June 12, 2006
Ft. Stevens State Park - Nehalam Bay State Park: A long, tough day.
Ah, what innocent, newbie Oregon coast travelers we were. We woke up to a dry morning, overcast skies, but dry. There were many tall trees in our area of the campground. It was hard to see much of the sky and I didn't really pay attention to it. We got up and started our morning. We still didn't have much of a routine yet and spent lots of time walking back and forth organizing things. We hadn't been up too long when a slight sprinkle started - soon turning into a real downpour. Hmmm, Jacinto - remember those lush green trees you were admiring yesterday? Here's the reason they are so lush!
It had rained overnight - but for some reason we thought that was that. Ann said that their light weight single walled tent hadn't faired well during last night's rain. Their sleeping bags were wet and they were going to get a hotel tonight and meet up with us the following night at Cape Lookout. Oh, okay. We would miss their company. We didn't talk much in the rain - just scurried around trying to get things packed without allowing them to get too wet.
Jacinto and I had had major conversations about rain gear for him. He didn't want to spend the money on new gear. He typically doesn't ride at home if it's raining and he's been under a golden star when touring. His stuff was from when we started cycling back in the early 1990's. Finally I convinced him to take a Lowe Alpine shell that I had purchased mail order. I had intended to use it as a raincoat - but it was very heavy and I never did use it. I'm sure it would keep the water out, but but at a weight penalty. He didn't take any rainpants at all. Already our gear would be put to the test.
Jacinto finished up last night's leftovers. The raccoons hadn't been interested in the jalapeno laden main dish - instead they ate the cookies. Smart animals! I had oatmeal for breakfast.
We hit the road.
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Ann and Don soon pulled ahead of us. I was happy I had fenders on my bike. I had some extras for Jacinto - but he 'didn't need them'. He soon had the telltale stripe up the back of his seat bag from the mucky road.
This was a hard day. I didn't write a single thing in my journal except - rain - raccoons. That's it. I can look at the photos and know what we saw, but I don't remember anything much except for the misery of cycling in heavy rain.
At home I enjoy cycling in the rain. But I ride and hour or two and go home to a hot shower and a dry house. On my L & C trip last year we had about a half day's rain total. We had been lucky. This all day cycling in the rain was a new experience that was pretty low on my fun meter.
Ann and Don caught up with us again. They had stopped at a laundry to dry their things. They still planned to stay in a hotel. We didn't know it at the time, but this would be the last we saw of them.
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I feel terrible for not having more to write about this day. I think it has been blocked from my mind in self defense. Kind of like child birth - you only remember the good part and not the hard part. We plan to go back and ride the Oregon Coast again - this time NOT on the edge of the rainy season!
It was raining when we got to town and found a real store with good food. I was ready for a hot, hot meal. We bought good dinner fixings. We discussed getting a motel. I hated to get one so early in the trip. Camping in the rain is nice, provided I'm warm and dry in the tent while it rains. We did stop at an older motel that had a bunch of bicycles outside the doors. Must be an organized group? A woman cyclist came out and chatted with us (currently not raining). She was riding with some friends and taking turns sagging. None of them had ridden that day in the rain. The rooms were running about $70. Not a good price for such an old hotel, IMO. She did tell us where to find the laundry. We weren't sure how much further to the campground. I have an unexplainable . . . . habit? . . . mannerism? . . . of when I get to camp, I'm at camp. I'm done, finished. Ready to relax. I don't want to go do anything else. Jacinto wanted to set up camp, eat, and come back to wash our riding clothes. I told him that was fine if he would wash them himself. I didn't want to come back. He knew about my peccadillo and didn't try too long to talk me out of my position.
We were the only ones at the laundry. It had quit raining by the time we arrived so we could sort through our bags outside looking for dry clothes. I had packing down to an art at the end of the trip last summer. This year I had to learn to pack again as I had half of the cooking gear instead of just the soup pot.
As I inserted my dirty body into dry, clean clothes. I did admit to myself it would have been nice to shower first. But I didn't admit that to Jacinto! While we waited for our clothes to wash we ate some fried (hot!) deli foods from the grocery. It was great to get something warm in our stomaches.
It was a good thing we washed our riding clothes first as the campground was down, down toward the ocean several more miles. We had more tall trees and were camping on pine needles. The French fellow was there and another European man. The showers were a long walk from camp, past a meeting building where a group of cyclists were having their evening map meeting. This was a large group - not related to the lady at the motel. Since they were having their meeting, we never did talk to them.
The shower was good and hot. Now that it had quit raining the temps warmed up and the mosquitoes came out. We fixed sloppy joes for dinner and got into bed. It had been a tough day.
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Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 150 miles (241 km)
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