Missy and Shane's All Around US Tour.

We've been trying out the iWeb software now that .Mac let's you host your site with them...not sure if we'll stick with it or I'll come back to this blog.mac software I'm using but in the meantime you can hop over HERE to check out the new site. We're settled and VERY happy in Eugene. Have had one Warm Showers Cyclist come stay with us so far and it was nice to be able to return the favor for all of the wonderful hosts we had along our ride.
Again, check out our new site at:
http://www.missyandshane.com

So much to share and so busy....
Not really any time to create a new blog, though I really want to since this one feels like it was for our TRIP and now we are in a totally different space. But I had some good links so I will just post them here for now.

We are busy getting adjusted and settled. Spent the last week tuning in the house and getting it ready for all of our stuff to arrive... which it should tomorrow!

Our new neighborhood had an amazing celebration this weekend. They painted a mural and worked on an Intersection Repair just a couple blocks up our street, Garfield. Here is an article from the Register Guard and a short video clip from the TV news:
Newspaper
TV

And finally, we have some photos up with the new Mac Gallery... they are of our last couple days in Napa and our first week in our new home in Eugene.
See them here

That's about all I can output right now. More soon?

Stay tuned for a NEW blog!!!
New style and New news.

Life is a little different from the past year and a half on the road....

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
-- T.S. Eliot .

Now where to go with this blog? I still want to put up a final numbers update but once that is done that will be it for the All Around US Tour. Of course the rest of our lives will be affected by having pedaled 11,450 miles around this country. But there won't be anything more to write about the direct day to day thoughts of the trip. So this blog will probably roll along as a general update of our lives and transition to the second meaning of our blog. For our bike tour around the country this was the All Around US blog, as in cycling around America, all around the United States of America. For our day to day lives it is the All Around Us blog, as in beauty and grace surround us, wonder and joy are all around us, we only need open ourselves to it.

That's what Missy and I are in the process of doing right now. We are making the move to Eugene, Oregon. It's my home town and is where I've thought I would always end up. We'll see if it is the right place for Missy and I both. We're hoping to buy a home here and 'settle down' for a good long time. I put the settle down in quotes because I think that even after more than a year of being on the road and 'home free' we both have a traveling spirit as well as a home body soul.
We've been in Eugene about a week, staying out at my Aunt & Uncle's home while they are gone. We've already set up some interviews and may have even found a place to park our bikes.... a new home. We'll see what happens, we're putting our intentions out there and trying to stay as open to what comes as we can.
So stay tuned for a numbers update and maybe some big news about our lives....

PS this last weekend we were in Bend and watched my sister Kristin compete in her first Triathlon. For those who may be interested you can see the pictures here.

It's a whole three days now since we finished. My mind is a bit more clear and our things are mostly unpacked (though not clean yet). I'll do a wrap up of the last few days and save the overall recap for another post. There will be a link to the last batch of photos at the end of this entry as well.

Last I really wrote we were in Bodega Bay. We had a nice night camping at the Dunes campground, though it was a bit more crowded in the hiker/biker than we are used to. We decided not to break out the kitchen and do our usual sprawl across the picnic table since there just wasn't enough room for that. Missy hopped on the back of the Xtracycle and I rode her into town for dinner. It was only about a mile down the road before we came across a nice little Mexican seafood restaurant, Brisas del Mar. We had a nice dinner, though Missy's appetite isn't back to full yet so she wasn't able to eat all of hers. It was all downhill back to camp. We felt pretty tired but with some chatty neighbors and the fog horn Missy didn't fall asleep as early as she wanted and with my restless mornings thinking about the end of the trip I didn't sleep real soundly either.
Since we didn't unpack for dinner we decided not to unpack for breakfast either so we had an early morning departure, one of our earliest ever at 8am! We had breakfast at The Tides (where Alfred Hitchock's "The Birds" was filmed) and we're on the road after a couple calls home and a bit of free hotel wireless (which I'm proud to say I guessed the username and password for).
The riding was beautiful, though another up and down day. We ended the afternoon in Point Reyes Station for some shopping for the potluck. We actually were a bit worried that it would be crowded for our last night of camping and looked around for a hotel but nothing was available (well, except for that $250 room!) so we grabbed our supplies and rolled to camp.
It was a very nice road, off of Hwy One and very quiet. The last few miles were on a great bike path through the forest and into Samuel P. Taylor park. We were the second ones into camp and were pleasantly surprised to see several very nice hiker/biker campsites and found one kind of up and tucked away from the main area. It was a nice combo for our last night, with the group but with our own space. I made a nice big Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish Tortilla) and brought it down to the group. We were 7 people for awhile and then another biker rolled into camp (heading north). It was a nice combo of three ladies, some younger folk, some older, some experienced cyclists, some on their first tour, and everyone with good stories from the road. We shared some good food and great laughs. It was a really nice way to have our last night of camping and especially our last dinner in our "year of picnics".
The next day was a very short one, a pleasant ride into Corte Madera with very little climbing and not a lot of traffic! It was a busy Saturday, especially riding around Farifax with hundreds of road cyclists out spinning. We got into our Marin Suites spot a little early but they let us check in and we noticed that right next door was the movie theatre playing just one movie, Ratatouille, which just happened to be the movie I wanted to see! We went to a matinee and then went out to dinner at Il Fornaio where we got a seat at the bustling exposition kitchen bar. It was a perfect combo, watching a great movie about food and then watching the chefs work their magic in a real kitchen.

