Cheese curds

We woke up late, again. We were the last to leave camp. The other left but we were sure we'd see eachother down the road.

We headed towards the town of Tillamook. We were greeted with the Tillamook cheese factory that had a self-guided tour. Conner had just come out of it and showed us a package of cheese curds. Immediately George and I got excited and ran into the factory like little schoolboys.

The factory was amazing. We got ice cream, cheese, beef jerky, oh boy cows are great.

We took a slight detour at Cape Meares to see the lighthouse and some octopus tree. Interesting things but the climb back up to the main road was grueling.

We got into camp and met Conner and some other folks that were heading the same way. Kelly, another teacher, and Matt were heading down the coast from Portland I think. They had met this other guy named Steve on the bus too and he was travelling down the coast. He was an interesting guy. he had already done a transCanada tour that lasted for 5 1/2 months. Kelly and Matt were doing this tour after doing a transAmerica tour with a bunch of teenagers. I guess they met on the trip and decided to live together. Matt moved to Baltimore, where Kelly was teaching. Now they were travelling down the coast looking for new jobs and new places to live. How exciting, right?

Josh rolled into the campsite late that night. He told us stories about this old man that was touring north. He had a beat up mountain bike with a trailer that held his dog. He had a sign that said "need food". Josh said that people would come up to him and give him groceries. Josh also said that the old man talked to him for like an hour non stop and Josh just stood there listening. The old man had apparently went transCanada before in a lawnmower. He started off with his wife and dog. He had rigged his exhaust pipe to go under the trailer where his dog sits to keep it warm. His wife had enough and took the plane home. Weird old man.

Night came and it started to rain. And it rained till the morning.

Where to now?

An early morning start, 4:00AM. We landed in Vancouver around 9:30AM and ran outside to put our bikes together. Mine went as smooth as Michael Jackson but Heidi's and especially George's were shaky. Poor George had to take a taxi and miss out on the first day's ride because the person who packed his bike forgot his quick release, meaning he couldn't attach his front wheel. We met up with him at the hostel.

The ride from the airport had many lows and highs. The highway we were on had me holding my breath the whole with the cars coming inches from us. But the view from UBC and the seashore trail made up for it all. The hostel is nice too, built in an old military base and everyone seems very nice. There is someone down in the cafe right now playing some great Paul Desmond while being accompanied by a bongo.

Getting into Canada feels just like driving into the next town over. No one here really speaks French and English is the primary mode of communication. It is fun walking into Safeway and seeing French under English instead of Spanish though. We had lunch at this small pizzaria and I made note of the public transportation. There was not two minutes that went by without a bus stopping at the bus stop. Great infrastructure for public transportation.

My thoughts of Vancouver are definitely biased because UBC, University of British Columbia, is so beautiful. It overlooks that one bay, river whatever it is--George and Heidi are taking care of the directions :)--and it is absolutely gorgeous. I now understand why Heidi seriously considered transferring here.

Tomorrow will be a bit tough because we have to ride quick to catch a ferry. Also it'll be the first time any of us have gone camping! Wooooo! That'll be fun. But we got a ton of food, SPAM and pasta. I'll try to find a nice place to sit down tomorrow and update a few.

Is this a vacation?

Everything is finally packed and ready to go. Everything except my damn cyclometer that I forgot in my other backpack in Davis. The time is almost 3:00AM on the eve of my trip and I'm so stressed out it feels like finals week all over again.

Getting ready for this trip and trying to get medical school applications in early is a very heavy weight on the mind. The first week of undergraduate freedom is spent worrying and planning. It's Fun and exciting because both things are for big events in my life. It is... reassuring that I have set some goal but oh boy are they stressful.

I believe I will be heading off to the NorCal Pirate Festival tomorrow for a getaway.

Oh, and... I have to say goodbye to my hair. Oh! The sacrifices I make for this trip.

Something is weighing us down...

Two days to go and it is the first time I ride out with full gear. Not smart, but I'm not worried. The ride went out without a hitch and I came back just in time for ice cream. Things certainly look bright for this trip. I'm not the least bit worried because I got two competent, VERY competent, people coming along to stop me from throwing rocks at any yellow jacket nests. My riding abilities? Not good, but that is no cause for alarm. I rode for a bit and decided it was time to take a break. I set the bike to the side and took some pictures before everything was packed up and shipped to Vancouver.

Having everything with me on the road was a new experience. I wasn't even out a good 10 miles but I felt this weird sense of security. If I wanted to, I would have sat down where I stopped and set up camp. It was a great feeling. I was no long encumbered by the time of day, the roof of my apartment, or the weather. It was wonderful.

Hopefully ya'll will catch my enthusiasm. I'd love for everyone to take some time and travel at just the right speed, not too fast, not too slow. Darn my optimism though, I know it will come back and jinx me.