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Cycling America Adventure of Yvonne

Page 3: June 30 - July 3, 2000

June 30: What can I say? Bow my head and confess that I'm not a cyclist, but a mere hitch-hiker, doing it the easy way by thumbing the route!
The last mail was from Corvallis, where I arrived to meet Ellener, an ultra-cyclist I know from the womens-cycling list. We had a good time together, and took care of the few 'real' workouts I did sofar on a bike. We went on her regular training route, and climbed some hills. She didn't feel like punishing me on Mary's Peak, but the hills were big enough. Ellener also didn't really push it and went for a social ride, so that I felt challenged to think that I might try to beat her,which I did on the descents. But I couldn't convince her that this counted too! Must have something to do with the weight of the bike and the rider.
July 1: Corvallis - Chinook On Saturday, I left for the coast, and after having mailed off the copies of pics I took from people I met en route, and a focaccio at the Good Morning Bakery, where even cyclists from Salem descend too, I started thumbing my way to Newport at the road where Ellener lives. I was adviced to take a better position one traffic light further on,and got a ride from Paul and Kathy who had just been laid off but were quite cheerful at the prospect of having a week off to get ready for another job. In Newport the famous 101 road was reached, but instead of being elated, I was rather disappointed. It was indeed quite busy, so it was hard to take in the beautiful views, as you had to concentrate on the traffic too much, even with a good shoulder. Ellener obviously never really cycled up north, as both her assertions that the shoulder would be wind and that I'd have a tailwind in the afternoon were wrong. The shoulder almost completely disappears where you need it: uphill, and there was a steady headwind. So, after a stop for the 'Devils Punchbowl' clam chowder & garlic bread , as well as delicious Tillamook Icecream (much better than B&Jerries), I decided to h-hike from Depoe Bay. I must say that the detour via the old 101 near the 'Punchbowl' was just lovely!

(July 1, cont.): Rob brought me as far as Lincoln city, not far, but it was interesting. I concluded that I was also feeling lonely, just because I had been meeting such great people. Saying goodbye hurts more then, and you're already looking forward to meeting more great people that cycling by yourself becomes more lonely than it actually is. It surprises me,as I always enjoyed solo-cycling that much. Perhaps I can get out of that 'solo-cycling is lonely' mode. Rob was an avid hitch-kier and also a surfer, so we talked about that. He said that in good weather, the winds were predominantly NW, so headwinds for me, and in bad weather SW, while extremely good weather would bring easterlies. Getting a bit nervous again, as the roundabout distance between Corvallis and Seattle is 800K/500mi, I wanted to get another ride, but first cycled to Neskowin to avoid communication problems about directions. I was very lucky then, as Missy & Robin from Texas, were going to Longview, and so could drop me off in Astoria. It was a problem thought that both of them smoked, which wasn't obvious when I got my stuff in their car. Luckily they opened the windows when smoking. They were looking for a mountainous place to live as they loved the mountains and wanted to get away from the stifling Texas heat.
Negotiating the Astoria bridge was quite a challinge, it is 7 K long (4 mi) and I was glad to do it in the evening, with both LEDs on. There was still quite a bit of traffic, but I would have had a long queue behind me in day time. There was no shoulder, so it was a matter of taking the lane. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the ride. A few kms west of the turnoff, near Chinook, I copied Trevor's knock, and asked permission to pitch a tent. "Sure, go ahead" was the answer.

July 2: Chinook- Pacific Beach
In the morning, I got to meet the owners of the house, and their guests, a couple from Idaho. Hollis & Colleen were a US-Korean couple with 2 very smart daughters: Kelsy (10) and Risa (8). I was invited in for breakfast (who can refuse that offer?) and treated on eggs, strawberries & melon. I said goodbye a good hour later and pedalled towards the peninsula, just off the coast near Chinook. There was a steady amount of traffic today, not surprising just 2 days before July 4. And, after coming back on the main 101 road, the shoulder disappeared again. With all the people behind me in their cars being in a hurry, I wasn't too motivated to continue. Up the thumb, and now a mother (Tai) with her teenage daughter (Maria) appeared, who dropped me off at the intersection near Artic. Now I was faced with a dull ride into Aberdeen as there are few chances on rides into and out of a bigger city, which took me over an hour. Just out of Aberdeen, traffic became really calm, apparently not many people drive on the western side of the Olympic peninsula. After a relatively long wait, I accepted Dominic's offer to bring me to Humptulips. Dominic was going to an Indian reservation to buy illegal fireworks. A funny guy, trying to charm me in Italian. It took him ages to guess my country of origin. Amazing how few people actually know that the Netherlands is low and below sea-level! It just took me less than 10 seconds to guess his city of origin: tallest tower? Got to be Chicago! This was going to be a looooong wait, so I finally gladly accepted a short ride from a girl in a yellow Honda-jeep. Jennifer was going to Quinault. While we chatted I found out she was also going to Seattle in a roundabout way. So I asked if I could stay with her for the next day as well. She agreed, and so we played the tourist together by doing a walk on the trail in Quinault.