The next day was the really big day, our last day! We got up with butterflies in our stomachs and were pretty giddy as we packed up one last time. We rode up one last big climb out of Corte Madera and down into Sausalito. A lot of sunday riders out and the bike path was filled with more cyclists than I think we passed on our whole circumnavigation! We rode under the Golden Gate and then up the switchback to the parking lot where a group of family and friends were waiting to ride across the bridge with us. It was monumental, riding across the bridge into the City where it all started. Everything past that point was just retracing our steps to home. We had a great picnic down at Crissy Field with everyone who came out to ride with us. It was such a wonderful feeling to celebrate the end with folks. But there was still that last little bit to ride. So we packed up the picnic and rode through town with Jeanne & Julian pulling Sylvie in the Burley. A busy Sunday with a lot of folks out on the town and the area around Fisherman's Wharf was packed! We got to the Ferry Building and bid Jeanne & Julian goodbye as we just made our ferry in time. Across to Vallejo and then the last 15 miles home! One mile from the end I noticed my bike steering funny and sure enough I had a flat!
I really didn't want to fix it so I just pumped it up and we rode even faster to make it there. As we rounded the corner into Eugene Court (where Missy was born & raised) the neighbors and Missy's family had a big red finish line across the street and music from Rocky playing. We broke through the finish line and almost broke into tears. They draped American flag towels over us and gave us glasses of champagne. It was a joyous finish!

And so now we are done.
Now what?
More on that soon...
For now here's a link to the photos from the last week.
Or check them out on this mini slide show:

We did it!!!!

We circumnavigated the United States of America.
Over 11,000 miles of cycling and tons of amazing experiences.
There's too much to say and I'm in no state to even think about how to say it right now.... it's taken me this long to even acknowledge it here. But it's done and we are back in Napa.

Stay tuned for a recap of the last couple days, numbers, and final photos in the next day or two!!

It's 7:30 in the morning on our last day. I can't believe it's here. In only a few hours we'll ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, have a picninc, catch the ferry to Vallejo and ride into Napa to close the loop on our All Around US Tour.
It was 15 months ago that we left Napa on this amazing journey and today we'll complete it. We will have ridden our bikes around this whole amazing country. It's a little too much to think about right now.

Hope to see some of you at the bridge or at Crissy Field. If not then maybe before we head up to Oregon for our 'back to the real world' job hunt, house hunt, and 'what the heck do we do now' soul search!

We're heading out of Bodega Bay this morning for our last 'real' day of cycling. We'll ride into Point Reyes and camp at Samuel Taylor State Park tonight. Then it's an easy day into Corte Madera for a relaxing and celebratory last night out (in a hotel) before finally riding across the Golden Gate on Sunday!

Haven't heard from many folks about riding across with us and having a picnic but we'll see who shows up there... we'll be doing the ride no matter what =).

The last couple days have been glorious sunshine with some up and down roller coaster riding and some amazing views along the coast. This morning it is very foggy and a bit chilly. We'll see if it burns off.
We feel so close to home now, it's very strange. I have had some restless nights waking up thinking about the end...just spinning and spinning.
The hiker/biker sites have been packed the last couple nights and it looks like tonight will be too. We might just embrace it and have a big ol' potluck with the 6 other cyclists we expect to be there tonight.
Off for one more spin....

It's the Fourth of July and we are about four days from home. Four more riding days until we arrive back in the Bay Area and wrap up the All Around US Tour. We are so glad that we got back on the road to wrap it up and have that closure. It feels so right and though it's going to be very weird and a little sad when we do finally stop it is also going to be a wonderful sense of accomplishment and we're both ready to stop spinning the wheels and plant some roots for a while.

It has been a great past few days; riding through the Avenue of the Giants, through the Humbolt Redwoods State Park, into Mendocino County, onto Hwy One to ride over the big hill back to the Pacific, and nearly into Mendocino last night. The redwoods were simply beautiful and the back roads that paralleled Hwy 101 made it much more enjoyable. The weather has warmed up and we've been riding in shorts and t-shirts again with temperatures into the 80's a couple days inland. Now back on the coast it's in the 70's but still sunny and gorgeous. Yesterday, when we got back to the coast a thick bank of fog was there to welcome us and after about 15 miles it had blown off as we finished our 55 mile and 3,500 feet of climbing day in some nice afternoon sunshine.

