From the RV Resort to the Bike Inn

Leaving Toutle River RV resort the rain had temporarily subsided, but we could see from the weather radar that there were still scattered showers moving throughout the area. After a meager 20 minutes on the road, it started to rain again so we stopped at a subway for lunch.

I don’t like rain :(

Ethan dons his plastic poncho.

It didn’t take long for the rain to let up a bit, so we got back on the road. But what’s annoying about Washington rain is that it doesn’t just rain, it pours for 5 minutes then 20 minutes later it completely stops. So, of course, we got caught in one downpour.

The image on radar while we got poured on.

It looked like there was a bridge not too far away but it took forever to pedal under it, all the while we were getting soaked.

Hiding from the rain under a bridge.

When we got close to the Oregon border, we stopped at a cycle stop to check our tire pressure and dry off a bit. I ended up buying a new, dry pair of cycle shorts as well as replacement CO2 canisters to fill up our tires with.

Pumping up our tires at Caynonview Cyclery.

Right after leaving the bike shop, we crossed the bridge into Oregon!

Almost to Oregon!

The view from the bridge leaving Washington.

Managing to pedal up the bridge.

Hello Oregon!

Progress!

Immediately after crossing the bridge, Ethan and I were faced with one of the biggest hills yet. It was a steady climb about a mile long up to an elevation of 550 ft.

Past the bridge and gaining elevation

It definitely felt bigger than 550 ft.

We stopped at a local fruit stand for some delicious raspberries and cherries and to rest after that big hill.

Delicious post-hill snack.

I thought after that 550 ft climb that I would be done with hills…but alas, there were more.

Ethan waits for me as I struggle up yet another hill.

Some of the workers at the bike shop told us about a “Bike Inn” we could stay at that night since we probably wouldn't make it all the way to our original destination, Astoria.

Our route from Toutle River RV Resort to the Bike Inn, 32 miles for a total of 303 miles pedaled.

The logo of the Bike Inn.

The Bike Inn isn't so much a “inn” as a sort-of bed and breakfast for wayward travelers. The Lilich family in Clatskanie, OR have a beautiful, Tudor-esque cottage set along the River where they let bicyclists stay in their extra room. They've set it up so that the cyclist area has its own entrance and bathroom and it’s really quite lovely.

The Bike Inn. A beautiful home with eclectic furnishings.

We dropped off all our stuff and set out the tent to dry before heading into town for dinner. We stopped in at a local bar called Conestoga for burgers.

Outside of Conestoga bar.

They had amazing alcoholic milkshakes that Ethan and I decided to partake in.

The bar’s alcoholic milkshake offerings.

They had pool tables that were only 50¢ per game (most bars I've been to charge $1.25!) so Ethan and I decided to play a round. I don’t think Ethan realized how absolutely terrible I am when he suggested I break.

Me about to start off our game of pool.

I think in the end I sunk a whopping three balls. Yup, I’m that good.

Ethan’s burger and tater tots.

My amazing bacon burger with onion rings.

We hung around for a bit and talked to some of the people at the bar and generally had a good time before heading back to the Bike Inn. Two of the Lilich's friends were visiting, so they were hanging out by the campfire when we got back. Come to find out, they actually grow their own grapes and make their own wine on the property! Of course, I was super excited and gladly accepted to try one of their bottles. They grow a varietal called Marechal Foch which I knew nothing about before, but apparently it comes from a French general. It’s supposed to be a very hardy grape which grows well in rougher climates. Anyway, the wine was absolutely delicious. I found it to be quite savory and it made for really easy drinking. Ethan and I had quite a fun time sitting by the fire, sipping our wine, and discussing all the local Clatskanie gossip. I wish we could have stuck around for the fair because it seems like quite the event to attend. All in all we had a grand time and went to bed happily buzzed.

After sleeping in the next morning, we were sad to have to tell the Lilich family goodbye. They were amazing hosts and I highly recommend the place for anyone who has the opportunity to stay there. On our way out of town, we stopped at Colvin's Pub and Grill for a big breakfast before a long bike ride.

The artsy decorations outside of the pub.

It turns out that a lot of restaurants in Oregon have slot machines and other Oregon lottery games. Ethan had never played Keno, so while we were at the table we were watching the Keno games and figuring out the rules of how to play.

Ethan discovering Keno.

We had a delicious, huge traditional breakfast before it was finally time to leave Clatskanie.

Our amazing breakfast.

Clatskanie was a wonderful stop on our journey and I’m so glad Ethan and I got to see that town. All of the people we met were lovely and our stay there really reminded me of why Ethan and I love traveling in the first place. But alas, the journey continues! Thankfully, the weather improved and we finally get to see the Pacific Ocean! But more about that in my next post!

