Day 1: Seattle to Portland to Ainsworth State Park

May 8, 2015

Well it all went like clockwork until we got to Portland. We woke up, put on our riding gear, and smoothly made our way to King Street station in downtown Seattle, as we have done a few times before (although never quite so early). Upon arrival in Portland, we wrestled our bags back onto the bikes, and it appeared that we were going to meet our goal of riding out by noon, but then we had a text from Amy that she was running late. We decided to eat the lunch we brought with us. Just as we had finished, she rode up with a box of donuts from Blue Star. Between the long-time-no-sees, the noshing, and the taking of many photos documenting the start of our journey together, we managed to put ourselves "behind schedule" with a one-ish departure.

There's not much I could say about our ride today that hasn't already been covered by my previous Columbia River journal. The weather was perfect and the Old Columbia River Highway was just as bucolic as I had recalled it. We had energy to press on to our destination of Eagle Creek, but we agreed that Ainsworth State Park was likely to be a nicer place to camp. It really is nice here. Far enough from the freeway and the main campsites that noise is not much of an issue.

So far the phone plus keyboard system is working out ok. Bad news in the photo department, however. There seems to be no easy way to upload them to this journal. I will have to add them later.

I'll do my best to add an entry every evening.

Look at Sunyoung's aura as we wait for Amy to arrive.

We decimate them even though we haven't earned them yet.

Finally on the Old Columbia River Highway.

Chanticleer Point -- a must-see viewpoint

It's at the top of our first climb, so why not document it well?

Camp is all set up in the hiker-biker area at Ainsworth State Park.

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 42 miles (68 km)

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Scott AndersonSo is the old highway finally open again? When I was up there last summer it was still closed just past Chanticleer Point because of last autumn’s extensive fire damage.
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6 years ago

Scott AndersonOh. I should read more carefully. I see that this was a few years back, before the fire.
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6 years ago

Kevin StevensTo Scott AndersonYeah, sorry about that, I wasn't trying to "necro" the journal. I just noticed that some of the photos were missing, so I felt the need to do a little housekeeping.
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6 years ago