Missy is feeling better after a shaky start. As soon as we left Napa to come back up some of her symptoms came back. That next day she got some tea to help with one of her symptoms but it got worse and she got pretty tired and that night we'll just say we were very glad that the bathroom was right next door to our campsite. She had a restless night and didn't have much of an appetite again. But yesterday she was feeling better and climbed the big vertical we had yesterday with only one little nap. She's pretty damn amazing. She's eating a bit more and hopefully today she'll get more of an appetite back so she can have the energy to push these last couple hundred miles.

Our plan is to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge on Sunday, July 8th. We'll meet anyone who wants to ride with us at the parking lot on the Northwest side of the bridge at 11am.

We'll stop in S.F. for a potluck picnic at Crissy Field (at the West end of the field, just as you come down from the bridge crossing). Come join us for a ride across the bridge and a Sunday picnic in the park as we celebrate the end of the All Around US Tour!!

We're headed back up to Eureka tomorrow! Richard & Linda are taking us up so that we can finish the last 350 miles. Missy is feeling totally back to normal. We're all fresh, clean, energized, and excited to be heading out for the final stretch of this grand journey. Will something come up that stops us again? Will this last week be a glory week? It's hard to believe that this could be it! Just one more week of camping, riding, and living on the road. Our "year of picnics" is coming to an end.
Missy got her Oregon Nursing license in the mail while we were back in Napa. It's starting to feel more real. We're headed up to Oregon July 15th to spend two weeks figuring out the next big step.
But for now, it's the next week that really matters.
We have some photos up for the second half of June HERE. Or just check out this smaller slideshow (though the link has captions and a bigger slideshow):

Strange. We're not exactly sure what the meaning of this whole Giardia trip home is and we've been in a strange limbo for the last few days trying to figure it all out. Basically Richard came and picked us up in Eureka, brought us back to Napa, and now after a days rest in Eureka and a couple days here in Napa Missy is feeling totally back to normal. We are all on some natural remedies and it certainly seemed like Missy's kicked in and worked. Jen showed some slight symptoms but nothing likes Missy's and I had shown some slight symptoms a few days earlier but nothing really major either.

So now we are in Napa with that last 350 miles still in our minds. We've basically finished the trip but there is already that 'but' in our thoughts... all but that last 350 miles. We're talking about it and trying to figure out what's next. Richard has offered to take us back up if we want to finish it soon. We thought about saving it for a later day (years down the road). We'll see, I think in the next day or two we'll know what's right.

The planned ride across the Golden Gate Bridge on the Fourth of July is off- even if we left tomorrow we couldn't make it back down in time.
Stay tuned and we'll let you know when we will do that ride in case anyone is still even remotely interested, it's kind of anti-climactic for y'all I'm sure... their back, their gone, their done, their not done, etc. Sort of feels that way to us, but we couldn't have expected a bike trip all around the country to be totally smooth could we?!

When we first started this journey we always said we would quit whenever we felt like it. That the trip was about going as far as we wanted and for as long as we could but that if something physically or mentally told us it was time to quit we would. We've had some tough times both physically and mentally throughout but each time we stepped back and asked "is it time to stop"? We always came back with the answer "no, not yet".

For the past week Missy has been struggling with stomach issues (cramping, diarrhea, bloating, fatigue, gas, and other nasty things) and today we learned that it is quite possibly Giardia. If we were farther from home we might just sit it out, get treatment and wait for it to pass. But we are close enough to home that we have an out and a place for Missy to get back to and get better. And so we are talking about just that. This may be the sign that it is time to stop.

It's kind of funny to think about making it 11,000 miles or so and to stop just 350 miles from home but also it's kind of nice. It's like the trip is meant to be open ended. There really is never an end to a journey. One part ends and another part begins. One adventure in life leads into another. So we go on, maybe not closing the loop now but continuing on our journey of life. Maybe we'll come back and finish the ride from Eureka to Napa soon, maybe years from now, maybe never. The mystery of life. It's a wonderful thing.

Just outside of Gold Beach, Oregon.
Had a couple good days of riding putting in some big miles. Also had a really nice time off in Florence and seeing Mom & Larry on Fathers Day. Was a shorter visit (and involved less wine) than the one in Maine but it was still really great to see them and have some family time on the road.

Working to get a podcast up with a couple songs from our neighbors last night. Johnny & Colin are riding from Seattle to San Francisco and just happen to be carrying their violin & mandolin with them. We fed them some dinner and they played us a couple songs in exchange. If I can get it figured out I'll put up a podcast with a couple of the songs. If not you'll just have to imagine it.
Actually have some wi-fi and plug ins at the RV park that we made it to tonight (Link) so I'm getting a couple things done. It was a tough day of riding for me today, think it surprised Missy and Jennifer a bit since one of them is usually the one working harder on the hills. Something about today, my bike just seemed heavy. Granted it does weigh a lot but today it seemed like it was even heavier. Jen & Missy were joking about my use of EPO drugs (what Landis is accused of using) so I'm wondering if they didn't put something in my water... or maybe it's just rocks in my bags. I'll have to check that.
The riding is still really beautiful and today the coast line changed to more dark sand and big rock formations lining the entire coastline. Have had rolling hills and we expect a big climb tomorrow which Jen was dreading but since we made more miles today so that tomorrow is shorter I think she's feeling better about it.

