Hello again from Levi and Jordan,
Some very tired bodies but doing well. I believe I last left you in the Redwood Forest, where they were awoken in the middle of the night by the rangers, telling them they were camping illegally. Apparently they had only hiked about 200' off the main road and hadn't entered the national forest yet! Oops. After checking IDs they let the guys sleep and just asked them to clean up the next morning. Easy enough, they thought, but the next morning they discovered that the park had a pipe break and there was no potable water to be found. Wondering around, near dehydration, water bottles empty, they finally came upon a ranger station and a kind ranger who had a couple of bottles of water. They eagerly drank it up, cleaned up and hit the road.
The coast has high winds but they pushed through some 30 miles before begging for a lift. This person gave them a lift all the way into Crescent City where they met up with Ms Gilbert and her family. Her children (college students) were home for the summer so the guys had a great time with the gang. They called from the coast where they had all gone to get fresh tuna, enjoy the port and do some tourist stuff. Her husband mentioned that the Oregon coast was a must see by bicycle but that the wind blew south the whole distance of the coast - - quite trying by bicycle, so he offered to drive them all the way to Washington and let the guys ride down the Oregon coast in style. Then, he said, when they arrived back in Crescent City, he would drive them back up to Washington and they could go on from there. Levi and Jordan were dumbfounded by his generosity and offered to help him build his home before they took off. So, they spent the week there doing
projects, helping around the place and trying desperately to earn their keep. Ms Gilbert was an exceptional hostess though, and they went away feeling very indebted to them for their kindnesses.
They also decided not to take him up on his kind offer. Instead they were taken about 40 miles short of Coos Bay, OR and rode their bikes into their first 'Couch-Surfing' host in Coos Bay. These folks actually didn't have a couch to share after all, but they set up a tent in their backyard and lent them some earth. The guys were delighted, especially with the flying kittens. You see, every time they moved in their tent, the kittens were thrilled and would fly at the tent and try to grab the prey! The guys were laughing and said it was quite cute. They were thankful for a tent as the wind kept up consistently right there on the coast.
The next morning they again set off for the first 30-40 miles on bike, with the goal of Florence, OR, directly west of Eugene, in view. They had another couch-surfing host set up there as well. This was a grueling stretch as the 101 came right up against the surf and the barreling southbound winds pummeled their bodies. Even though the shoulder was wide, the trucks zooming by and wind pushing back on their shoulders made their pace incredibly slow. They finally stuck out their thumbs and were grateful to see a big old truck pull over with an elderly couple in it. These folks were from Spokane, WA and had come down to the coast for a summer vacation. They were bored where they were so they had decided to head north into Florence and buy a donut but about a mile before meeting Levi and Jordan they had lost interest in their donut and decided to turn back around and go home. Upon turning around they realized that they didn't know what to do when
they got back to their vacation cabin so they turned back around and headed up to Florence again. Less than a mile later they came upon these two bedraggled bikers with their thumbs out and decided to make life interesting! The boys had a great time visiting all the way to Florence and they blessed these elderly folks with some great stories. All in all, another great hitchhike!
Florence was something! The couch-surfers were wild and Levi and Jordan's mouths hung open as the events unfolded for the night. First the guys threw everyone in the house into some cars and headed down to the beach. But wait, they needed pallets for the bonfire. No problem, they said, I'll just jump this fence and steal these. Levi and Jordan were sure they would be spending their first night in jail with these guys and sunk down in their seats, looking pale. After the guy returned with his spoils they rounded a corner and saw piles of pallets available for free and wondered what in the world the guys had to steal for? Adventure? So they went down to the beach and started a fire that was massive. Here is his quote: "We lit about 4 pallets under some giant drift wood and the wind was blowing hard enough for a super hot flame. It was crazy and huge and hot." See photo attached!
I'll not go into details but this was a hard drinking, swearing, partying lot who had lived lives that the guys had only heard about in books or movies. AS they sat around the fire and listened to their experiences of living in ghettos the guys felt sick. On top of that, the couples really threw them for a loop with their relaxed commitments and activites. The guys had had enough and were really ready to get out of there and Jordan went away saying, "Is that how college is going to be? Will everyone be like that?"
Interjected Counsel to Jordan: No, pick your friends wisely and your experience will be who you choose to be with!
At any rate, they had a good rest and took off the next morning on their next 80 mile stint, this one to end at their next couch surfing host in Otis, OR (at the 101 and 18 intersection, west of Salem). They passed some beautiful coastal views (see photo attached), got a good hitchhike lift for about 40 of the miles and Jordan broke a spoke during the biking section. Hobbling along, they arrived at their next host home, very tired. See photo of Jordan at 101 and 18 intersection.
I haven't heard from them yet tonight but I'll expect an update tomorrow. Their plans are to now cut over into the Portland area and head north with a focus on hitchhiking. They are tired of the constant wind off the coast of Oregon (just as Ms Gilbert's husband had said) and want to get up to Washington by the 22nd. They hope to get to Duvall sooner than later, drive up to Bellingham and do some local rides in some beautiful and friendly terrain! We shall see, eh? Such is the life of the adventurer.
Keep on praying!
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