Taking a Break: Relaxing at Toutle River RV Resort

Leaving Lewis and Clark State Park, Ethan’s knee was still bothering him, so we decided to take it easy the next day. It also rained that night so we were pretty slow packing up camp in the morning because we were trying to try out the tent. We checked the weather forecast and it was supposed to rain again that night so we didn’t want to be on the road for very long so that we could have the tent and everything set up before it started raining again. It all added up to us deciding to do a short mileage day which is how we ended up checking out Toutle River RV Resort.

Our route from Lewis and Clark State Park to Toutle River RV Resort, 19 miles of pedaling for a total of 271 miles pedaled.

On the way there, we passed by the Oregon Trail Post, which was interesting because we hadn’t even made it to Oregon yet.

The Oregon Trail Post, surprisingly in Washington. 

Even though it was a short ride, we still stopped for a snack break and enjoying the scenery.

Taking a snack break and enjoying the scenery.

Ethan appreciating my sandwich making skills.

When we first arrived, the lady at the entrance said that it was $46 per site, so we hesitated and thought about going across the street to the trailer park which allowed tent camping for $13. In the end we decided it was worth the splurge and went to the main office at Toutle River. Once inside, the lady informed us that they have a special price for bicyclists! It was only $25 for us to stay at this awesome RV resort complete with hot tub and sauna.

Arriving at the RV Resort.

We got an entire RV site to ourselves complete with water spigot and electrical outlets!

The only downside to the RV park was that it was somewhat noisy. It was directly between the I-5 and a railroad so there was always noise from the interstate or the railroad. Personally the noise didn't bother me. After setting up our camp, we enjoyed the last bits of dry weather by relaxing in the hot tub.

Enjoying the RV resort’s hot tub!

Ethan relaxing in the hot tub.

Not long after we pedaled into our spot, two more bicycle tourists showed up in the spot next to us. It was fun getting to meet two more people and sharing a campfire with them. One guy was British so we got to introduce yet another foreigner to s’mores. Ethan and I were wondering what kind of job lets you pack up and leave for three weeks but apparently everyone in Britain gets 5 weeks vacation standard because of government regulations! We were so jealous and seriously considering moving back to London. The other lady had just retired and was inspired to go on this trip after one of her friends did a bicycle trip along the continental divide.

Of course, the weather channel predictions were accurate and it did end up raining, ending our campfire. We jumped inside the tent and went to sleep. The next morning it continued to rain while the other bicyclists packed up their camp. After watching the other two cyclists pedal away in the rain while we huddled in the tent, we decided that we would wait out the rain and stay at the RV resort for a second night. Later when the rain slacked off for a bit, we left the tent to cook some beef hash and scrambled eggs for breakfast.

Delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and beef hash.

After breakfast, we of course spent more time at the hot tub and hanging out by the side of the pool. The RV office also had various items available for loan and one of them was an ice cream maker. Ethan and I had talked about making our own ice cream in zip lock bags, so we were excited when we saw they had an actual ice cream maker. We got all the ingredients and got to work.

Mixing together all the ingredients for ice cream.

While I was making ice cream, Ethan grilled hot dogs for dinner.

Grilling some hot dogs.

Ethan relaxing with a beer and a hot dog.

We let the ice cream continue to freeze while Ethan and I went and checked out the saunas.

Ethan entering the sauna.

Personally, I love saunas. I find the heat to be really relaxing but Ethan seemed to think that it was too hot, especially after we added humidity.

The inside of the sauna.

The ice cream turned out good but it was much too sugary. We messed up the recipe a bit since we used condensed milk instead of half and half.

That night, since we had wifi at our campsite, we decided to hook up the tablet so that we could watch Netflix. Using some string and a little ingenuity, we rigged up our own “home theater system.”

Stringing up the tablet to watch a movie.

Unfortunately, that night was our last at the RV resort. After the day of rest, Ethan’s knee was feeling better and the rain had subsided substantially, so back on the road for us! Anyway, more to come as we finally crossed into Oregon the next day!

Continuing South: From Shelton to Lewis and Clark State Park

After leaving Shelton, we continued to travel south but decided to deviate off the ACA route once again. The route takes you east to Elma then back west to Centralia, which adds about 40 miles and a bunch of hills to the route. We decided to take the more direct highway route and skipped Elma altogether. The route was quite beautiful, and there were several beautiful places to stop and take breaks. For lunch, we stopped at a beautiful little pullout overlooking the bay.

Enjoying delicious ham and cheese sandwiches with a beautiful view.

Leaning the bikes on a tree while we enjoy lunch.