It clouded up today and was much cooler than the glorious sunshine we had yesterday. We actually wore shorts for the first time since Northern Washington. This weather has also brought out some bugs, Missy and I haven't had so many mosquitos since Montana.
It looks like the clouds (and bugs?) will stay with us for awhile, maybe until California?

Speaking of California. As I mentioned in the the last update, Missy and Jen did some number crunching and figured out an arrival in the Bay Area on July 3rd. Well we've firmed it up and decided to make that the goal. We've made a reservation for Haypress Camp and are planning a big ol' ride across the Golden Gate Bridge on July Fourth. So if you're in the area and want to join us please let us know, we'd love to have a big group as we close this loop on the All Around US tour.
There are a couple options:

1) Join us at Haypress camp on the Third, camp out with us, and then ride from there across the Bridge (about 10 miles). We have two sites reserved and can get a third but if a lot folks want to come then 'another group' will have to reserve the other two sites.
or
2) Meet up with us in Sausalito on July Fourth. I think we'll say something like Noon or 1pm under the Golden Gate Bridge (right before the switchback climb up) or in the parking lot up top.
Missy and I are going to fully close the loop by catching the Ferry to Vallejo and back to Napa and Missy's Mom's house where this tour started One Year and Three Months ago and you are also welcome to do that part of the ride with us. The more the merrier!

Okay, I couldn't get a podcast up but I'll put the songs here anyway. So here are the two tunes from Johnny & Colin. Johnny is on the mandolin with Colin on the harmonica (since the violin had a broken string). Enjoy!
Song One Here
Song Two Here

Wow, it's been almost a week since we left Seaside and we have had some pretty wonderful riding and some great experiences since then.
That day we left Keni's recharged and feeling great after her wonderful hospitality. We planned to ride 30 miles or so down to the Nehalam Bay State Park but as we stopped at a rest area for lunch about 9 miles before Nehalam we got to talking to some folks who said that the campground right where we were was much better and that we should check it out. It turned out they were right, the Oswald West State Park was a wonderful place since all the campsites were accessible on foot. You park your car, grab a wheelbarrow and haul your stuff down a big hill to the spot of your choice. We of course just rolled our bikes down and picked a great spot right in the sunshine where we promptly all took a little nap on the picnic table. The beach was a short walk down a forest path and it was filled with a lot of young hip people, surfers, and dogs. It clouded up that night and misted and continued to threaten the rest of the next day. We spent that day taking off and putting on our rain gear about 5 or 6 times.

We had another great campground the next night, only about 25 feet from the bluff and the beach. That was at Cape Lookout State Park. It continued to threaten rain but by the evening it had cleared up and we enjoyed the close access to the ocean, sitting up on the bluff and watching the waves roll in, the people walk by, and the clouds roll by.
Back on the Three Capes Scenic Drive (an alternate route to 101) we had a beautiful ride with the sun coming out almost in full force. We stopped in Pacific City for a GREAT lunch at the Grateful Bread where we had what Missy called "the best chocolate chip cookie ever". It was pretty dang good!
We followed that great lunch with an amazing 5 mile climb up the scenic old Hwy 101 and the Neskowin Valley with it's beautiful homes, wonderful fresh salad greens (inside joke), and nice looking school and one of the best down-hills yet.

That night we stayed in the not so beautiful but conveniently located Devils Lake State Park, where the hiker/biker sites turned out to be more like the city parks that Missy and I have stayed in. Right across the street from us were residential homes and a Korean church (where they were drying seaweed in the parking lot). But we had nice hot showers and we met some interesting folks that night as the four other hiker/biker sites were filled. One guy was an American Airlines pilot doing a quick 6 day ride along the whole Oregon coast and another was a worker/owner from City Bikes in Portland doing a quick 5 day loop. But the most interesting duo were the two guys who rode in on BMX bikes. At first glance I figured they were local "kids" rolling in to take advantage of the cheap camping nearby. Later that night I went down to talk to them and learned that they were from Austin, TX and had taken the Greyhound to Portland. When they got there they decided they wanted to "go to the beach" so they asked the best way to get there and were pointed West via the MAX train. That took them as far as Hillsboro which was still about 90 miles from where we met them in Lincoln City. They had picked up a luggage cart (that's a story in itself) and hooked it to one of the bikes with duct tape, bungees, and rope. It took them about 3 days but they made it. With one speed. And no brakes. Towing a luggage cart. On BMX bikes. Spending pretty much no money. Now that is adventure and guts. Or pure craziness. Either way they were living their dreams. They had come out to this area because they had read and heard about the awesome skate parks in Oregon, especially a couple out here on the coast.

