Woohoo!  We are in a new state, we are travelling with Jason’s super fun and goofy cousin, and the cold of the north is a very very distant memory.  Since we last updated, we have ridden many more mountain passes through absolutely beautiful forests.  We have passed by the volcanic peaks of Mt. Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, and Mt. Washington.  Can you believe that?!  We have had some really fantastic camping experiences, and our first really terrible camping experience.  What a stretch!  Let’s go over some highlights.

From Mt. Rainier National Park we started to follow an established cycling route through the Cascade Mountains.  It has taken us on very quiet, very lovely forest roads that climb up and down and up and down.  We have gotten to know the quiet beauty of climbing a mountain pass in the morning, and the fun thrill of descending in the evening.  On one pass in Washington we met another pair of touring cyclists near the summit.  They were remarkable because one was 13, and had organized adult chaperones to accompany his trip from San Diego to Canada and back.  What a cool kid!

We finally hit the Columbia river which separates Washington from Oregon, and walked over the toll bridge connecting the two states.  I was so sad to say goodbye to my most favorite state!  Oregon has been good to us though.  We stayed with a great fellow in Hood River who let us use his house as a base as we left for the day to pick up Ray, Jason’s cousin, who is joining us for ten days.  We actually rented a minivan to pick him and his bike up.  It was so so wild to drive on the highway we had just ridden, and to spend the day being car tourists.

The next day we started our Oregon riding, with Ray riding along with us.  He always has a great positive attitude, so it is really fun to ride with him.  We didn’t exactly ease him into it either, since our very first day with him included a 4000′ mountain pass.  Yikes!  It was quite an accomplishment to get to the top.  We rolled into camp pretty late, but still had time to cook dinner and set up camp before dark.

The next day also included a lot of climbing, and our best-yet descent on a tiny forest road that was traffic-free and barely a lane wide.  Super smooth pavement though!  We descended from a calm and lovely forest into the tourist-packed chaos of Detroit, Oregon.  Never heard of it?  Good!  Never go there!!!  For one thing, the local ambulance nearly hit me on the road.  Read on for another reason.  It has a population of about 300, but that must swell significantly on weekends in the summer.  The ‘grocery store’ has a much better liquor selection than food.  They didn’t even have marinara sauce!

At this point, Ray had a sore knee and so we bought a bag of ice and headed to the nearest campground to get him some rest.  Of course, the campground was full.  We couldn’t go any farther though, so we found an unused spot and parked our bikes to swim in a lake and relax.  We talked to the campground host to tell him the situation, and while he didn’t approve, he also didn’t tell us to leave.  Relieved, we decided to cook dinner in a day use area.  Day use lasts until 10pm, this is important for the rest of the story.

At around 8:30, the campground host’s boss rolls around camp in his jeep and asks us what we are doing.  We tell him the situation.  Remarkably, he says ‘Well you can’t camp here.  I don’t care where you go, you just need to not be here’.  We say ‘We can’t go anywhere, we have a hurt kid and it’s getting dark’.  I also pointed out that people were breaking rules about the number of tents per site all over the campground, and he didn’t like it that I would notice such a thing.  He proceeded to tell us that he didn’t like our attitude, that we must leave, and we should go camp on the side of the road.  He drove off in a huff after Jason got mad at him in return.

I decided to act, so walked around the campground and simply found a friendly man in an RV wiling to share his site.  No problem.  We were beginning to move the bikes when the sheriff rolled up.  Yes – the crazy campground man had called the police on us!  For legally using a day use area during day use hours!  The sheriff was super nice, a cyclist himself, and we told him the trouble was over since we found a ‘legal’ spot. What a bizarre night.  In the end it was all ok, except for the other crazy campers partying until nearly midnight and then starting up again at around 6.  We were happy to get up and be on the road.

The pass the next day was another big one: 4,817′.  It was also HOT, and we are starting to enter forest fire areas.  The entire summit area burned around ten years ago, and on the descent there were a few active fires in the distance creating a bizarre haze all around us.  We had the exact opposite campground experience this night.  The town of Sisters, Oregon has a beautiful little campground downtown alongside a creek.  It is complete with a hiker / biker area and free showers.  Across the way there was a wedding happening, so after an extravagant dinner of burritos we had a dance party in camp.  What a blast!

Today we had a nice short ride into the biggish town of Bend.  I love this town.  There are cyclists everywhere, great restaurants and stores, and best of all super friendly people.  Need evidence?  On our way into town we met a cyclist named Dave.  He got to talking with us, and he learned that we were on our way to a bike shop to get some adjustments made to Rays bicycle.  He said that his garage was full of bike parts, and offered to help us out.  He led us to his house, gave us snacks and drinks, and really did some great work on the bicycle.  He let us ride his electric-assist cargo bicycle (wow fun!).  Also fantastic, one of his riding buddies offered us a place to stay right downtown.  We love Bend!

Next we continue our ride south towards California.  Hopefully we will avoid the various fires that are burning in Oregon.  The heat is tough, but we are learning the joy of river-jumping.