About an hour and a half after we stopped for lunch, we stopped for our next snack break. I pulled out my phone to check the time and take pictures. Ethan looked in his handlebar bag to pull out his phone and… it wasn't there. He checked his pockets. Not there either. A quick search revealed that it was nowhere to be found. Thankfully, Ethan has an iPhone with the “Find my iPhone” feature turned on. I tried to load the iCloud website on my phone, but we were in a pretty remote area and we couldn't get good enough service to get the webpage to load. So, what to do. I called my mom but the connection was terrible and she could only understand every other word. Finally, I got some text messages to go through so I could explain the situation. Mom was at work, so in the end it was my dad who logged into iCloud and located Ethan’s phone. Turns out, it was right at the spot where we stopped for lunch, a solid hour and a half ride in the opposite direction. Although we had originally planned about a 40 mile ride for the day, we stopped there and biked to the nearest campground, Margaret McKenny State Park about 2 miles north of our location.

Our route from Shelton to Margaret McKenny State Park, 26 miles of riding for a total 213 miles ridden so far.

Once at Margaret McKenny campground, Ethan asked the campground host if he could hitch a ride for the 20 miles to get his phone. Thankfully, the host was willing to give Ethan a ride. Armed with the GPS location courtesy of my dad, Ethan was able to drive straight to it and locate it!

Two very happy campers holding one returned iPhone!

Margaret McKenny is a “primitive” campground meaning they don’t have flush bathrooms or potable water and definitely no electricity. So, we pulled out the solar panels and tried to squeeze out the last bits of electricity before the sun went down.

We propped up the solar panel to angle it towards the sun to get as much electricity as possible before the sun went down.

The “bathroom” was just a hole in the ground with a toilet seat on it. In order to get clean water, Ethan walked to the creek and filled up his water carrier to pump water through the filter.

Ethan pumping water out of the water bag through the filtration system.

We celebrated the return of the iPhone that night with cheese, crackers, salame, and a bottle of wine I had been lugging around in my bags (if you’ll remember my last post about the air mattress, there are some things that are just worth the extra weight. At the end of the day, what doesn't kill me can only make me stronger).

Wine, cheese, salame and crackers to celebrate the return of the iPhone!

Dinner that night was a more traditional backpacking meal, freeze dried Spaghetti with Meat Sauce. These things are great for backpacking because they are lightweight and all you have to do to have a hot meal is add boiling water. Plus, cleanup is simple since you can just throw away the bag when you’re done. Much easier than our usual cooking but also a bunch more expensive.

Our delicious spaghetti dinner.

After dinner we had s’mores by the campfire and quickly fell asleep exhausted from the day of losing and finding the iPhone. We were too lazy to repack all our food back in our bags and instead just left everything out on the table. Well, the birds must have appreciated it because half our food was gone in the morning. The only evidence the birds had even been there was a pecked through Hershey’s chocolate wrapper.

Damn birds ate an entire, unopened chocolate bird!

I was hoping chocolate was bad for birds like it is for dogs to get some petty revenge for stealing my food, but unfortunately I don’t think that’s the case. The birds also got our last ham and cheese sandwich as well as all our marshmallows.

Anyway, we continued travelling south even without our marshmallows and my ham and cheese sandwich stopping at Lewis and Clark State Park.

Our route from McKenny to Lewis and Clark State Park, 39 miles for a total 252 miles ridden to date.

We pedaled mostly uphill for the beginning of the route. Slow, gradual uphills aren't too bad and even though you can definitely tell you are working harder, they don’t slow you down too much. Then, finally, at the end of one big hill, we got to reap the rewards of our gained potential energy in the form of a steep downhill.

Finally, some downhill!

Yup, you read that right. 16 percent downhill grade.

No need to have feet on the pedals when it’s a 16 percent downhill grade!

Coasting down this hill was awesome. Most of the steeper hills end very quickly, but this one was steep and long. According to the speedometer on my bike, I topped out at 40mph which was both thrilling and terrifying. Thankfully we were on a back road with pretty much no cars.

Lewis and Clark State Park was very nice. We met back up with Thomas the French guy and met four other bicycle tourers—a group of three girls traveling together and another guy travelling alone. It’s been awesome meeting all these different people and hearing about their stories. There have been several recent college graduates.

Our campsite at Lewis and Clark State Park.

This is also where Ethan bent my wrench trying to take off his clip pedals. See his post on knee problems for more details. He ended up only being able to get one pedal off and had to pedal with one regular pedal and one clip pedal!

Ethan’s unique one clip, one traditional pedal set up.

By this point, we were really starting to feel like bicycle tourists. We had enough miles behind us to feel like we were actually on our way and to start getting into a routine. I was definitely ready to see the Pacific Ocean though! Anyway, more to come about the RV resort we stayed at in my next post!