The next day we had a casual day with a lot of stops along the way. Beautiful views along Otter Crest Loop and up above Devils Punchbowl, a quick stop to see a movie, then shopping for groceries, and finally a new tire for me from Bike Newport. The folks at the shop were great and mentioned both the nice path to the campground we were planning to go to and that Rogue Brewery just happened to be right along the way!!! As we crossed yet another tight bridge (tight as in the fit not the slang meaning cool- it wasn't very cool) we rolled right into the brewery and whose bikes should be outside but the BMX duo of Adam & Steve?! Turns out Peter, the City Bikes guy had given them a 10-spot to enjoy the local brew. We invited them to join us for dinner and we spent the rest of the night cracking up listening to their stories and sharing a few of our own. We all rolled to the busy South Beach State Park via the back bike path (nice) and stayed up awhile hearing about their crazy journey. They aren't sure how much further down they are going to go but whatever they decide to do I'm sure it will be an adventure.

Finally (is this blog post longer than most? sure seems like it to me... I must really be having a great time), we rode yesterday from Newport to Florence. We had planned to split it into two days but it was such a great ride with the wind at our backs, the sun on our faces, and the views just coming one after the other that we decided to keep rolling. Jen is doing really great and getting so fit that she cruises right along with us.
One of the high points of the day was riding through Waldport at the tail end of the parade and having everyone cheer us into and out of town! One of the low points was when we rode through the Heceta Head Tunnel and the classic cars from the Waldport parade came tearing through the tunnel at the same time and a couple of them revved their engines just as they passed us. Some people are just plain mean. Luckily right after that we had another great downhill that put a smile back on our faces and brought us right into Florence. We blew through town and on out to Honeyman State park where they have a really great hiker/biker campground that we will call home for two nights as we take a day off and visit with Mom & Larry as they come out from Bend to visit us. They certainly win the award for most "on-the-road" visits!

It's still nice weather and we hope it holds.
Missy has been doing some map checking and number crunching and we are thinking about a July 3rd arrival in Sausalito so that we can have a big group ride across the Golden Gate (and maybe all the way back to Napa) with folks on July Fourth. What better way to celebrate America than with the conclusion of the All Around US Tour??!! We'll see if it works.

Oh yeah, more pics up! Check them out here.

We're just outside of Newport at South Beach State Park. No time to really connect or type anything good but thought I would put up two shots that show the nice riding we've had the last few days. One is of the coastal riding and one of the nice coastal woods we've ridden through. We've had a mix of sunshine and clouds with a little mist yesterday. Been meeting some other tourers in the last couple campgrounds and have some funny stories to share, but that will have to wait.... stay tuned.

We've made it all the way through Washington. The great Northwest rain sent us through the final stretch into Oregon. We had a break here and there but it has generally been a bit cooler & rainier. Now as we sit here looking north over this amazing view of the Pacific Ocean from Keni's wonderful home in Seaside the sun is shining and beckoning us out for another nice day of riding.

We took yesterday off and I had planned to write an update then but between the sightseeing in town and the bike tune-ups I'm just getting around to it this morning and it will have to be a short one so we can get an early enough start.
We had a wonderful stay in Shelton with our Warm Shower hosts, Alan, Donna, and their son Lewis. We got our own little room and they fed us well with only the payment of a silly picture of us with paper-maché eyeballs on our heads (if they send them along we'll certainly put those on the next photo post).
Since then we have had some wonderful and interesting experiences including a most interesting evening in a trailer park with some characters that made us feel like we were in some sort of movie. The cast of characters included "Tommy the Rocker" cruising around on his Manta Ray bike and playing his guitar and harmonica just next door to us. Then there was the "Crazy Cajun" with his portable fire pit, dirty jokes, and wild stories. And the "Almost-silent Bob" sucking on his soda. Somehow they all came together on the stage of our campground and created quite a show for us to marvel at. Oh what the day can bring.
Dick's Brewing that also does a lot of sausage and cheese. The joys of this Pacific Route.
The next day we went to family friends, Kaye & CC's but we did it via Mt. St. Helens.

CC called in the morning and said he was on his way to pick us up from the trailer park to take us up to the mountain so we could ride down. We're good at going with the flow and it sounded like a great idea to us! As we drove up the clouds became thicker and thicker and we couldn't see the mountain so we stopped part way. The clouds lifted a little but we still had no good view. The ride down was still fun and had some good scenery though. We ended the day at Kaye & CC's home in Castlerock. Jen decided to take a day off as Missy and I rode on and had a very wet and hilly day so it was good she did. We all enjoyed their hospitality and wonderful home along the river. CC brought Jen the next day to our wet campsite at the Gnat Creek Campground. It was a beautiful and lush spot with fresh salmon berry's hanging all along our site and the trail to it. Packed up wet and rode through another day of rain but with some breaks this time. Did some of those 'coastal climbs' that are beginning now and arrived in Seaside ready for a good rest.
And a good rest we have had. Kristin & Matt came over from Portland with their new doggy, Tommy Moe. It was Matt's first visit to the Pacific Ocean! Well what a great spot to see it for the first time. When we walked into Keni's wonderful home the view out onto the cove in Seaside is breathtaking. We sat here for hours just watching the waves roll by, the surfers catch those waves, the occasional seal pop it's head up, and the weather roll through. Keni has been a wondeful host and it's hard to not stay longer. But the road beckons and we want to try and keep rolling to make it home in time for some b-day celebrations. Our next rest day will be in Florence to visit with Mom & Larry (the second time they have come to see us on the trip, the last time was on the Atlantic Coast).
Hope this weather holds as we look forward to the wonderful Oregon Coast coming up!

