Greetings from Oregon!

So, after a long absence I have brushed off Country to Concrete to keep as many people updated about my unassisted tour from Vancouver, B.C. to San Diego, obviously California. We're in the lovely little town of Tilamook, OR right now. Home of Tilamook Creameries and Cheese. Which means pretty much nothing to you East Coasters, but over here Tilamook has a stranglehold on the dairy market. And rightly so; their cheese is delicious. But anyway, what to report...? The weather has been pretty much spectacular this entire trip; it "rained" on us for one day in Washington. Quotations because it was more of a sprinkling than anything else.

That said, the trip has had its ups and downs, mostly stemming from FedEx Canada screwing me over and trying to deal with that on the road. It's been hard, but I think it's been a learning experience and will only serve to sweeten the effect of this whole experience. Suffice it to say, the only thing I ever plan on shipping via FedEx Canada from the U.S. would be a rabbid tiger to attack as many of the CEO's of said shipping company as possible. Yeah, wicked bitter. But anyway, the ride has been spectacular in terms of scenery and both Katharine and I really love the Oregon Coast. It's totally better than Washington's, although I think that state will always have a special place in my heart as well. Cannon Beach was spectacular; I am super jealous of CUS trips (that's the central u.s. bike and build route, btw) which ends in Cannon Beach. It's definitely a cooler destination than the Puget Sound. Mostly because it's actually the Pacific Ocean.

The last thing I'll say about Cannon Beach before I move on to other things is that if you need a mental picture of a point of reference, Cannon Beach is the place where the final scene of The Goonies was filmed. You know, the big rock where the pirate ship comes out? Yeah, totally was there 24 hours ago. But you probably already google imaged "Cannon Beach", right? Of course you did. So, after my internet is timed out we're headed out towards the Three Capes Scenic Route, which takes us past more spectacular scenery, and I'm also very excited to say that we'll be camping with some Kiwis (that's New Zealanders) who we met in Tilamook briefly.

Scenery aside, the other highlights of the trip have been the people we've met touring the West Coast by bike, just like us. While we were in Washington we camped a few times with a pair of Montrealans (I have no idea if that's the propper word but the spell check on this blog didn't correct me, so I guess it must be). They were pretty friendly, but not nearly as chatty as I would've liked. Perhaps we'll see them again and we can eek more info out of them. We also met a girl who is biking down to Las Angeles. Alone. With platform pedals in converses. And she says that biking isn't really her thing. What?! I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that she survives. Last night we camped with a really rad dood named Dave, who is from LA and is biking down there right now to raise money for a trust fund. His tour was impromptly planned (the best kind in my opinion) and he needs to get down to LA before the 22nd of June or he'll lose his job. His days have ranged around 80 miles a day and in this terrain it's really impressive that he's moving that fast. Even more impressive, or perhaps worisome, is that he's carrying panniers on an aluminum bicycle with carbon seat stays and a carbon fork. Essentially, he's carrying a fair amount of weight on a bike that's meant to carry just a rider, and made of a material that is prone to litterally shattering if too much weight is put on it.

It's highly unlikely that we'll see Dave again, since we're moving at a much more leisurely pace than him, but I've gotten his e-mail and I'm excited to do a little networking with riding buddies on the West Coast. He seems the sort of eccentric guy who would welcome an off the cuff visit at any time AND he knows all these great places to ride in the LA area. Good tidings it would seem!

Okay, I think that's all that I have to report. I shall try to mind this blog a little better as we finish up Oregon and head to California. Until then,
Peace Out Hombres!