Tillamook!

I hope you enjoy the random selection of pictures above!

Here we are in Tillamook, Oregon, 8 days into our cycling, and we are FINALLY able to make a post. Where to begin...

First of all, I don't believe the leg soreness will ever really go away until we give our legs a rest from at least 50 miles a day, but Brent we feel stronger every day! Of course there are days when one feels like they could bike forever, and days when you'd like to hitch a ride on the RV/tour bus that just passed you on the road. So far we have ridden roughly 470 miles with an average of 50-60 miles/day. There was one 75-mile day that luckily ended with grilling oysters over a fire while enjoying free beer. :) (It is widely believed there is no better cure for a sore ace than fresh oysters and beer).

The highlight for both of us has been the great folks we've met, whether they be townies, travellers, or fellow cyclists. Last night we rolled into the Nehalem Bay State Park in Oregon and knew everybody staying at the Hiker/Biker Campsite! From the lovely swiss couple, Peter and Franzisca, to Rose who lent us goat cheese, to the older German couple on their honeymoon with whom we shared a seafood feast, to Sarah and Donny who plan to cycle all the way to Argentina, and all of the other friendly faces we've been lucky to encounter, Brent and I are not yet bored with only eachothers' conversation. ;)

It was great to start off the trip well in Seattle, and also to have some time to hang with Jeana (Katie's friend from Peace Corps) and her roommate Melissa and do all the 'touristy' stuff in the city. The first week of the trip spent cycling around Olympic National Park was beautiful and a part of the country that neither of us had seen before. We camped our first night at Squim Bay State Park, where a wonderful random lady told us about a bike path right off of 101 as well as a groocerty store where we could get some veggies for our pasta diner. She actually showed up at the campground that evening with a bunch of produce (and a chocolate bar!) for us just in case we hadn't been able to find the store. (We realize this sounds creepy... but it definitely wasn't! She was a completely innocent nice older woman who knows that exactly what two bikers need after a full day on the road is some dark chocolate.)

The next fews days we went through Port Angeles (where we spent 3 hours at a bike shop but brent was able to get a new bottom bracket!), and Forks (crazy 'Twilight' overkill but yummy ice cream and naps in the shade), and we spent nights mostly at State Parks such as Kalaloch, right on the coast (cold!), Lake Quinalt (where we met our awesome swiss friends biking from Anchorage to Panama) and Bay Center (tiny oyster ghost town, but we shared a site with the lovely older German couple I mentioned before. I think the best part of this night was when Reimev pulled cans of budlight out of his panniers and offered us one while rolling his post-trip smoke.

We made it to Oregon on Monday and are falling in love with the beautiful coastline and bike-friendliness of the state. We hiked up to Ecola point overlooking cannon beach (where the goonies was filmed!) yesterday, spent another night on the coast at Nehalem Bay State Park last night, and have roughly 12 miles still to go this evening from Tillamook to Cape Lookout (where we will again most likely know all the campers at the hiker/biker site.) We are currently filled up on cheese and ice cream, and with our panniers full of clean clothes after a stop at the Laundromat and fresh groceries after a stop at Safeway we'll follow the sun the rest of the way to the cape.

We are staying safe on the roads, warm at night, and we keep going through jars of peanut butter... If you haven't sent us your address please do so! We've picked up some pretty rad postcards.

Much love from the Oregon Coast. Take care and we'll try to write again soon!

B&K

Mountains upon Mountains

Montana. It truly is Big Sky country. Sapphire blue skies. Countless stars. Local brews. Mountains. My kind of place.

Life here is a bit slower and the politics a bit righter, but it's intriguing how ideals meld together. It may be cliche, but we're not as different as one might think. When I think of conservative politics these days, I think of the big corporations, the 'save a buck at any cost' mentality, and subsidized corn. However, this small town of Hamilton fought away Wal-Mart so their ma and pa shops could continue to flourish. They eat a large amount of local food, including what they grow and hunt themselves. Katie and I were talking in the car on the way west about Toby Keith's new song "Made in America", and how all of the ideas he talks of are valued by people of all ideologies and locales. A lot of the values I try my best to practice are 'conservative' actions but are perceived as socially liberal. However, this very politically conservative town of 4500 people naturally demonstrates very 'liberal' actions through their desire to keep their community intact and to support their neighbors. Enough about that. Just found it interesting. Can't we all just get along? :)

Yesterday was  a fun day. Austin gave us an incredibly interesting and informative tour of his workplace, Rocky Mountain Laboratories (a branch of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases).  Emily, Katie and Brent made panini sammies (sourdough, turkey, pear, brie, fresh lavender). 

