The Oregon of my dreams.

Aug 23

I didn't realize that 2/3rds of Oregon is just like the rest of the western states...brown, dry and dry.  I was told many times that most of the state is "high desert"...even though I had really figured it out myself already.













Anyway, all is forgiven because we have finally made it over the beautiful Cascade range and have settled for the night in the guest apartment of local cyclists that we happened to meet at a hardware store while purchasing alcohol for the camp stove.

Eugene is a pretty nice town with a busy extensive greenway system and cyclists everywhere.  I like it.  It's interesting for me because my paternal grandparents lived in Eugene when I was just a pig-tailed mountain kid.  They  moved to Reno in  my teen years and I don't see now why...but I'm sure they had their reasons.

Tomorrow we head off as early as possible for an 80  mile assault on Florence and the Pacific Ocean.  If you don't already know, the Oregon coast is not like the North Carolina coast.  There is no Piedmont that slips quietly and peacefully downward for 100 or so miles to a sandy, warm coast.   Our trip will feature wooded hills almost all the way.  Wish us luck.