a rousing breakfast of Instant oatmeal, we got off from Twin Harbors State Park near Westport by 8:00 am on Saturday morning. I had accompanied my riding buddy, Bob, out to the ocean shore where he collected a small bottle of Pacific Ocean water. He has a vial labeled "Atlantic Ocean" which he will collect when we hit southern Maine in 6 weeks, or so.

The weather was cloudy, cool and calm, perfect biking weather. The road was nearly without traffic. To top it all off, there were no hills the first 30 miles to Raymond. In, sum, it was the best conditions that we are likely to see the entire trip! Stopped at the north end of Willapa Bay to enjoy our last view of the Pacific. There are no sand dunes separating the ocean from the Bay, here; only shoals and sand bars. You could see the waves breaking nearly a mile offshore. I’ll have to bring my canoe here, later, and explore this beautiful spot. In Raymond we stopped for hotdogs and pop and chatted with two girls and their mom who were fund-raising for a trip to Washington, D.C. This reminded me of all the football games my boy and I ushered last season to pay for his Hawaii Band Trip. We exchanged addresses. We will send them a postcard from God-knows-where in the middle of the Country. They promised to send us one next spring, when they are in D.C.

We turned inland and headed up the Willapa Valley. It was full of scenic farms. By now it was afternoon and the sun had come out. Everything shone with a radiance and the miles seemed to just fly by. The Willapa River kept getting smaller with each successive bridge we crossed. Finally we came to our first big hill which we had to climb to get out of the valley and over to the next drainage. I managed to ride all the way to the divide (EL 570 feet), but I had to walk two other, steeper divides later that afternoon. We stopped in the odd-spelled town of Pe Ell (yes it really exists) for some Gatorade (yeach) and to chat with some local boys. Then up more hills and through more scenic farm valleys surrounded by splendid hills of forests.

By late in the afternoon, Bob was not a happy camper, I'd told him it was about 80 miles to our destination, Vader, near I-5. But we were already past that and he was getting very tired. (He had been out-of-town on business and had not touched a bike in nearly 3 weeks...a little out of shape.) Well, one more divide, a screaming ride down the other side (up to 47 mph!) and we hit the final stretch of road into Vader. There I had a huge plate of spaghetti (carbo-load). The cook directed us to an RV Park, 3 miles further along the road. It turned that the RV Park has a secluded area in the back that sits right up against the mighty Cowlitz River. We had a lovely campsite and a river to boot; even better than a State Park! Bob told me that that his odometer showed 95 miles for the day; just 5 miles short of the Century mark. Then he passed out into a semi-stupor and I really didn't see him the rest of the night. We slept with the tent open to the stars; and sleep soundly, we did.

As of this e-dispatch, we have finished two days and covered 180 miles. We are staying in Camus at the home of Bob's relatives: Dave and Lexie Mason. The next several days we'll be heading up the Columbia and into Eastern Washington. I'm sure the delightful; weather we've been enjoying will be turning a lot warmer.