(July 2, cont.): Then we turned back! She was staying at Pacific Beach, which is an army base. She worked at the airforce base in Tacoma,as a communications officer, and was thus free to stay in any base when she travelled. So I got a warm shower too. Since I was going to stay with her for a full day, I gave her $20 as a compensation for the 'rent' and cost of gas. We chatted for hours, and I was very interested in finding out how it is like to be employed by the army. Jennifer, who looked 18, was already 27, and already married for 7 years with a husband who was becoming a pilot. What she told me about her life, seemed like a lot of fun to me!
July 3 Pacific Beach - Seattle
We played the tourist all day. Went to the Hoh Rain forest, walked the shortish trails, admired the mosses. Rode to Forks to have fish&chips, and on to the Hurricane Ridge. The road was mostly covered in mist, but we lucked out and came out of it, in between two layers of clouds, and had fantastic views over the mountain ridge. THe hurricane ridge is a very challenging bike ride, and can be very dangerous if you don't have lights, as it has 3 tunnels. Going down, we saw 2 unloaded cyclists going up in the wrong way, without lights. You can't get any more stupid than that! Other cyclists, hurtling down from that hill, might get seriously hurt if they bomb-dive into stupid idiots like these women. Ellener had told me that the Oregon law told cyclist to cycle like that for years, the law has only recently been changed, but apparently people still think they are pedestrians when cycling, rather than vehicle-operators who need to abide the same traffic rules as other road users on wheels. In Port Angeles I called Alex Wetmore, with whom I was going to stay, as it was going to be late, we would take the 21.55 h ferry, and I guessed it would be 2300 hrs by the time I arrived at his house. And so it was. I said goodbye to Jennifer, who said she was glad with my company and my navigating skills, and did the meagre 2 K to Alex' house, extending it a bit, by turning the other way.

(July 3, cont.): The weather was typical for Seattle, a driving rain, but I'd already expected that. For now my plans are to cycle (yes, really!) on to the smaller islands in between the coast and Vancouver Islands, hop on a few ferries and end in Sydney, V.I., go to Victoria, cycle north again, another ferry to Vancouver via Salt Spring Island, and back to V.I. and pedal north and finally get on a ferry to Prince Rupert. Considering the amt of ferries in this area, I was truly amazed that someone like Jennifer never had taken a ferry before, as she was from S Carolina. We, in the Netherlands have many ferries and take them for granted. Funny!
Will be in Seattle for the rest of the day and hope to see the fireworks tonight. For those in Seattle, the name of the woman I'm trying to find is probably Savanna. Sorry not to be able to give more clues, it's 7 years ago!

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June 30: What can I say? Bow my head and confess that I'm not a cyclist, but a mere hitch-hiker, doing it the easy way by thumbing the route! The last mail was from Corvallis, where I arrived to meet Ellener, an ultra-cyclist I know from the womens-cycling list. We had a good time together, and took care of the few 'real' workouts I did sofar on a bike. We went on her regular training route, and climbed some hills. She didn't feel like punishing me on Mary's Peak, but the hills were big enough. Ellener also didn't really push it and went for a social ride, so that I felt challenged to think that I might try to beat her,which I did on the descents. But I couldn't convince her that this counted too! Must have something to do with the weight of the bike and the rider. July 1: Corvallis - Chinook On Saturday, I left for the coast, and after having mailed off the copies of pics I took from people I met en route, and a focaccio at the Good Morning Bakery, where even cyclists from Salem descend too, I started thumbing my way to Newport at the road where Ellener lives. I was adviced to take a better position one traffic light further on,and got a ride from Paul and Kathy who had just been laid off but were quite cheerful at the prospect of having a week off to get ready for another job. In Newport the famous 101 road was reached, but instead of being elated, I was rather disappointed. It was indeed quite busy, so it was hard to take in the beautiful views, as you had to concentrate on the traffic too much, even with a good shoulder. Ellener obviously never really cycled up north, as both her assertions that the shoulder would be wind and that I'd have a tailwind in the afternoon were wrong. The shoulder almost completely disappears where you need it: uphill, and there was a steady headwind. So, after a stop for the 'Devils Punchbowl' clam chowder & garlic bread , as well as delicious Tillamook Icecream (much better than B&Jerries), I decided to h-hike from Depoe Bay. I must say that the detour via the old 101 near the 'Punchbowl' was just lovely!