Then the highlight of the day came, a hike up to Blodgett Peak. The Bitterroot Range runs on either side of Hamilton, and boy is it ever refreshing to wake up, look out the window and see the mountains in the forefront of your view. So Emily, Katie, Brent, Tim, Tasha and Katia (Austin's sister's family) headed up the mountain! It was gorgeous. Check out these pics: 

Time to head to the cabin at Lake Como with the Athmans. Then it's off to Seattle from there!

.nothin' but luv.

~B&K~

our itinerary

Well, for some reason, taking a Word file and posting it in the blog suddenly locks the Underline button. So this Itinerary will be EXTRA important! Enjoy!


Brent & Katie’s “Rolling Thunder Thighs” Itinerary           

Hey there! Chances are good that if you are reading this right now, you’re either one of our mothers or someone who is at least somewhat interested in where we might be and what we’re up to. So here you go. It’s not going to be exact, but it will at least give you an idea of what state we’re in!

¨     Monday 8.29.11

o   Minnesota/South Dakota

§  Camping in the Badlands with Rachel and Toby (two friends who are moving to LA and just happened to have the same itinerary for the first two days of the trip!)

¨     Tuesday 8.30.11

o   South Dakota/Wyoming

§  Harney Peak, Sylvan Lake, Needles Highway, hiking in the Black Hills

§  Then heading northwest through, and camping in Wyoming  while heading toward Hamilton, Montana, the home of our friends Emily & Austin Athman. Yay mountains!

¨     Wednesday/Thursday 8.31.11-9.1.11

o   Hamilton, MT

§  Catching up with Emily and Austin, enjoying the mountains, and drinking Big Sky beer! Emily and Brent went to High School together and even took a trip to Hong Kong in 2005 to study the music and culture. Wow. It’s been 6 years! Oh how time flies.

¨     Friday 9.2.11

o   Montana

§  Heading up in the mountains to Como Lake with the extended Athman family for some R&R

¨     Saturday 9.3.11

o   Montan/Idaho/Washington

§  Seattle here we come! Jeana, a friend from the Peace Corps, is kind enough to host us for a few days, as we get ready to take off and get those thunder thighs rolling.  Maybe we’ll pick up an Ore Ida on the way. J

¨     Sunday/Monday 9.4.11 – 9.5.11

o   Seattle, WA

§  Pike’s Place Market, Jeana’s favorite sights to show us, and the proverbial Labor Day BBQ!  The trick is getting out of the fish markets without having spent our entire savings! J

¨     Tuesday 9.6.11

o   Olympic Peninsula, WA           

§  And the Thunder Thighs Roll!  We’re off. We’re pretty sure we’re going to take a ferry across to Bainbridge Island and then pop over onto the peninsula to start the journey. 

**So here’s the scoop from here. We’ll average 50 miles per day. Obviously some days will be more lengthy due to the locale of the campsites along the Pacific Coast Highway, but then again, there will be some days where the scenery is just too beautiful (or our butts are too sore), so we’ll just stay put.  This whole trip is really about the journey, so the itinerary from September 6^th to October 9^th is pretty free form. We’ll keep you updated along the way about where we are, but if you look at 50 miles per day as the benchmark, you should be able to follow along just fine!

¨     Saturday 10.8.11

o   Santa Barbara, CA

§  We have a train ticket for the 9^th, so we’ll shoot to be in Santa Barbara enjoying the sunshine on the 8^th so we can get our bikes in boxes and ready for the train ride back up north!

¨     Sunday 10.9.11

o   California/Oregon/Washington

§  The Coast Starlight line runs bit more inland through more of the mountains and such, so we’ll get yet another view of this gorgeous landscape…that is if we can keep our eyes open!

¨     Monday 10.10.11

o   Seattle, WA

§  The train pulls in late Monday night. We might have to pitch a tent somewhere in Jeana’s neighborhood. Sleeping under a roof might just feel too weird. J

¨     Tuesday 10.11.11

o   Seattle, WA/Idaho

§  Laundry, showers, and hundreds of pictures to put on the computer (and a few on the blog!) Then we’ll head toward Boise.

¨     Wednesday 10.12.11

o   Idaho/Utah

§  On the road again! Make a stop in Salt Lake City and camp on the Western edge of the Rockies.

¨     Thursday 10.13.11

o   Utah/Colorado

§  Continue the drive east across the Rockies, singing along to John Denver the whole way of course. We’ll settle in the Denver for a few days, meet up with friends , couch surf, and continue to explore.

¨     Friday 10.14.11-Sunday 10.16.11

o   Colorado

§  Hiking and drinking good beer. J

¨     Monday 10.17.11

o   Colorado/Kansas/Missouri

§  Shoot straight across the prairieland back to the Gateway Arch. If the drive is getting too long we may stop in Manhattan, Kansas. We hope to be in St. Louis Monday night giving hugs to the Gerikes after a crazy/beautiful trip.

