We have been very busy riders.........
8/27 Newport to winchester Bay, OR 76miles
8/28 Winchester Bay to Port Orford, OR 87miles
8/29 Port Orford to Brookings, OR 58miles
And boy what beautiful miles they have been. Twice now we have sighted whales. We watched Harbor Seals play under the bridges, and we have seen two sets of Bald Eagles. And let us not forget to mention one very ugly Turkey Vulture.
Our route has provided us with a variety of scenery and terrain. Most days we spend about half the time ridding along Hwy 101 with the most spectacular views of the ocean while the other half takes us inland on less traveled two lane roads that wind through beautiful valleys! It is difficult to find the words to describe the beauty. Lush forest floors covered with ferns, and the trees so thick that it looks like night. The ocean is spectacular. The large rock formations that are abundant along the Oregon coast are breathtaking.
We have been camping in the State Parks. They have all had hiker/biker sites which besides being only $8.00 are usually in the prettiest spots. This also provides us with the opportunity to meet and talk with other cyclists. It's fun to share stories and learn where everyone is from.
Tomorrow we will cross into California! Sherry's friend Devra is driving down from Reno to help celebrate her 46th birthday. We are looking forward to seeing her and the wonderful Chipino Dinner she is going to fix us!
Bob & Sherry
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Newport, Oregon
Greetings from God's country,
We are in a little town in Oregon doing laundry this morning and drinking coffee and updating the internet. It is a beautiful sunny day and the views are absolutely beautiful.
We have camped for 7 nights straight and last night stayed in Newport at a hiker/biker campsite in a State campground. They have firewood for sale for $4.00 a big bundle and it was enough to get us a couple hours of burn time. The hiker/biker camp sites are $4.00 a person and are usually very nice. Last night we fell asleep to the sounds of a foghorn and to seals barking and the waves crashing into the shore.
The Oregon coast is so incredibly beautiful. I think it is even more beautiful than the Mediterraen coast. It is a very rugged coast with a lot of rocks in the water and steep cliffs. I had no idea it was so pretty!
We have been averaging about 65 to 70 miles a day and that is usually enough to exhaust us each night. There isn't a whole lot of flat riding and around every bend in the road there is a hill to climb. But, with every hill comes an incredible view so it is all worth it.
It is Sherry's birthday on Thursday!!! August 30th. I want to see some posts on here wishing her a happy birthday! We are hoping to be close to Cresent City, California on her birthday and I might even get us a hotel and a real bed to sleep on for the night. We would feel spoiled just to sleep on a real bed right now!
We are having the time of our lives and are so thankful that we have the time, and bodies that will allow us to do this. It is truely a dream to be living out here on the bike on the coast, next to the ocean. You really feel free!!!
Until next time,
Bob (big legs) Nesbitt and Sherry (little, but strong legs) Ashbey-Woldberg
We are in a little town in Oregon doing laundry this morning and drinking coffee and updating the internet. It is a beautiful sunny day and the views are absolutely beautiful.
We have camped for 7 nights straight and last night stayed in Newport at a hiker/biker campsite in a State campground. They have firewood for sale for $4.00 a big bundle and it was enough to get us a couple hours of burn time. The hiker/biker camp sites are $4.00 a person and are usually very nice. Last night we fell asleep to the sounds of a foghorn and to seals barking and the waves crashing into the shore.
The Oregon coast is so incredibly beautiful. I think it is even more beautiful than the Mediterraen coast. It is a very rugged coast with a lot of rocks in the water and steep cliffs. I had no idea it was so pretty!
We have been averaging about 65 to 70 miles a day and that is usually enough to exhaust us each night. There isn't a whole lot of flat riding and around every bend in the road there is a hill to climb. But, with every hill comes an incredible view so it is all worth it.
It is Sherry's birthday on Thursday!!! August 30th. I want to see some posts on here wishing her a happy birthday! We are hoping to be close to Cresent City, California on her birthday and I might even get us a hotel and a real bed to sleep on for the night. We would feel spoiled just to sleep on a real bed right now!
We are having the time of our lives and are so thankful that we have the time, and bodies that will allow us to do this. It is truely a dream to be living out here on the bike on the coast, next to the ocean. You really feel free!!!
Until next time,
Bob (big legs) Nesbitt and Sherry (little, but strong legs) Ashbey-Woldberg
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Pacific Coast Hwy
Hello everyone!!
After a short break we are back on the road again. This time our travels will take us from Seattle Washington to San Diego California via the Pacific Coast Hwy! We started pedaling from the Seatlle Airport on Aug 20th. 5 days later and over 280 miles we are now in Tillamook, OR.
It has been an excitting and beautiful trip so far. We have been blessed with good weather ( it has not rained yet) We have even seen the sun most afternoons and had only one morning of fog. The roads have been great and the adventure cycling route has taken through beautiful inland valleys along little rivers and over some beautiful majestic mountains.
