Caravan

I can't even describe how happy I am right now. A great few days in Portland. Two days doodling around the Oregon coast with Minto. Last night we got into Florence and found mikal. It was great to see her. 

This morning I got a late start. Mikal is heading inland with Minto and I'm heading down the coast and trying to meet up with some other riders. I was just leaving the motel waving back any Mikal and Kevin when the couple touring flew up next to me. Perfect timing! There is another girl Mel and four of us now just biking and chatting. An extremely positive and happy group. In a good place : )

Portland

I'm sitting in a coffee shop that doubles as a barista school looking out at multiple layers of highway, fences and rubble. 

Mikal and I split a few days ago. I wanted to get into Portland and she wanted to stick to the coast. I hopped a bus not thinking I could make 80 miles before dark.

I'm in portland until my jacket gets here. I'm getting a little antsy and wanting to get on the road but that rain jacket is a bit important. It's been awesome staying with Abby. Getting along with her seems effortless after our NOLS trip. 

I should be happy with where I am and what I'm doing but something feels like it's missing. It's in my gut. Loneliness. Some of it is homesickness and some of it is not knowing where I'll be this winter. What life will I give up? Or what new one will I gain. I hate feeling in control of my own future. I want it to happen the way it is supposed to with a bit of guidance from my intuition. 

I get nervous about traveling with people. A kid told me once that I was better off alone, that I didn't know how to work with people. I can't get it out of my head, probably because I feel it's somewhat true. That anxiety spreads into me thinking I'll never find someone. I will be that lady with the cats. 

I have never been able to live in a single place or stay with one group. I'm a floater. I get enjoyment out of seeing all different cultures and ways of doing things. I did this when I was little between my moms house an my dad's, I had two seperate lives. Then on into high school with different sports and groups of friends and now, with simotanious lives goin on all around the world. Where do I belong? I have no idea, i sometimes wonder if I'll ever find it. 

There is a certain beauty in being alone. I watch the world going on around me and have complete control over wether or not I want to join it. I can remain invisible which is a humbling feeling. Here in the city I remember how big the world is, I choose my size in it and observe. I find it hard to make eye contact with the homeless. I am so sensitive to their struggles I'm scared to look them in the eye. In scared to communicate and to know their struggles, I don't want to feel the guilt walking away, what separates us? A bit of luck? A stupid decision? A misfortune? I'm not better than them. So why am I scared to reach out? 

With that thought, what is it with the rich? I feel myself make a quick glance and look away? Out of respect? It's not like most of them are aware of the world around them anyway, I feel I have complete freedom in my ability to stare and go unnoticed. Are they happy? To me they seem disconnected, unlike the homeless and the poor. Those people have stories and character and layers. They live on the surface and are venerable to the world. I respect them. 

Busses

We are waiting for the bus in South bend. We were told last night bikers camp down in the grass by the boat launch so we went there. We were halfway unpacked when an car came an pulled up right by where we were camping and a guy got out and was acting kind of weird. We immediately transitioned into packing our stuff back up and threw up some cash to get a motel.

I watched tv or the first time in a year or so. What garbage.

 

The weather is crap. Got into Astoria and found a place to look up plans. We had bad communication and pushed on to seaside instead of staying in Astoria. We almost split up, Mikal would take the coast and I'd go into Portland. It's just 80 miles off route and rain and late in the day. 

Waking Up

This is fun. O is already up and at it. Making phone calls organizing people. They are trying to put up electronic warfare systems in the forest. They have ten days to oppose it so there is a lot going on. 

It's scary how much we are lied to and manipulated for other people to get rich. It's not so much the being lied to part but more about their selfishness and ignorance and lack or appreciation of the world around us.

Redirecting rivers...?

Bullit Coffee

It's gonna feel weird leavin the temple in the rainforest. I really like these guys. They are bustling around getting ready to talk with mick about what's going on in the rainforest here to get him on board. O made us some Bullit coffee, I may have a new favorite.