	(July 1, cont.): Rob brought me as far as Lincoln city, not far, but it was interesting. I concluded that I was also feeling lonely, just because I had been meeting such great people. Saying goodbye hurts more then, and you're already looking forward to meeting more great people that cycling by yourself becomes more lonely than it actually is. It surprises me,as I always enjoyed solo-cycling that much. Perhaps I can get out of that 'solo-cycling is lonely' mode. Rob was an avid hitch-kier and also a surfer, so we talked about that. He said that in good weather, the winds were predominantly NW, so headwinds for me, and in bad weather SW, while extremely good weather would bring easterlies. Getting a bit nervous again, as the roundabout distance between Corvallis and Seattle is 800K/500mi, I wanted to get another ride, but first cycled to Neskowin to avoid communication problems about directions. I was very lucky then, as Missy & Robin from Texas, were going to Longview, and so could drop me off in Astoria. It was a problem thought that both of them smoked, which wasn't obvious when I got my stuff in their car. Luckily they opened the windows when smoking. They were looking for a mountainous place to live as they loved the mountains and wanted to get away from the stifling Texas heat. Negotiating the Astoria bridge was quite a challinge, it is 7 K long (4 mi) and I was glad to do it in the evening, with both LEDs on. There was still quite a bit of traffic, but I would have had a long queue behind me in day time. There was no shoulder, so it was a matter of taking the lane. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the ride. A few kms west of the turnoff, near Chinook, I copied Trevor's knock, and asked permission to pitch a tent. "Sure, go ahead" was the answer.

July 2: Chinook- Pacific Beach In the morning, I got to meet the owners of the house, and their guests, a couple from Idaho. Hollis & Colleen were a US-Korean couple with 2 very smart daughters: Kelsy (10) and Risa (8). I was invited in for breakfast (who can refuse that offer?) and treated on eggs, strawberries & melon. I said goodbye a good hour later and pedalled towards the peninsula, just off the coast near Chinook. There was a steady amount of traffic today, not surprising just 2 days before July 4. And, after coming back on the main 101 road, the shoulder disappeared again. With all the people behind me in their cars being in a hurry, I wasn't too motivated to continue. Up the thumb, and now a mother (Tai) with her teenage daughter (Maria) appeared, who dropped me off at the intersection near Artic. Now I was faced with a dull ride into Aberdeen as there are few chances on rides into and out of a bigger city, which took me over an hour. Just out of Aberdeen, traffic became really calm, apparently not many people drive on the western side of the Olympic peninsula. After a relatively long wait, I accepted Dominic's offer to bring me to Humptulips. Dominic was going to an Indian reservation to buy illegal fireworks. A funny guy, trying to charm me in Italian. It took him ages to guess my country of origin. Amazing how few people actually know that the Netherlands is low and below sea-level! It just took me less than 10 seconds to guess his city of origin: tallest tower? Got to be Chicago! This was going to be a looooong wait, so I finally gladly accepted a short ride from a girl in a yellow Honda-jeep. Jennifer was going to Quinault. While we chatted I found out she was also going to Seattle in a roundabout way. So I asked if I could stay with her for the next day as well. She agreed, and so we played the tourist together by doing a walk on the trail in Quinault.

	(July 2, cont.): Then we turned back! She was staying at Pacific Beach, which is an army base. She worked at the airforce base in Tacoma,as a communications officer, and was thus free to stay in any base when she travelled. So I got a warm shower too. Since I was going to stay with her for a full day, I gave her $20 as a compensation for the 'rent' and cost of gas. We chatted for hours, and I was very interested in finding out how it is like to be employed by the army. Jennifer, who looked 18, was already 27, and already married for 7 years with a husband who was becoming a pilot. What she told me about her life, seemed like a lot of fun to me! July 3 Pacific Beach - Seattle We played the tourist all day. Went to the Hoh Rain forest, walked the shortish trails, admired the mosses. Rode to Forks to have fish&chips, and on to the Hurricane Ridge. The road was mostly covered in mist, but we lucked out and came out of it, in between two layers of clouds, and had fantastic views over the mountain ridge. THe hurricane ridge is a very challenging bike ride, and can be very dangerous if you don't have lights, as it has 3 tunnels. Going down, we saw 2 unloaded cyclists going up in the wrong way, without lights. You can't get any more stupid than that! Other cyclists, hurtling down from that hill, might get seriously hurt if they bomb-dive into stupid idiots like these women. Ellener had told me that the Oregon law told cyclist to cycle like that for years, the law has only recently been changed, but apparently people still think they are pedestrians when cycling, rather than vehicle-operators who need to abide the same traffic rules as other road users on wheels. In Port Angeles I called Alex Wetmore, with whom I was going to stay, as it was going to be late, we would take the 21.55 h ferry, and I guessed it would be 2300 hrs by the time I arrived at his house. And so it was. I said goodbye to Jennifer, who said she was glad with my company and my navigating skills, and did the meagre 2 K to Alex' house, extending it a bit, by turning the other way.

(July 3, cont.): The weather was typical for Seattle, a driving rain, but I'd already expected that. For now my plans are to cycle (yes, really!) on to the smaller islands in between the coast and Vancouver Islands, hop on a few ferries and end in Sydney, V.I., go to Victoria, cycle north again, another ferry to Vancouver via Salt Spring Island, and back to V.I. and pedal north and finally get on a ferry to Prince Rupert. Considering the amt of ferries in this area, I was truly amazed that someone like Jennifer never had taken a ferry before, as she was from S Carolina. We, in the Netherlands have many ferries and take them for granted. Funny! Will be in Seattle for the rest of the day and hope to see the fireworks tonight. For those in Seattle, the name of the woman I'm trying to find is probably Savanna. Sorry not to be able to give more clues, it's 7 years ago!