one hundred twenty six

I'VE NEVER SAW ONE OF THESE!

I was pitching my tent and searching for a "turd free" spot, I had seen several dogs on leashes. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted it. My first thought was "what the heck was that dog eating", then it started moving. I was told this was a normal size north west slug. 

When we travel we not only see new sights, but new wierd things on the ground. When I sleep on the ground, I look much more closely.

one hundred twenty five

THE PACIFIC NORTH WEST JUMPING SLUG

 I found it in a campsite in Oregon. There is always something special if you look. I was camped by the path to the restroom so I asked several guys about it as they passed by. I heard many amazing slug stories, after all this was a fishing campsite

one hundred twenty four

ALWAYS AMAZED AT SOMETHING NEW

The Aveneue of the Giants was a mind blower. I had a friend in Ohio who lived in a historic house with a hugh tree in the yard. They had a picture in the local paper with twelve kids holding hands around its trunk. I was one of the kids on the back side of the tree

I always felt it was the largest tree in the world but wow was I wrong. The morning I saw my first redwood I was amazed. Then tree after tree they grew larger and larger and I was even more amazed. 

I love trees and have watched the seasons change all of my life. The new life of spring, the full bloom of summer, the colors of fall and the revealed structure of the tree in winter. 

This is another wonder many of us miss. However these giants get everyone's attention.

one hundred twenty three

EVER CHANGING WEATHER

I had never seen the Pacific North West and had no idea of the dramatic changes that were possible. 

It was ten o'clock with out a cloud in sight. I reached this vista and saw the low cloud that I first thought was from a forest fire. The ocean sun and wind do some strange things. 

I thought if it was a fog it should have burn off by now however in only a few short miles I would be turning on my red blinking lights to be sure I would be seen. 

The temperature dropped and it looked like rain. A few miles and another eight hundred foot climb I was in bright sun and hot once more. 

I traveled through pockets of warm air then patches of cold face aching raw ocean air. I dressed and undressed at every climb and decent. This is not unusual in cycling but today was weird. I was drenched with sweat then chilled to the bone, again and again. I had eaten well and was not ill so it must have been that crazy weather. 

I love the extremes as you know, so a day like this was another sensory adventure.

one hundred twenty two

MIDDAY FOG

The morning fog was surreal to this desert rat. My tent is small but well ventilated to avoid internal condensation. Each morning the dew was always heavy. 

I missed camping under the stars without a tent as I usually do in Arizona. My down filled sleeping bag began to smell like a wet duck and my clothes never dried completely. This was how I had grown up in Ohio. I remember trying to cut the grass in early morning, so this was nothing new. 

If you want green you get fog dew and rain. The desert dryness has it's perks but green is very special and well worth the inconvenience.

The morning fog was usually gone by nine o'clock, but somedays it hung around and somedays it came back again out of the blue. 

The entire trip down the coast was a new weather experience but the weather gods were kind to me. It was raining where I was going and raining where I had been, but never where I was.

one hundred twenty one

WELCOMED DISTRACTION

With the roar of waves in the background, the fog drifted in at mid morning. I entered a fog filled tunnel of lush moss covered Redwoods the slender shafts of sunlight found their way to the ground. 

This took my mind off the third five hundred foot climb of the morning and my ailing hip. 

After a thousand or so miles, I was grinding down and needed a rest day or two, but this moment was one I had come so far to see.

one hundred twenty

OVER THINKING AGAIN AND AGAIN

I live in the brown desert of Arizona, where it is hot and seldom rains. I'm about to ride through the rainy northwest. The one thing I hear from people it that I am going to be cold and wet. 

I'm not a novice camper but I need to limit the weight. I have been training on a loaded bike for weeks, but since this place is fairly flat so the hills will be a challenge. 

I have repacked everything dozens of times and will probably do it twelve more before I go. I will leave in one week so this is the crazy time. Everything is ready but my mind will create every disaster you can imagine. 

What I do know it is going to be green, wet, and beautiful. The worst that can happen about the cold is that I'll be forced to buy something on the road. I hate taking too much but I can always mail it home. 

Well, there I go again trying to out think things. This isn't my picture but it is about all I know about where I'm going. In a strange way, I like keeping things in the unknown. I must go now and repack.