April 18, 2000
First day of bicycle trip from Lincoln City, OR to Pasco, WA. Mary Kay's alarm went off at 4:00 AM, about 3 minutes before my alarm went off. We had to get up and get dressed in almost record time so we could board the Amtrak empire builder train at 5:25 AM. We had delivered the Rans Screamer, packed into two bike boxes, to the Pasco Amtrak station the evening before. The train was about 5 minutes late when we boarded it at 5:30 AM. For someone who really likes to sleep in the morning, this was really a tough thing to do. We went to the observation car and spent the entire trip watching the Columbia River as the train followed the Washington side of the river. Mary Kay did not sleep well last night so she took several naps as the train went down the Columbia Gorge.
We arrived in Vancouver WA about 5 minutes late. Larry and Marie Emerson, were their waiting for us. Larry is Mary Kay's brother and we were so glad they were able to share the start of the trip with us. We took the bike out of the boxes and loaded the front and back portions on Larry's bike rack. Everything went well until we exited I-5 in Tigard where the weight of the front wheel was too much for the bike rack and the bike shifted, letting the front wheel drop. We stopped, removed the front wheel and straightened and tightened the portion of the bike rack carrying the front of the bike. The rest of the trip was uneventful except that I took several naps. We ate a big good lunch at the Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde, OR.
When we arrived in Lincoln City, OR we followed the bike path along the ocean until we came to the Surftides Beach Resort where Larry and Marie spent their honeymoon. They had a special for a two-night stay with an ocean view room. We unloaded the bike and I put the two halves together next to the car. Then we took all of our stuff to the room and I finished assembling the bike. When I tested the chains, I got a grinding noise from the main headset. After a through check I found that the front derailed was dragging on some of the teeth of the large chain ring. I adjusted the derailed and got rid of the noise. Next I checked both of the computers only to find that Mary Kay's computer was not registering speed. Larry noticed that the sensing magnet was on the wrong side of the wheel. I had put the wheel on backwards. I reversed the wheel and everything worked fine.
After the bike was assembled, we hopped into Larry's Jeep and went to the park by the river. We left the car and walked south along the beach. We returned to the car and drove south from Lincoln City, stopping several times to sight see. We ended up in Newport, OR where the ladies went window-shopping until the stores began to close between 5:20 and 5:30 PM. We then returned to the car and drove back to Lincoln City where we ate at Moe's. We then returned to the Surftides with, each couple going to their own room.
4/19/2000 Wednesday
Woke up shortly after 7:00 AM. Mary Kay was already up so I just lay in the bed for a while. Got up dressed and went with Larry and Marie to breakfast at Sambo's in Lincoln City. After breakfast we drove north on 101 to the Winema Wayside where we looked at the ocean and Daley Lake. As we left I noticed that a 5th wheel trailer that was pulled by a Dodge pickup had a flat tire on the back of the Dodge pickup. Larry stopped and knocked on the door of the 5th wheel and told them of the flat tire. The woman who came out of the camper after looking at the flat tire said, "Where is the nearest phone". Not how do you fix a flat but where is the nearest phone. Larry got his cellular and then the fun began as the she hunted through all of her AAA books looking for an emergency phone number. Larry finally found a number and dialed the number after which the lady gave AAA the necessary information to get service and handed the phone back to Larry to explain where they were. This took several minutes then we left and drove on to Tillamook OR.
In Tillamook we stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory and enjoyed looked at the cheese making operation. After wards we drove about 1/2 mile south and stopped at the Blue Heron Cheese factory, which was really only a retail operation. Then we got into the car and drove to the Tillamook Naval Air Station, which is an air museum. We spent a couple of hours looking a several old planes, several which are the only operational planes of their type left in the world.
We then headed south and turned onto the Oregon Bike Trail, which we had ridden two years ago. We turned off the bike trail route and stopped at Sand Lake. We returned to the bike route and stopped at several locations on our way back to Lincoln City and a discount shopping mall. There we bought Mary Kay a new red rain jacket for the bike and Jim a good book to read.
We returned to the hotel and an excellent seafood dinner at the hotel. It was a perfect way to end our relaxed stay at the beach. After dinner Larry and Marie came back to our room to help us plan the bike route to Portland, and just enjoy each other's company. It has been a fun couple of days. Tomorrow we start the big ride.
April 20, 2000 Thursday
Ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant at 8:00 AM. At 9:00 AM we began riding. We headed north from the hotel until we came to the Shilo Inn where we turned east. We went west until we came to the main street, highway 101. The only problem was that you couldn't make a left turn at that corner. So I walked the bike across the street where Mary Kay and I got on the bike and headed north on highway 101.
We stayed on highway 101 until we came to highway 18 which heads east across the coast mountain range. After we passed the Spirit Mountain Casino, we stopped at a small grocery store where I had a Pepsi and Mary Kay had a burrito. We then continued our trip turning off highway 18 onto highway 22 headed to Salem, OR. We then ran into the biggest climbs of the day during the first 5 miles of Highway 22. After the final climb the road was almost flat. By the highway we saw fields that were covered by Canadian Geese. I would guess that they were resting on their migratory flight.
When we got to Salem, we were in the right hand lane and we were forced to exit onto Front Street going south instead of north. We stopped at a traffic light and pressed the walk light but it took forever for the traffic to stop so we could walk across 5 lanes of rush hour traffic. We crossed the bridge at 3:00 PM. Finally we got turned around and headed north. There was a bike lane in Salem and we stayed on the bike route until we passed Fred Meyer. At that stop light we stopped and Mary Kay forgot to shift the bike into a low gear. She did not warn me that the bike was in a high gear and the bike started from on a slight uphill. When the traffic light changed, I pushed with all my strength and felt a muscle below my left knee tear under the strain. Mary Kay shifted into a lower gear and the strain was off my legs. We then ran down River Road North until we came to the street that has the retirement home were Jerry and Dorothy Emerson, Mary Kay's folks are living. We are going to stay the night with them. We ate in the dining room with Jerry and Dorothy and Larry and Marie.