Changes

So, I've been keeping notice as to the physical changes I would experience.  The obvious have been strong legs, strong bodies.  My eyesight has improved as has my memory.  I have always had low blood pressure but now it is even lower, around 91 over 60 with my pulse being 66.  My weight has remained the same (I didn't want to end up looking like Skelator) but I am sure that my body composition has changed.  

My knees are still incredibly sore.  My muscles don't hurt at all and overall I am surprised at how fast I am recovering from being sore for 3 months.

The nicest people we met...

The nicest people we met in Idaho were from Oregon and Iowa!  You can read about them at kissthemidwest.blogspot.com.  We met them shortly before rolling into Mountain Home, Idaho.  They are headed for Iowa and have been caught by this early cold weather.  I've been thinking of them and praying for them as they continue on their journey.  Emily & Kiel met Cory in Eugene when Cory worked on Emily's bike.  They reconnected in Boise and are traveling together for a while.  I loved Emily's spirit and especially her comment about searching for trees.  I could so relate after being without them for so long.

Our Last Day

We officially reached the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday evening.  We pedaled over 90 miles that day and it was a perfect ending.

Eugene was a great place and on our way out of town we rode on more of their fantastic bike lanes.  I had to stop at a great coffee shop.  I rated it second best to my favorite in Woodstock, Vermont.  

It quickly warmed up to around 60 and we worked hard the entire day.  Most of the time we were silent.  Sadness.

I was even able to ride in my shorts for part of the day.  Blessing.

Our last 14 miles to Florence were along a busier road but we had a great shoulder to ride on.  The icing on the cake was an unkempt man with his bicycle standing on the other side of the road.

"I'm running for governor!" he yelled across the busy road.  He was holding up a sign and announced his website.

Cedar and I used the last 14 miles to list off 14 of the things we were thankful for.  Zion dropped behind because he thought we were being too sentimental.

My parents met us in town and followed us the final 5 miles to the ocean.  We walked out to the ocean to touch the water.

Finished.

Learning

We have been trying to list off the various trails and paths that we followed as we crossed the country.

We began with the towns being chartered and watched as the dates became younger.

We followed the Stagecoach Trail in Northern Illinois.

We rode along the Mississippi River Trail in Iowa.

We followed the trail of Lewis and Clark.

We rode along The Outlaw Trail in Nebraska.

In Wyoming we connected with The Oregon Trail and The Mormon Trail.

We used Goodales Cutoff in Idaho.

We may remember others but it has been amazing to ride in the footsteps that so many took before us.

We are sad...

I have been surprised at how sad the boys are to be finishing our trip.  They willingly joined me on fulfilling my dream and I am so blessed to have had them with me.  We always gave them the option of stopping and they never even leaned in that direction.  I am very proud.

We Love Eugene

Eugene has a fantastic bike route system.  They even have buttons to push at intersections to turn the signal green at the side of the road just for bicyclists!  We loved it!  We will get to ride on more of the cycling network tomorrow as we head out of town.  

On my last post, I forgot to mention the great encouragement that we received on the way up.  We had more honks, waves and smiles than any other pass.  The best came from an elderly couple who both waved and gave us a huge thumbs up.  She had a great smile!!  The twists and turns of the road prohibits semi trucks and any vehicles over 35 feet so the cars we did encounter gave us great clearance.

Our last summit

It was freezing as we started off, literally.  We began to warm up after we started climbing and I think that this was the most interesting pass of all.  We started in sage brush and Ponderosa Pines, climbed to lava fields and descended into the lush green forests filled with ferns, moss and Cedar trees!  We started in partly cloudy skies, climbed to cold winds and entered snow for about 10 miles.  Our descent on the twisty road kept our speed low and we had to stop every few miles to hit our hands to try and thaw them.

I've decided that rain is actually better to bike in than snow because rain falls directly down.  Snow floats in the air and does hurt the eyeballs.  We had a great day in spite of freezing.

Now I understand

I was feeling very tired and discouraged through all this cold weather and I finally figured it out yesterday.  I am sick!  Today I am just staying in bed and the boys are touring the Co-motion factory with my dad.  That is the maker of our tandem.  I am just happy to sit here and drink tea.  Morning temperatures are still below freezing but tomorrow the highs should be closer to 60.  I managed to make it through our 50+ miles yesterday.  For now, I am loving our last rest day!

All I need is a knife...

I think that if I secured a blade to the back of the bike, any vehicle that tried to kill us would have a nice scratch on their truck.

I've really used these opportunities to teach the boys what a coward is.  Men who try to kill a mom and her two boys from behind using large vehicles are cowards and need prayers.  

I did have a quick discussion with Cord about it last night.

"If we are killed, it was no accident," I ranted.  "They try to run us off the road on purpose.  I want you to hunt them down and make sure that they can't kill anyone else."

I believe that all of these drivers live in Idaho and eastern Oregon.  Not Ever a problem in the rest of the country.

Cowards.  Someone needs to teach them what it means to be a real man.

My mouth dropped open.

How to get a super taster to eat anything?  Make him bike over 3600 miles.

"Mom, I'd like to eat a salad," Cedar told me last night at dinner.

Mouth open wide, I looked in disbelief.

"I'm just so hungry," he continued.

He ate most of it before polishing off a huge plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

Miracles do happen.

It's Freezing!

So, not only have we chosen the coolest, wettest summer to ride across, we also have chosen a year when winter is coming early.  Yesterday we rode across our second to the last pass and it was freezing!  I was ready to stop the trip right there but the boys encouraged me to go on.  I have decided that I am a warm weather biker!

We have one pass left and from there we are heading to the ocean.  I am ready to stop there instead of riding up to Seattle.  We will first make a stop at REI to get some rain pants and an additional pair of thermal pants for me.  Maybe I'll get a second pair of gloves, a second hat and a third pair of socks.  I'm already wearing two as it is.  

My only consolation is that our friend Neil is freezing too.  I think his daytime highs are warmer but at night it is in the 20's.

Dreaming of warm weather.