Changes

Giuseppe, Tabio and I rode into Aberdeen and found what we thought was a hotel/motel but turned out to be Leah’s Place, Leah’s home where she rents out rooms. We ended up staying a few days to rest, work on bikes, cook, drink wine and sit out a rainy day while waiting for my panniers and racks to come in. Giuseppe and I cooked delicious dinners for two nights and Leah cooked a wonderful dinner for all of us on the last night. She was a wonderful hostess!

Daniel from Switzerland arrived while we were there and rode with us to Westport, Washington where they had a seafood festival. It wasn’t a very big event, but the sun was shining so it was a wonderful day.

After pulling my trailer for over 700 miles, I’ve come to realize it feels like an anchor when climbing hills. Everyone I’ve ridden with pulls away from me as soon as we hit a grade. I’m sure the increased challenge has made my legs stronger, but even after sending back another 23 lbs of things I haven’t used in the past 6 weeks, the trailer still felt heavy.

The panniers and racks came in, I mounted the racks and moved gear from the trailer to the bags. I felt a difference immediately. Pushing weight seems to be easier than pulling weight. I’m still pulling the trailer, but there isn’t much in it at this point. Tomorrow will be the big day. My front panniers will arrive in Astoria, Oregon and I’ll be sending my trailer back to Southern California. Riding my bike with the panniers and without the trailer attached feels amazingly lighter. I really should have done this originally, but we all must live and learn!

Tabio and Daniel wanted to cover more mileage, so they left early yesterday morning. Giuseppe and I came upon another rider who is heading to Argentina – Johannes from Germany. Johannes recently graduated from college and decided that he should see some of the world by bike before getting sucked into an engineering job that will consume his time for years to come.

Johannes has to be in Portland in a few days because the US immigration will only allow him 90 days in the US, even though he spent 2 months in Canada after leaving Alaska. He will be taking a train to San Diego to get into Mexico before his 90 days expire. He wanted to ride all the way through, but I told him that he will probably be safer on his bike avoiding California’s texting drivers.

Giuseppe will be flying to Denver in a couple of weeks to take the test necessary to become a US citizen. As he has been studying the 200 questions on the test, I informed him that when he passes the test, he will probably know more about the US than most Americans. Sad, but true.

As things keep changing, I may have to fly or take a train back to Southern California as I have a client that wants to sell her home and buy something smaller. Considering I’ve previously been down the Washington, Oregon and California coasts, I don’t feel like I’ll be missing anything. I’ll know more in the next few days. If that is how things evolve, I’ll do what I have to do in SoCal and then head down into Baja as soon as possible. Such is life.

Another important thing I’ve learned, is that I need a little expresso maker to hang out with all these Europeans. I feel so inadequate! lol. Thank you for following me on this journey. Every day is a new Adventure!