The Coast with the Most!

Hello faithful blog followers. As the rest of the Zoo are stuffing their faces with cheese samples at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, I, Davo and Doug Strong Arms McGee have shouldered the responsibility of updating you all about our triumphant arrival to the West Coast. That's right folks we made it to the Pacific Ocean! We arrived at the seaside town of Waldport Oregon on August 12th as we frantically biked 100 miles for the days total to make it before the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. But I am getting a bit carried away. We will get to our oceanic successes in a second, but first let me catch everyone up to where we last left off. The last news the world heard from the Zoo we were woken up wet with dew all over our sleeping bags atop Ochoco Pass. As you all waited anxiously to hear if we survived the stomach curtling descent down the Pass the Zoo was merrily on its way toward the town of Sisters Oregon. On August 10th we arrived in Sisters in search of sustenance from a long days ride. While waiting for our pizzas to cook we encountered yet another strange wanderer. As he nearly crashed into the curb with his bike and bob trailer equipped with what must have been over 150 pounds worth of weight (yes more than even our furry friend Pick is currently towing) we were introduced to the 5' 3" Cuss slinging, beer drinking, pot smoking, Canuck Ian. Ian was larger than life in many ways. For starters he told us that we had met him as he is currently on a 15 (not a typo) month bike tour that started in Canada and has taken him all the way down to the Panama Canal and back up to Oregon. Pretty impressive and crazy right? Well what was more impressive was despite traveling across over three different countries and an entire continent and a half, Ian still proudly maintained the biggest beer gut I have ever seen.

From Sisters we made our way West over the last pass of the trip and the final time that we would be over 5000 ft. above sea level. The pass was amazing! The climb up provided us with sights of Mt. Washington and Jefferson and a rare view of the effects of a lava flow that happened millions of years ago (if you believe in that sort of thing). From the coal black bare rocks of the east side of the pass, the west side was a stark contrast with lush green forests that seemed to glow when the sunlight hit each leaf. After another thrilling descent down the other side of the pass we arrived at the small town of Mckenzies Bridge for some lunch. As we ate, we talked with a local named Tim. From the moment I saw Tim he reminded me of famed wrestling entertainer Shawn Michaels (yes I know I am a total nerd) with his bleached blond hair pulled back into a tight pony tail. Tim looked very different from the farmers and ranchers we had been accustomed to seeing for the last 2000 miles and I knew we were getting close to the coast. We intended to only stay at the rest stop until we had finished our burritos, but after two helpings and an hour and a half it didn't seem like we could ever make it back on the road. What stood in the way was our celebrity status. We were getting questions fired at us from all directions-how long you been on the road?- where you from in Virginia?- are Pick and Dave related?-Is there a skunk around here or is that just you? We answered all these questions with patience but enough is enough and when we saw our chance we mounted our steel steeds and continued on our journey. Four of us made it out safely, but Doug was too tall to escape and continued suffering for another five minutes as the volley of questions continued to fire.

[Breath] Exhausted and smelly we decided to go for a swim under a covered bridge along the road. The water was freezing but enjoyable and provided us the extra boost to push on. As we were changing out of our swimming trunks and back into our bike shorts a car pulled up right as Doug was in mid change. With butt turned towards the vehicle Doug took it in stride and continued to dry himself at his own pace. What was perplexing and entertaining was that the car slowed to a near stop to watch Doug at his most primal of moments. We all thought it was great and then had a bigger laugh when we learned a minute later that we were standing next to a stop sign. Through with holding up traffic and giving old women heart attacks we continued on to Waltersville.

[PUSH TO THE PACIFIC]
We knew we could do it. We set our sights on the prize. Today was the day and we didn't care if 100 miles stood in our path. We were dipping our feet into those salty waters! Equipped with a Gazateer we got off the Trans America Trail and headed down a series of back roads to the town of Monroe. In Monroe our luck took a turn and we ran into the kind Librarian "Aunt" Peggy. Peggy not only opened the library up for us outside of regular hours so that we could use the bathroom and computers, but also shockingly gave us the lock box combo to her families cabin on the coast. So of course we are all pumped now. We have to get to the coast, we just got to. Over gravel roads, winding highways and clouds of rain and fog we pedaled toward the town of Waldport. As we got twenty miles from the coast (we knew because the mile markers counted down, very cool for us as it added to the moment and anticipation) the strangest feeling came over me and the other Zoo mates. We were really going to make it. We were going to cross an entire continent on our own muscle and will. I began thinking back to all the other states we had seen and the people who helped us along the way. As we hit mile three, we began to see a break in the clouds and the sun shining through. By mile one we were in sight of the beach and as we crossed famous Highway 101 (extends the whole coast with Hwy 1) we finally saw sand. Thrilled to be there we enjoyed the sunset ( a first for many of us) over an ocean.

[THE CABIN]
Aunt Peggy's Family Cabin was an amazing treat for all of us to spend our first night on the coast. We learned through Peggy and also the photo albums that lined the walls of the cabin that this place had been built by her Grandparents and had been a place where memories were made for family and friends for years. If you are reading this Peggy thank you for making our memories of our first night and morning on the Pacific truly amazing. Love, The Zoo.

Now that we were on the coast it was time to CHILL and what better way than to visit a microbrewery. In Newport we visited the Rogue brewery and got a tour of the plant. While we will all agree that the beer is delicious I still don't think any of us could confidently tell you how a good brew is made. Nonetheless we enjoyed all the taste testing and even got to meet the master brewer himself, John Maier. Feeling VERY good we left Rogue and headed up north and that is where you find us now. We are still alive, we still smell and we have had the trip of a lifetime. Tonight we spend our last night together as just the Zoo and tomorrow we will ride into Astoria Oregon as we complete the Trans America Trail.

Thanks to all of you who followed the blog and gave us constant encouragement, love, and especially those delicious packages! Love,

The ZOO