We have camped in some amazing places!!! Two nights ago we pitched our tent on the banks of the Columbia River. Durring the night we were lulled to the sound of the water lapping on the shore and in the morning we ate our breakfast while watching the Blue Herons swoon over the bay looking for their breakfast. We have feasted on wild blueberries which grow in abundance along the road ways. We have ridden on inland roads for miles and miles with no cars in sight. We have ridden along the coastline mesmerized by the beautiful Pacific Ocean. The ruggedness and beauty of the coastline is humbling. We feel so blessed to be able to enjoy it and share it together.
Internet access is scarce but we hope to do a little better job of keeping you updated. As usual we have lots of great pictures to share but alas no time to get them downloaded. Hopefully in the next update.
Bob & Sherry
After a short break we are back on the road again. This time our travels will take us from Seattle Washington to San Diego California via the Pacific Coast Hwy! We started pedaling from the Seatlle Airport on Aug 20th. 5 days later and over 280 miles we are now in Tillamook, OR.
It has been an excitting and beautiful trip so far. We have been blessed with good weather ( it has not rained yet) We have even seen the sun most afternoons and had only one morning of fog. The roads have been great and the adventure cycling route has taken through beautiful inland valleys along little rivers and over some beautiful majestic mountains.
We have camped in some amazing places!!! Two nights ago we pitched our tent on the banks of the Columbia River. Durring the night we were lulled to the sound of the water lapping on the shore and in the morning we ate our breakfast while watching the Blue Herons swoon over the bay looking for their breakfast. We have feasted on wild blueberries which grow in abundance along the road ways. We have ridden on inland roads for miles and miles with no cars in sight. We have ridden along the coastline mesmerized by the beautiful Pacific Ocean. The ruggedness and beauty of the coastline is humbling. We feel so blessed to be able to enjoy it and share it together.
Internet access is scarce but we hope to do a little better job of keeping you updated. As usual we have lots of great pictures to share but alas no time to get them downloaded. Hopefully in the next update.
Bob & Sherry
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
USA!
Hello from the good ole USA.
We made it back to Minneapolis on Tuesday night at 8:00pm.
Let me try and update since the last time we posted. We ended up camping outside of Paris the two days prior to actually making it to the city. Paris suburbs go for about 100 miles or at least it seemed that way to us. We camped along the Seine river in a town called Melun at a campground. A lot of the other campers where visiting Euro Disney but we actually met several other bicycle touring people as well. Then we biked along the Seine river to Joinville which is just 20 miles outside of Paris. There we camped along with more bicycling tourists. We were surprised to get camping so close to the heart of the city.
The last day riding into Paris was really something! It was like the Beverly Hillbilly's come to Paris. I am not sure what the bigger attraction was in Paris that day, the Eiffle tower or us! Sure we didn't smell all that great after living in a tent the last 45 days, sure we were a little dirty and grimey after living in a tent the last 45 days, but we shouldn't have drawn that many stares from the so called "beautiful people" of Paris.
It was something going around some of those roundabouts where six cars deep are either entering or trying to get out of it!! We lived though, we didn't get hit by any cars. That wasn't the same for one guy from Toronto that we met though. He got hit at the Arc De Triumph roundabout which has to be the most insane place you will ever see. There are probably 12 roads that lead into that one round about and every drives about 50mph. He was shook up and his bike was hurt but he was laughing about it.
We got to our hotel to find out that they didn't have any room for our bikes. The hotel was tiny. We told the guy at the front desk that our bikes were very expensive and that we couldn't leave them on the streets. He ended up letting us put them in the very small lobby and he watched over them carefully for us. It was a great hotel and the best news was that it was next door to a Starbucks coffee! We had both been dreaming about a good cup of coffee. I am not exagerating when I say that at one place in France I ordered a coffee and it was in a dixie cup and was only half full!!! So to have a Starbucks right next to us was fantastic.
So in Paris..... we saw the Eiffle tower, it is impressive. We saw the Arc De Triumph and the Champs Elyse. We actually went to Sunday Mass at the Notre Dam Cathedral in Paris. That was quite interesting. We didn't have any idea of what he was saying but it was still inspiring and we felt more pure when we exited!! And, of course, we saw the last day of the Tour De France!! That was really very exciting. There are many, many thousands of people there lining the streets of the Champs Elyse. We got to see them come by 16 times. You can't believe the speed! It was a fitting end to OUR tour de France to see some other guys on bikes finishing their Tour De France.
We had planned on doing a lot of shopping in France. We thought we would buy some really cool chic Paris jeans or something but, it really just did not happen. The reason was we had to box our bikes for the trip back.
We didn't think this was going to cause us a lot of problems but we were WRONG. It basically took us the whole day! You see, most of the bike shops don't have bike boxes and they didn't seem to simpithetic to us that we needed them. We ended up going to a Decathlon store which are the Europe version of REI but maybe even better. They told us they would save a couple of boxes for us on Monday morning. Monday morning we were in front of their store when they opended. The boxes were there but they where huge! We broke the bikes down and put them in the boxes and taped everything up and were done by noon. However, the guy at the hotel who arranged our ride to the airport said they were too big for the van that was going to pick us up. We also got worried that the airport wouldn't take them because they really were huge! So, We unpacked them again and decided to cut the boxes up and just make them smaller. After taking the metro all over Paris for tape and box cutters and packing materials we finished up around 5:00pm!