The great Northwest rain has finally come. We've been so excited waiting in anticipation for it and are so happy to have some releif from that pesky sunshine! Uh, yeah. It actually hasn't been too bad yet. It rained most of the day yesterday but there were enough breaks in it that we could dry off and warm up a little. Had one of those great breaks just before getting into camp which allowed us to set up the tarp and tents before it started to come down again. Things are little moist today and the sky is a mix of blue of and grey so we'll see what the day holds.

It has been really beautiful riding. The other day we were going down a particularly gorgeous road enjoying the lush river valley, mountain views, and farm fields when we realized we had missed a turn and were off route about six miles. Rather than backtrack we decided to cut across a few big hills and get back on the map. The road on the map wasn't as gorgeous but it was going in the right direction and was still pretty. We were bummed about adding on the extra miles, especially Jennifer who is still building up those muscles (more on that next). We pulled into Port Ludlow to figure out the bus situation across the Hood Canal bridge. Our Adventure Cycling maps warn of construction in the area and suggest calling Jefferson Transit for free shuttle across it. When we called they said a bus was passing by us in about 5 minutes and the next one wouldn't be for another 2 hours. We rushed to the bus stop and made it just in time. When the bus came it had the standard 2 bike rack on the front. The driver came and said we should have been unpacked and ready to load and that he was "on a schedule" but he said it so calmly it didn't really seem like it. We ran around like a Gallus Domesticus with it's upper body part removed. We got all the bags off, Jen & Missy's bike on the front rack, and my xtracycle inside the bus in less than one minute. We drove the 6 miles to the bridge and then across the mile and a half floating bridge. So we ended up making up those miles and getting across the sketchy bridge without any hitches.

The riding has been pretty much up and down with some great views of bays, inlets, canals, rivers, lakes, and streams. Jennifer says she can really feel her legs getting stronger (or that at least something is happening down there because they are ROCK hard). She certainly is riding stronger, usually keeping right up in the morning and then only riding a bit behind us in the afternoon. I think Kristin was right, before long she'll be leading us. It's nice to have family on the ride, it makes us feel closer to home. And as we expected riding in the NW makes us feel closer to home too, still having lots of luck with good food. Oh, and the coffee... even in the tiniest town we roll through you'll see two or three coffee shops or drive-thrus in a one block area. This is certainly the Coffee Capitol of the US.

Almost forgot about another crazy thing that happened the other day. At Ft. Warden State Park, outside of Port Townsend, I had gotten up around 6am and was uploading photos and checking email out at an RV site away from our hiker/biker site. Around 7 I went back to camp to make coffee and when I went back 15 minutes later everything was gone! Computer, cell phone, AND the camera. There was no one around, all the sites were empty and my hope was that the camp host had driven by and picked it up. I spent the next hour searching, talking to the rangers, the camp host, and had no luck in finding it. Finally the ranger talked to a camper who had called and was turning it all in. Turns out he saw it out there and was worried someone left it behind and that it was going to rain on it. Phew, close call.

Heading to a Warm Showers stay tonight outside of Shelton so even if the rain comes we might be able to dry out.

Got some photos posted from the last week... check them out HERE.

What a GREAT three days of riding we've had! The weather has been fabulous, the scenery beautiful and the experiences joyous.

After an urban ride through Vancouver filled with wonderful bike boulevard like streets and some of the usual busy streets we entered a bit of countryside before crossing the border into the US. It was an easy border crossing (besides being kicked out when we wanted to stay and snack). On that first day we had planned to start out with 30 miles or so but ended up doing 47 and camped out at Birch Bay State Park. We had a really nice hiker/biker site tucked into the trees near a tidal marsh. There was an amazing sunset that night and a full moon. The perfect first night out.

The next morning on our ride out past the tidal marsh we saw 15 blue herons and a couple bald eagles, a good sign for the day. Sure enough the day continued to be great when just 8 miles later we came across the Pleasant Valley Farm, a great dairy selling raw milk, cheeses, Alaskan smoked salmon, and farm fresh eggs. As if that wasn't enough it was all really inexpensive! We tried a lot of different cheeses including a great 'dessert' cheese that has cloves, cumin, and caraway in it- Fabulous. The link to the Farm above leads to a little article about it.
And that farm hasn't been the only gourmet stop in the last three days. We have been blessed with a lot of great grocery stops including a discount organic food shop in Bellingham (Barganica!) and a little shop in Edison Washington. In Edison we also saw a beautiful woodworkers gallery and home. Andrew Vallee was one of the artists involved in in the Tree Project, an amazing art project that took one large tree and made a series of art/furniture pieces out of it. The stories and meaning behind it all is really interesting. He was kind enough to show us his beautiful home that included a phenomenal amount of beautiful woodwork and had a great view of the area (The local slough, the bay, and the San Juan Islands). We have been enjoying this part of Washington a lot.

