Oregon, Fat Tires in Bandon, How I met your mother

Fresh out of college and on my first day of work, I was led to an empty desk at Time Magazine's offices in Chicago.  "Mona's on vacation in Australia and New Zealand for four weeks, so you can sit here until we find you a permanent spot."

As I filled out the HR forms and performed other new-employee busy work, I couldn't help but snoop through the cubicle.  After finishing her roll of Life Savers, I noticed an exercise log on the wall calendar.  Each day had a careful notations, "Ran 10, Biked 40, Swam 1, Ran 12."  "What are these units?" I thought to myself.  "They can't be miles!"  

I finally met Mona when we were assigned to work together to investigate why Dallas subscribers missed their magazines last week.  Working together, I learned that Mona was quite the runner, training for her next marathon, and the units were indeed miles.  I also learned she thought I was cocky and annoying.  I thought she was cute.

Eventually when I was scrambling for a date to a friend's wedding, I asked Mona out.  She said yes and, despite the minus 60-degree windchill, we had a nice time.  We refer to this period as "Round One."  "Round One" consisted of me chasing Mona while she barely tolerated me.  Our dates eventually devolved to the point that when I asked her out, she replied "I'm too depressed to go out with you."  Ouch. OK, I can take a hint.  Thirty years later she still won't completely explain this statement, but I think there was another suitor in the picture.

When the holidays rolled around again, I asked another co-worker, Hilde, to the company Christmas Party.  I don't know why I asked Hilde as I wasn't attracted to her.  At the party, Hilde and I were dancing when I noticed Mona looking lonely against the wall.  So I ditched Hilde in the bar and asked Mona to dance.  The unintentional jealousy gambit apparently worked because she enthusiastically agreed.  We danced the rest of the night together and that began "Round Two."  Round Two ended on June 13, 1987 we when were married.

Luckiest day of my life!

Skip forward three decades and we are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary with a drive down the West Coast.  By this time our kids have both relocated to the West Coast, Matt to the Silicon Valley and Lauren to Seattle.  Our itinerary starts with a visit to Orcas Island with Lauren and ends in Redwood City with a visit with Matt.  Stops in between include: Olympic National Park, Hurricane Ridge, Hoh River, Quinault, Columbia River Gorge, Portland, Roads End State Park, Depoe Bay, Otters Rock, Bandon, Crescent City, Smith River, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Benbow, and Santa Rosa.

Still crazy after all these years

The Pacific Coast is a epic road trip featuring stunning views, abundant wildlife and the world's best collection of trees.  Our most noteworthy wildlife encounter occurred when we came upon a black bear sow and her cubs on the return leg of a Hoh River Trail day hike.  "Don't run," I cautioned my wife before I pointed out the bears on the trail ahead.  Following the typical wildness recommendations, we stood close together, tried to look big, and made a lot of noise.  This caused the cubs to immediately climb the nearest tree.  Hmmm, not so good.  The treed cubs are right next to the path essentially blocking our exit.

Momma bear and cubs!

We retreated a few hundred yards to our lunch spot along the river and conferred with a fellow hiker.  She had no ideas either.  After waiting apprehensively for a few minutes we backtracked further and discovered a faint social trail branching off the main trail.  With nothing to lose, we followed the secondary trail into the dense woods where it luckily rejoined the main trail beyond the treed cubs.  On the way out, we did enjoy the expressions of the other hikers when we warned them of the bear family ahead.  In retrospect, we should have just moved off the path and left the bear family pass by.

Abundant wildlife

The coastal highway's scenic panoramas are as regular Old Style signs on Irving Park Road.  Every few miles is something amazing.  Need a break, just pull over at the next sign labelled "Scenic Outlook."

Need a break?

A view

Another view

View for napping

World's largest Sitka Spruce

Quinault Valley rain forest is home is several of the world's largest trees!

The mighty larch (I mean redwood)

If you dress too casually, someone may ask you for extra towels.

Mona after a few beers in Portland looking to score

"All the little chicks with the crimson lips go..."

The trip's bicycling highlight is the beaches of Bandon, Oregon.  We rented fat tires bikes from South Coast Bicycles (recommended) and explored the beaches both south and north of town. 

Sea stacks of Bandon, OR

The fat tire bikes make beach riding a blast.  Staying off the powdery sand above high tide and out of the deeper water, the fatties allow us to cruise around and through the incredible rock protuberances with ease.

Yea Baby!

After we explored the southern beach, we headed north of town.  The Pacific Coast Highway caters to bicyclists and much of it has wide shoulders or designated bike lanes.  Some bridges were built in less enlightened times and don't provide room for bikes.  The work around is warning lights activated by a roadside button.  Theoretically, the truck driver will notice the flashing lights and slow down before pushing us off into the Coquille River.

On the shoulder before the narrow bridge

The northern beaches are quite nice too, but lack the dramatic sea stacks.

Bandon bike route

After 13 days, we arrive in Redwood City.  Matt and his then girlfriend, now wife, Jordan hosted us for delicious dinner and a hike in the East Bay.  Matt was working at Google at the time and my biking objective was a ride on those crazy multi-colored Google bikes. 

Sculptures representing the various version of the Android operating system -- Gingerbread and Honeycomb.

Always the polite host, Matt led us on a Google campus tour and a G-bike ride!

