The boys are tougher than their Dad! The constant incline from the Pacific would most like be undetectable on a tour bike, but our barge of a bike pulls us back on every hill. But, the smiles keep coming. We have tunes blasting most of the time ( Riley prefers The Jonas Brothers and Dylan lives The Naked Brothers Band). From Cascade Locks, we went to The Dalles, to Rufus, and just west of Boardman. This 3 day jaunt was hot, hilly, and tough! Great news though, Grandma and Grandpa picked up the boys and their roadkill Dad and took us up the impossibly steep climb from Pendleton to La Grande. We learned early on what grades our 480lb Blackjack could successfully conquer..and what we couldn't. Dylan started writing in his journal, and Riley is all about skipping rocks and telling jokes. I'm feeling like we're living a similar movie-plot moment from The River Runs Through It. No physical problems yet, except Dylan and I have some seriously sore tushes!

Where do we start. Except that yesterday was the perfect day! We left East Portland or Troutdale at 9am in a light rain, and full rain gear. Had to stay on I-84 for about 10 miles, then hopped on the ultra-beautiful Historic Columbia River Highway. This newly paved and traffic-less road was more brutal for elevation climbs thant the I-84 route, but brought us under story-book lush canapies, a half dozen water falls, the REAL Smokey the Bear, photo op after photo op,and ultimately to a campground in Cascade Locks. The weather broke by the time we hit the bike route and climbed to a sunny 75 by the time our tent was going up. You'll see we had a major obstacle, where we had to take an alternate route to avoid a narrow traffic tunnel. We had to somehow, and slowly, drop Blackjack downa a few flights of old concrete staircases. Andy from Niwot Cycles came through, the front brake held all the weight as we gingerly decscended. Just about every tourist stared at us today, one guy saw our rig about 15-20 miles prior and was quick to throw atta-boys our way and encouraged us along. Dennis and Gail Daugherty have been so supportive I can't even tell you how much we wappreciate all they've done. Friday night we stayed in their RV after we found ourselves on the wrong side of the tracks in Portland...Dennis was just a phone call away, and then Gail proceeded to slop us hogs a magnificent feast. We did take the day before off and ate all day, plus Kung Fu Panda. The cab driver, John, brought his bird Chicka Chicka along, and he (the bird) proceeded to walk right over the center dashboard, turn around, and take a major dump all over my lap! Doesn'tthis bird know how hard it is to do laundry on the road like this? Tomorrow....maybe the Dalles, maybe farther, but the boys just found out that Grandma and Grandpa are now camped about 120 miles from Cascade Locks. Unbelievably, I don't think they need the motivation.

A HUGE Day!

A HUGE Day! I tried to convince the boys otherwise, many times, but they were both convinced that we should make Portland by the end of the day. So, we left Claskanie at 8am, and here we sit, on the grass at a Hospital (just for the irony of it all) arriving in Portland at 7pm. Brutal, but an Olympic effort. Right out of Claskanie was an immediate steep climb, similar to leaving Vail heading East. The grade was so severe, that we had to walk the final 2+ miles. The weather was great, in fact too hot by mid day, but we are so thankful that it wasn't a typical rainy Oregon day. We stopped every once and a while, and even found a great park with some hungry geese. Rainier, St Helens and even Scappoose were great little towns, where each needed a personal Blackjack tour and explanation from Riley. Dylan continues to eat like a horse, the calorie burn rate must be astronomical. No riding tomorrow, perhaps a movie or 2 and lots of rest. I'm very proud of the boys, very little, in fact no complaining. I think they found a groove today!

And we're off!

And we're off! Here we are dipping the traditional rear wheels in the Pacific, although it is more riverlike, there are sea lions that make their way to this boat launch area known as John Day. Working our way up and feeling all of our 480 combined pounds, the hills started to take their toll. Clatskanie is our first destination. Not as far as we had hoped, but a major accomplishment to ascend as a team. Bald Eagles, a deer 5 feet from us, and a gorgeous blue sky hiding behind the lush green overgrowth of a rain forest. I don't know how, our muscles are screaming, but we are still smiling and able to laugh on this first and very challenging day.