The last two nights have been a little busy at the campgrounds (being the weekend) but we are tucked away into the hiker/biker sites which tend to be a little separate and more peaceful (except for the 2am train last night).

Jen has been doing really well! Keeping right up with us or just a little ways back but always plugging right along. I think we'll stick to the 35 mile days we've done for the last two days for awhile but think that after just a week or two we'll all be happy around 45-55 miles per day.
Wish I had a photo for this blog update but with no plug ins at camp it's kind of hard to get to that as well.

Well, time for me to get back to make dinner- tonight is Alder Smoked Tuna Melts w/local Gouda and a fresh salad. It's good to be back in the Northwest!

We made it up to Vancouver yesterday. Long drive on Tuesday but no traffic really so it was pretty smooth sailing. The ten hour drive got us into Portland after 8pm but Kristin & Matt had dinner ready and we had a nice (though very short) visit with them. Wednesday we got on the road pretty early and made it to Vancouver in the early afternoon. We're staying with some really nice Warm Showers hosts. Ryan helped us get everything into their one bedroom apartment and onto their outside patio. About five minutes later their landlord came over to tell them "only bikes, lawn furniture, and something else" but no bags were allowed out there. Wow, tough guy. Had the nightmare "urban driving rush hour in a city you don't know" experience returning the rental car but after a close call with a late return and the possibility of having to return it in the morning we finally ditched the dead weight.
Had a good walk back to Ryan and Kristen's (our hosts)
and a good little visit with them. Ryan and I (Shane) went down to a U Brew place and shot some pool with a couple of Ryan's friends. Love those late night urban rides, I've missed those.
Tonight's the full moon and we're really excited to be starting today! As Jen said this morning "with all the talk about bikes, thinking about bikes, I can't wait to actually get ON my bike. I can't remember the last time I even SAT on my bike!" And so today, we RIDE!

PS Forgot to mention- put some photos of the break up HERE.

It's that time again, we're hitting the road for one final big spin on this All Around US tour! We're packing up today to hit the road tomorrow. We're renting a car and driving up to Vancouver (via Portland). We're running around getting the last minute things done today, pretty much second hat for MIssy and I but a bigger deal for Jennifer. This is Jen's first big ride, with her only other overnight bike tour being our trial ride a couple weeks ago. Luckily Missy and I have a lot of experience and are more than willing to take it easy for awhile. We'll probably start out the first week or two with a mellow pace and then pick things up, Jen has some things to get back for and we are itching to have a 'home' again.

We have a Warm Shower stay set up in Vancouver to kick the tour off with. Then there will be more friends, family, and WS stays along the way but a reminder to those who know folks along the coast from Washington to the Bay Area of California that we are up to meeting folks along the way. Missy and I are excited for some nice camping on the Pacific Route too, the Atlantic and Southern route found us in a lot of RV parks and we miss the trees, nature, and other tent campers that we had in plenty on the Northern Tier and Southern Pacific Route.

I'll post some shots from our break in the next post.
Thanks for joining us again on the last leg of big ride. 1,200 more miles left to complete the circle!
May the wind and good cycling spirits be with us.

If you're one of the few folks who still subscribe to our podcast channel (Thanks Harold!) you may have been surprised to have received an actual podcast today! It's true, we're going to give it a try again. We're kicking it off with a little episode today with a spot from a radio call in show called Calling All Pets that featured a question Missy & I emailed in a few months ago (with a special thanks to Roya included at the end). Someone from Napa was actually listening to this show while traveling in Hawaii and heard our question! We close the short show with a song from a Portland band playing a fun cycling tune, Pedal & Roam.

Who knows we might actually publish a couple podcasts while were on the road. But like you, I'll believe it when I hear them. Here's the podcast for those not subscribed. There is a link to subscribe on this player or you can just cut and paste this link into iTunes (Advanced/Subscribe to podcast...)


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We take off in four days!! One more visit to the East Bay for Missy and I to see some friends. I can't believe how little we actually made the trek down there! But we've been happy being in one place for awhile, enjoying our chickens, working on projects for the family, and soaking in the Medaris family garden, company, and love.

