Welcome to Oregon!

We made up a day of riding yesterday, and took today easy. We left Darrel's place late and washed all of our clothes at a laundromat. We used Dr. Bronner's soap, the stuff you can brush your teeth and clean your pots with at the same time. Lying in my tent, i can smell peppermint coming from my "pillow" (clothes bag). The smell evokes images of candy canes and fat men. One thing is certain, we will not be those fat men in a month. I have been eating a TON of food though.

Then we turned south and rode through Ilwaco toward Astoria.




We approached the bridge to Astoria in trepidation. We had heard all sorts of horrible things about it. To top it all off, the death bridge was being repainted. We tried to hitchhike with a pickup truck, but no one stopped. After riding through a tunnel, in which Lukas bit the dust, we braced ourselves for the four mile bridge crossing over the mouth of the Columbia River.














Once we were safely across the bridge, we stopped for some well-deserved smoked salmon burgers.



After our second, more comfortable bridge crossing, a conniving staple lifted it's fangs from the road and sank metal deep into Samir's rear tire. And there was much rejoicing.



We actually rode very little today, around thirty to forty miles. Still, a day full of adventures! Luckily everyone is unhurt, save for Lukas, who suffered slight scratches on his elbow.

Tonight we are sleeping in a horse field, complements of Adrian and his family, the owners of the ranch. It is pretty cool. The horse whinnies are pretty wild.

Night!