There it is! Obviously, like we said before, it’s a pretty vacant itinerary, but you can rest assured that our bikes are well lit, well reflected and that our brains will have an extra outer casing during the trip. So send those good vibrations out west and if you have any favorite places to see or memories to be made, let us know! Thanks for all your support…and let those thunder thighs roll!

Go West Young People

I'm writing this blog post as Brent is making waffles with Emily in their cute little kitchen, in their cute little house, nestled within the mountains of Hamilton, MT. We arrived here yesterday afternoon exhausted yet exhilarated after 3 days of driving, hiking, sightseeing, camping, and being in a general continuous state of ridiculous excitement. :)

We caravanned the first day and a half with Toby and Rachel, friends from Minneapolis who are moving across the country to Los Angeles. The combination of their fully loaded yellow hatchback Focus and our Kia with the 'fart for inner peace' sticker on the back fit perfectly into the scenery as we all headed west. Of course we made sure to stop at the fabulous Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD as well as the infamous Wall Drug, where we loaded up on 5 cent coffee and greasy country breakfast fare.

We rolled into the Badlands of South Dakota as rainclouds prevailed and the sun tried desperately to peek through. For an area that receives only 16 inches of rain a year, it was pretty crazy that it rained as we entered the national park as well as throughout the night, fortunately letting up for a few hours as the sun fell west (and we set up camp, ate a banana bread dinner, and toasted with pulls of Toby's Scotch). The rainclouds provided fantastic lighting in the evening, and we were lucky to wake up to a beautifully clear sky just in time to watch the sun rise in the morning.

We took the scenic route out of the badlands in the morning and headed for the black hills. We really wanted to get a good hike in, not only for the breathtaking views but also for the exercise our restless legs needed after so much time in the car. We decided to hike Harney Peak in Custer State Park, the highest point between the Rocky Mountains out west and the Pyrenees in Europe. The hike was supposed to take the 'average' person 4-6 hours, but since we are so hard core (and in a rush to get on to Billings to spend the night) we basically sprinted up the mountain in an just over an hour. The 360 degree views from the top are too beautiful for description. :) We hurried down for a quick dip in Sylvan Lake at the bottom of the peak and then parted ways with Toby and Rachel after weaving through Needles Highway. They ventured south to Fort Collins while we stopped to grab meat, cheese, crackers, and energy drinks in Rapid City for a very romantic on-the-road dinner into Wyoming.

Alas we were unable to chase down the sun and as it faded away our drive became darker and darker, almost as if we were driving into an endless void...

Eventually our energy drinks wore off, and knowing we weren't going to make it to Billings that night, we cut over into Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming to find a place to set up our tent until the sun came up. (Somehow wiser heads were able to prevail over the options of setting up camp at a rest area or a truck stop on the side of the road.) We ended up camping at a scenic overlook in the Bighorn mountains. Blame it on the after-effects of RockStar and Monster Java, our inability to see anything around us, or the shocking silence of the forest, but we both became consumed by paranoia as we lay in the tent. Brent's imagination was conjuring up wild animal slaughterings, while Katie's kept flashing images of wonky-eyed, toothless 'mountain people' hungry for the next naive tourist.  Every chipmunk produced a monstrous footstep, every wind gust the sound of a large animal moving through the brush. But we slept...

And woke to the sun rising over the vastness of Wyoming, feeling just a bit silly about what our imaginations had been able to conjure up. On the road again by 6:30am, we continued driving through beautiful landscapes of mountains and tall pine trees, small towns, ranches, through the tip of Wyoming and into the big sky of Montana. We arrived in Hamilton yesterday afternoon and are staying with Brent's friend Emily from high school and her husband Austin.

Taking a shower last night (after only two days on the road) was glorious. Walking to the brew-pub down the road, Bitterroot Brewery, and filling a growler of the local nut brown ale was glorious as well. But most glorious of all had to be waking up in the Bitterroot valley, cozily nestled in the rockies, with mountain views all around. We hung out at Austin's family's ranch last night, hiked up to a peak overlooking the canyon today, and spent the evening in downtown hamilton eating pizza and drinking good brew with great people trying to convince us to move here (note: we saw an apartment downtown for $425/month!).

Tomorrow we will be accompanying Emily and Austin up further into the mountains to a cabin their family rented for the night. We'll head out early Saturday morning, Seattle bound, to meet up with Katie's friend Jeana. We will try not to spend our entire paycheck on salmon and scallops, but if we return to the Midwest prematurely...you'll understand, right?

Ok. Time to wrap this post up. Here are some more pics for your viewing pleasure:

Please stay tuned for more travel adventures! Lotsa luv & hugs from the wild wild west. ;)

~B&K~