We just did our second trial ride, this one for Jen. Missy, Jen & I rode the 25 miles from Napa to Bothe State Park (the same spot Missy & I did our trial ride more than a year ago). All went well, except that Jen forgot her sleeping pad and we fought a head wind the whole way. There was a charity ride going on the same day, the Tour de Cure, so there were a lot of other cyclists on the road which was nice. It got into the high 80's so even with the short miles the wind and heat made us all pretty tired. We still woke up on Monday at 5am and did Missy's annual birthday sunrise hike. After the hike we got on the road at 8am, the earliest we've been riding the whole trip. It was even hotter that day but as a special birthday present to Missy we had a great tailwind and got home almost an hour faster than the ride out there.

Now we have a couple more project around here (painting a deck, roofing our guest house, working on an outdoor bathroom, etc.). Still planning on a May 31st for our departure out of Vancouver heading south back to Napa!

I finally got around to updating our numbers AND putting up photos for the last bit.
It's pretty wild to add these up, when we've been on the road for so long it just feels like a small thing but then I look at the miles, how much elevation we've gained, time in the saddle, etc... and it just surprises me.
These are the Northern tier, the Atlantic route, the Southern Route, and the first bit from Napa-San Diego. Come July we'll have the final numbers and a lot of great stories, photos, and memories

Miles ridden: 10,175
Average Miles Daily: 49
Average MPH: 12
Shane's max speed: 44.5mph
Missy's max speed: 41mph Total Elevation Gain: 272,595 feet
Days on the Road: 326
Total time in saddle: Nearly 1,000 hours.
Days camping: 164
Days in homes (friends/family/strangers): 104
Days in hotels: 58
Numer of flats: 6 for Missy, 9 for Shane
Sets of tires: 3 for M, 4 for Shane (this last set we just put on and should last us the rest of the way).

Replaced/Repaired gear: lantern glass (broke, replaced). Kelty tent (leaking, replaced for free, working great), Xtracycle frame (cracked, rewelded, cracked again, rewelded with truss), MSR Stove (sent in for cleaning), Wheels (Two new ones for Shane's rear-the second one a nice Peter White ), Spokes (about 15 for Shane's old wheels), iPod (Missy's sent in & repaired), clothes (some very worn gear. One shirt, two bras, two pairs of socks, four bike shorts/tights/knickers and one pair of shoes finished their life on the road so far). Number of photos taken: 5,500

The photos from Mesa, AZ to La Mesa, CA can be seen HERE.

Just wanted to put a quick note up to let folks know that I'll be putting a numbers post up soon. Also had to put a link in for a Wall Street Journal Article on cycling. Lots of great work/utility bikes.
Did you notice the countdown on the sidebar....More soon!

We're working on some house projects and enjoying the springtime. It's great to have our chickens back with us for a little while, we've built up a great little spot for them in Jen & Justin's yard and the girls love collecting their eggs and playing with them. They even had a 'play date' with a friend of Fiona's and one of her chickens. It was very cute.
I've tuned up my bike and done some work on Jennifer's to get it ready for the Pacific Coast section.

Still have to work on Missy's. Who, by the way, was just featured in an article in Women's Adventure Magazine!
It's a great piece about starting to bike tour. We met the writer in Portland awhile ago and she interviewed Missy while we were on the road. Her partner is a frame builder and makes beautiful bikes. We haven't seen the print issue yet but if you click here you can read the online article.


We're going up to Oregon this week to see family and check out houses. Sean will be down from Alaska for a quick visit in Portland and we'll see him at Kristin's (who is now engaged! -Congrats to Kristin & Matt!).
Then it's back to Napa for more projects and getting ready for the final 1,200 miles!

We're back and settling in at our 'home away from' in Napa. We've unpacked, repacked, and reorganized our stuff. Our bikes are stripped down for a re-build and we're working away on projects. We've made a couple trips from the North Bay to the East Bay to visit friends. It is really nice to be back with family and friends again! The comfort of home is such a sweet embrace.


We've also picked up our chickens from our wonderful chicken sitter- Roya and had a little gathering that she put on to thank all the folks that helped out with them while we were on tour. She took such good care of them for just over a year and we are so grateful to her. It's wonderful to have them back. They gifted us with two eggs right away.

This weekend we're having a garage sale at Missy's moms place. We've been working on cleaning out the attic of the home Missy was raised in- 35 years of accumulation. We already sent one big pile with a junk hauler and between the garage sale, Craigslist, and another junk run we will have purged a lot of stuff. Having been on the road for so long we certainly see how little you need to get by. But it's still hard to let go of some of those sentimental items, as Missy and her collection of letters, notes, and kitsch can tell you.

Jennifer & Justin's house is looking great, with a brand new garden space in the back. We have a couple projects planned for here too- roofing, building, and what-not. First on the list is creating a little space for our birds. Right now they are getting adjusted to their new Eglu, a clever little chicken coop and run from the UK. It's a nice design that is a safe and secure spot for them.

Planning a visit to family in Oregon at some point. Sean might be down from crabbing in the Aleutian islands (out of Dutch Harbor) at the end of April so that might be a good time to get up there. We'll do another housing/job preview then too and work our 'relocation plan'. Our estimated start date out of Vancouver, B.C. is May 28th.