Safe Journey
This will be a short post because I feel so tired right now. My body thinks it’s 4:00am but here in Astoria it’s only 8:00pm.
We arrived in Portland on time yesterday after an uneventful trip and thankfully our bikes made the trip without sustaining any damage. As part of the preparation for this trip I had managed to find some members of the International Police Association (IPA) who were willing to assist us on our arrival. We were met at the airport by Brian Dale, a serving police officer at Portland and IPA member. Brain who took us back to his home where we were able to unpacked the bikes in comfort and later he helped us sort out some bits we needed to buy for the ride as well as giving us a good meal and hot shower.
Brian & Chris loading the bikes
Tod, good friend of Brain’s, offered us the use of his beach house for the night. The house is just north of Astoria, so later on Sunday Brian drove us there in heavy rain but a fatal accident on the route delayed us by nearly 2 hours and we arrived just as it was getting dark. The beach house was just great and we felt much better after a good night sleep. This morning we had a huge breakfast in a local diner and we were amazed at the size of the portions being served. The food was really excellent.
The Beach House
Saying goodbye to Brian and his son
Brain then took us to Astoria and dropped us off at the home of Dan & Karen Leedom (also IPA) who live very close to the start of the ride. We arrived with Dan & Karen at about 11:00am and will be staying with them until we pedal off first thing on Tuesday morning (tomorrow). We’ve had a lovely day in Astoria and Dan & Karen have really looked after us and showed us around their very charming town. The view from ‘The Column’ is really spectacular.
Karen, Chris & Dan
View across Astoria from The Column
The help and hospitality we have received from Brain and Dan & Karen has been incredible and we can’t thank them enough. Without their help getting to the start of this ride would have been very difficult. They have been so welcoming and really put themselves out to help us. As a result we are well rested, well fed, feel very relaxed and are ready to start the ride. We will also leave here with some great memories and new friends. However swapping all this for a tent is going to be a shock! So much for this being a short post!
Posted on: Jun 1st, 2010 at 8:30 am
Sounds like too much of a luxury holiday to me…need to get those darned legs a’spinning boys!
Posted on: Jun 1st, 2010 at 10:04 am
Good luck Alan,have a good trip.
Posted on: Jun 1st, 2010 at 11:15 am
Hey, make the most of it and feel comforted by the knowledge that it is raining back home and your garden is full of tents after a teenage Birthday Party!
Posted on: Jun 1st, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Hi Chris and Alan
I guess if you read this you’ll have completd the first day’s ride – well done. Hope the Brooke’s saddle (oh I rememeber mine so well, when it was pretty much the only type available)turned out to be a sound idea.
Happy tenting
Jo