If you look closely, you'll notice Matt's sunglasses match the bike

Hiking the East Bay with Matt and Jordan (our future daughter-in-law) 

On our last day we took Zoey to a dog park.  After watching the behavior of dogs, we imagined what if humans at a bar behaved like dogs at a dog park.  Every time a new human entered the bar, the entire crowd would run up to greet them at the door with some intimate sniffing.  Next the group would chase each other around the room until tiring.  Which would be followed by the lapping of beer from large communal bowls. 

State:	Oregon
Date:	2017-06-20
Route:	Bandon's beaches, south and north
Distance:	20 miles

Washington, Seattle and the San Juan Islands

Our daughter. Lauren, moved to Seattle to attend graduate school at the University of Washington which gave me a great reason to visit Washington for some riding.  We visited several times and the biking is superb.  

Burke-Gilmann Trail

The first day Lauren guided us on a tour the UW campus and the Burke-Gilmann Trail.  Not only is the University of Washington ranked one of the best universities in the world, but it is also considered one of the most beautiful. 

University of Washington, ranked top 10 in the world academically...

... and the second most beautiful campus in the US.

No argument there! From the campus, the Burke-Gilman Trail follows the shore from park to park for 27 miles offering plenty of views and places to stop.  

Ninety minutes north of Seattle is the famous biking destination, the San Juan Islands.  From Anacortes, it's a easy ferry ride to the San Juan Islands.  If you can get by without your car, you can ride as a walk-on passenger with your bike.  As a walk-on, you don't need a reservation, don't need to arrive early and will save a lot of money.

Washington State Ferry to the San Juan Islands

We drove as we were staying on the far side of the island at Roche Harbor Resort.  We stayed in Anacortes the night before and caught the morning ferry.  In Friday Harbor, we rented bikes at Meat Machine Cycles (highly recommended) and rode from Friday Harbor to Cattle Point.  

Biking on San Juan Island

The San Juan Islands' reputation is well deserved.  Once you get out of Friday Harbor, the roads are quiet and the views are marvelous.

Overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Nap time at Cattle Point

We rode from Friday Harbor to Cattle Point.  A warm June day, after lunch Mona and Lauren informed me it's nap time. 

What does a fox say?

Signage warns visitors not to feed the wild animals as the local foxes are a little too friendly.

Lauren rescues Mom from the rising tide at False Bay

Showing off at Lime Kiln Point State Park

On our second day of biking, we noticed a very large white rock in the middle of a farm field off of Beaverton Valley Road.  I was curious enough to ride across the field to investigate.  Apparently, the large rock is a community canvas for graffiti and, as a community resource, the currently blank canvas was reserved for artists from the local middle school.

"Rock painting is reserved for Friday Harbor Middle School"

With a kayaking trip around Henry Island (San Juan Islands Outfitters, recommended), our visit to the San Juan's was so much fun we returned to the islands the next year after Lauren's graduation.

Matt and Lauren do the graduation dance

Awkward Dad kiss at Grad School and Junior High -- some things never change.

Matt flew in for the celebrations and we partook of the Seattle's excellent food and spirits.

Graduation celebration at Dick's

Lauren's boyfriend Jeff bravely joined us (it was our second meeting) on another trip to the San Juan Islands, this time to Orcas Island.

Is it just me or does it look like someone misspelled "Mt. Constitut(i)on"?

We stayed at the Indian Island Suites in East Sound with a beautiful view of the bay and the namesake Indian Island.  At low tide you can walk out to the small island where you'll see all sorts of tidal pool critters like colorful sea stars. 

This trip's featured bike ride was to the top of Mount Constitution -- a route considered one of the best climbs in Washington.  After renting bikes from Wildlife Cycles (recommended), we rode east to Olga Road and then south to Moran State Park.

Halfway up

Just past the park entrance, at a beautiful mountain lake, Cascade Lake, is where the climbing starts.  And climbs it does!  Total elevation gain is 2,600 feet with a maximum gradient of 12%.  

At the top!

The effort is well worth it as the views are breathtaking.  We had lunch at the summit looking out over the Rosario Strait and down our noses at the visitors that drove to the top.

2,600 ft. climb!

On the descent, we stopped at Cascade Lake for a breather.  Lauren insisted on taking a swim in the frigid lake.  Jeff, always a good sport, joined her.  Afterwards, we tossed the Frisbee around and I think the day's exertions caught up to Jeff as he suffered a severe leg cramp.  We fed him the last of our Gatorade as we still had 5 miles of riding.  He said he was OK, but he was riding slow so I wasn't sure about his condition until I saw him come out of the Corner Market chugging the largest bottle of Gatorade available for retail distribution.

The next day we rented Kayaks from Outer Island Excursions (recommended) for a self-guided paddle to Point Doughty.  There are plenty of excellent guided tours on the islands, but self-guided trips are much cheaper and, in my mind, more fun.

Jeff and Lauren at Doughty Point

We paddled to around Point Doughty to Freeman Island for lunch.  From a high point on the island, we took turns trying to hit a plastic container floating in the water below with rocks.  A fun pastime, but as we headed back I felt obligated to clean up so I pulled the floating jug out of the water only to discover it was attached to 50 feet of rope and other miscellaneous debris. 

Mt. Baker in the distance (note debris)

No good deed goes unpunished.  

State:	Washington
Date:	2017-06-11
Route:	Burke-Gilmann Trail and UW Campus
Distance:	18 miles

Date:	2017-06-12 & 2017-06-14
Route:	Friday Harbor to Cattle Point, Friday Harbor to Lime Kiln Point Park (San Juan Island)
Distance:	55 miles

Date:	2018-06-21
Route:	East Sound to Mount Constitution (Orcas Island)
Distance:	25 miles, 2,600 ft. +/-