Crossing the border to… beautiful Astoria
Going to Astoria we had the second toughest climb. We may have taken the non-recommended route… not sure, but we had to climb for several miles, with almost no shoulder and big logging trucks passing us as less than a foot distance. It was a bit stressful, as they were driving fast and the air they moved was enough to make us feel we’d be pulled onto the highway. When we arrived at Astoria, we were greeted by a Safeway that had all sorts of good fruits and also lots o Mexican food (we bought agua de horchata and some other things he hadn’t found elsewhere yet). The view is phenomenal. Apparently in the past it was a city with a lot of commerce and mostly populated by scandinavians. We decided to take a break and have some food before we went into the city.
Planning tomorrow's ride after having Tropicana orange juice (in the town of Astoria)
Cute little trolley in Astoria
Old broken-down dock
Old broken-down dock
Once in the city we decided to stop at the bike shop before they closed to fix Michel’s front bike racks (Gilbert went for Espresso). Before staying at a Motel, we decided to stop at the internet cafe to check our email (we were lucky there was one).
Repairing the bike racks... again!
Nice costal houses of Astoria
Astoria
Astoria is a nice and vibrant town, with history, coffee shops, and a bit european in style. We treated ourselves to a very nice dinner and at the restaurant we saw that indeed, the other people sitting there spoke Finnish, and the waitress spoke Swedish. We had beer from the Astoria brewery (very good!). We both liked the city a lot.
We were supposed to also do laundry, but decided to do it the next day, since the only open laundromat was more than 30 mins bike ride away.
Total distance so far: 780km
Themocracy
Mmm agua de horchata! Mmmm Scandinavians…!!
No, seriously, this is very interesting. I didn’t know that Astoria used to be a city mostly populated by scandinavians. Did they immigrate there because of the fish? It seems to be a very nice city.
Gilbert, EXPRESSO??? You’re suppose to be in a detox trip!!
Be careful with the trucks.
hugs to both of you
Yeah, they used to can a lot of fish and sea food. It was definitely a nice quiet town, that used to be very dynamic, and things slowed down since, but it’s picking up again with artists and some other type of people. Also nice: no fog, and way warmer than the cities we saw later on our trip.
About the detox… I’ve said no to coffee a bunch of times (cause I simply didn’t feel like drinking it). I think I am doing pretty good
[except now... big latte next to me]
(We are in Montecino, Califorina.)
Hey cool Gilbert. I didnt understand very well but you drive your bicycle on the highway ?? It’s a bit dangerous no ??
Your trip must be very fun, and you must be getting tired after 780 km
How many Km by day ?
Sorry for my english (for the english people) I am french but i need to pactise my english to keep it
Take care of you
See ya
Hi Benj,
Yeah sometimes we have to cycle on the highway. Sometimes it’s scary, because the shoulder is small or un-existant…. and some drivers are just rude (they honk at you just as they pass you). Others honk at you _after_ they pass you, just to say hi… Some people just cheer at you and try to encourage us, so there is a bit of everything.
About the number of KM per day it varies… probably most of the time it’s between 80km and 140km… somewhere there. It really depends… some of the hills are over 1000 feet high (>305m), but the most tiring are probably the smaller ones that go up and down all the time.
You guys kick ass. Beautiful pics of Mt. Rainier and I envy you two at the Pike St. Market. I could kill some crab right now. Looks like you two are making good progress and having lots of fun…the essence of bike touring.