Biggest Sitka spruce tree in North America! 

The bus we are trying to catch doesn't come to Quinault for another 4 hours, trying to book it to manado park.

Made it with 20 minutes to spare and the first person to start talking to us is a guy fresh our of jail, 7 years for guns.

This is the fastest transit bus, I feel like we are on the double decker Harry Potter bus. Every time he makes a turn our stuff goes flying across the floor.

Everyone is telling us how much a shit hole Aberdeen is and we need to get our of there as soon as possible before dark, gonna try to hop another bus to Astoria.

I'm really gonna miss O and D. I feel smarter just being around them. So much knowledge and passion it's hard to wrap my mind around in just 36 hours..

We also found Sasquatch ..

We made it to Aberdeen, the bus driver was concerned about us being here. He went right up to the guy who worked the station and he came right over to us to get us all set up. Our bikes locked up and pointed to a safe direction. Our bus isn't until 525 and it's gonna get us to south bend. Hopefully before dark or a campground close by. 

We are on a bus out of Aberdeen. The drive would be beautiful with the winding rolling hills and mountains in the background, but the land has been destroyed, picked clean, scanned and scarred. Massive old growth stumps and a few straggling dying trees. The whole thing makes my stomach churn. 

Churches, Logging, and Electronic Warefare

We slept in a church in the native Queets village last night. Yesterday was pretty intense and we were desperate to get off the road and find a safe place to stay. 

Leavin J am M, the couple who is running the church, was tough. Their kindness brought tears to my eyes a few times. It's rare to meet people as pure as them. 

Jess came to the church and knocked on the door in a tap tap tappitty tap tap to announce breakfast was ready. May had the table set, orange juice apple sauce and was in the middle of makin us blueberry pancakes. She fed us until we could barely stand and we sat around chatting until it was time to go. They had been married 70 years, and between the two had some pretty amazing stories. 

They had been recruited to live in the village and get the church going for the natives for two years. 

We are biking towards Aberdeen, 70 miles and this road is tough. No shoulder n bumpy, slow going and lots of logging trucks. I have gotten pretty good at the bike and lean to get my head out of rear view mirror range when the big trucks fly by. 

The sun is out, that's a miricle. I wish I had audio books in my iPod, something I could be learning from. 

We are a little annoyed at the road and the trucks so we pull off at Amanda park. It would have been a beautiful ride it everything hadn't been logged to crap. The land is torn up and scraped clean. Instead of passing 1000 year old trees they are zipping past us piled high on the backs of trucks.

Our trip has turned into a multi travel adventure and neither of us give a dang about miles on the bike. It's an adventure more about the people we meet and the experiences we have. We decide to take the bus to Aberdeen. 

We just piled our bikes into the back of a van and are heading into Quinault. We met O and D waiting for the bus. They seemed kind of hesitant talking to us, eventually asked if we wanted some chicken strips and a cider from the restaurant. I was pretty tense meeting them after yesterday and wanted nothing more than to get to a camp ground for some head space. 

We were both interested in all the things they had to say. Logging, the earth, the government and contract law. Things over my head but knowing I should pay attention. 

We decided to go up to O's place. D said it was magical and healing, we would be comfortable there and that O was a good guy. I trusted D.

This is awesome, the banter between O and D. Driving 10 miles an hour to avoid hitting frogs. Being surrounded by beauty and rainforest. 

His house is back a long driveway, covered in moss. We walk lightly through the leaves, making sure not to step on the banana slug who has lived in the area for years. 

It is a work in progress a beautiful space, I feel like im in a zen garden with the waterfall in the background and a surrounded by green. 

Cat Pee and Wet Paint

My biking jacket smells like a cross between cat pee and wet paint. It's really humid here so nothing dries out. D doesn't have a washer or drier. Well one of those hand washers. Mikals used it or her shorts and some small things two days ago and he stuff is still wet.