We were fortuante that we did break them down as when the van driver did show up, they just barely fit into the van!!
We got to the airport 3 hours early which was just enough time. There was a bag left in the airport so they evacuated us to another end. We were sitting there having a sandwich when an enormous explosion went off!!! Scared everyone. However, I guess it is just routine that they actually blow up any suspicous bags!
The flight home went well. We both watched 3 movies on the flight back!! It is a long flight from Paris to Detroit! We both slept on the flight from Detroit to Minneapolis. Vanessa was nice enough to meet us at the airport with flowers and drive us home.
We are updating the pictures as I write this so take a look. We have about 300 photos to upload.
We made it back to Minneapolis on Tuesday night at 8:00pm.
Let me try and update since the last time we posted. We ended up camping outside of Paris the two days prior to actually making it to the city. Paris suburbs go for about 100 miles or at least it seemed that way to us. We camped along the Seine river in a town called Melun at a campground. A lot of the other campers where visiting Euro Disney but we actually met several other bicycle touring people as well. Then we biked along the Seine river to Joinville which is just 20 miles outside of Paris. There we camped along with more bicycling tourists. We were surprised to get camping so close to the heart of the city.
The last day riding into Paris was really something! It was like the Beverly Hillbilly's come to Paris. I am not sure what the bigger attraction was in Paris that day, the Eiffle tower or us! Sure we didn't smell all that great after living in a tent the last 45 days, sure we were a little dirty and grimey after living in a tent the last 45 days, but we shouldn't have drawn that many stares from the so called "beautiful people" of Paris.
It was something going around some of those roundabouts where six cars deep are either entering or trying to get out of it!! We lived though, we didn't get hit by any cars. That wasn't the same for one guy from Toronto that we met though. He got hit at the Arc De Triumph roundabout which has to be the most insane place you will ever see. There are probably 12 roads that lead into that one round about and every drives about 50mph. He was shook up and his bike was hurt but he was laughing about it.
We got to our hotel to find out that they didn't have any room for our bikes. The hotel was tiny. We told the guy at the front desk that our bikes were very expensive and that we couldn't leave them on the streets. He ended up letting us put them in the very small lobby and he watched over them carefully for us. It was a great hotel and the best news was that it was next door to a Starbucks coffee! We had both been dreaming about a good cup of coffee. I am not exagerating when I say that at one place in France I ordered a coffee and it was in a dixie cup and was only half full!!! So to have a Starbucks right next to us was fantastic.
So in Paris..... we saw the Eiffle tower, it is impressive. We saw the Arc De Triumph and the Champs Elyse. We actually went to Sunday Mass at the Notre Dam Cathedral in Paris. That was quite interesting. We didn't have any idea of what he was saying but it was still inspiring and we felt more pure when we exited!! And, of course, we saw the last day of the Tour De France!! That was really very exciting. There are many, many thousands of people there lining the streets of the Champs Elyse. We got to see them come by 16 times. You can't believe the speed! It was a fitting end to OUR tour de France to see some other guys on bikes finishing their Tour De France.
We had planned on doing a lot of shopping in France. We thought we would buy some really cool chic Paris jeans or something but, it really just did not happen. The reason was we had to box our bikes for the trip back.
We didn't think this was going to cause us a lot of problems but we were WRONG. It basically took us the whole day! You see, most of the bike shops don't have bike boxes and they didn't seem to simpithetic to us that we needed them. We ended up going to a Decathlon store which are the Europe version of REI but maybe even better. They told us they would save a couple of boxes for us on Monday morning. Monday morning we were in front of their store when they opended. The boxes were there but they where huge! We broke the bikes down and put them in the boxes and taped everything up and were done by noon. However, the guy at the hotel who arranged our ride to the airport said they were too big for the van that was going to pick us up. We also got worried that the airport wouldn't take them because they really were huge! So, We unpacked them again and decided to cut the boxes up and just make them smaller. After taking the metro all over Paris for tape and box cutters and packing materials we finished up around 5:00pm!
We were fortuante that we did break them down as when the van driver did show up, they just barely fit into the van!!
We got to the airport 3 hours early which was just enough time. There was a bag left in the airport so they evacuated us to another end. We were sitting there having a sandwich when an enormous explosion went off!!! Scared everyone. However, I guess it is just routine that they actually blow up any suspicous bags!
The flight home went well. We both watched 3 movies on the flight back!! It is a long flight from Paris to Detroit! We both slept on the flight from Detroit to Minneapolis. Vanessa was nice enough to meet us at the airport with flowers and drive us home.
We are updating the pictures as I write this so take a look. We have about 300 photos to upload.
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