Day 25: Driving to Moab, Utah

We woke up this morning, ate cereal and made coffee, eggs and sausage. We still had 10+ hours of driving ahead of us today. As we crossed from Oregon into Idaho and Utah, the geography and climate changed dramatically. We were driving through red canyons and sandstone, passing creeks that were dyed red from all the sand. We stopped along the way for lunch and dinner and watched the sun go down which heightened the color of the sand stone on all the mountains. The whole area glowed. 

Red creek water

It was pretty quiet and uneventful afternoon. Music paved the way for us until we were just outside of Moab. This is where we stopped for the night; at a rest area. Once we got ourselves situated, we decided to finish watching Hitch because we weren’t quite ready for bed. Within a few hours we gave in to sleep once more. We had a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so we needed to be well rested and hydrated.

Day 24: Deschutes Brewery, Ben Harper Concert & Driving to Utah

We slept well last night...it’s so quiet in the woods. I was the first to wake up. I got out and started making coffee. Andrew was aggravated because I was making too much noise. Payback was my only thought to his comments, hehe. Once the coffee was finished, Andrew made breakfast while I washed my hair. After breakfast, I washed the dishes while Andrew switched some things from the Ellsworth over to the Norco. We filled up the solar shower container, knowing Andrew wouldn’t be able to ride another day without taking a shower. Yesterday’s fresh wipes could only contain so much…he sweats a lot.

We made our way to the trail head again and Andrew got his gear together. I stayed near the car, working on blog stuff, thinking of a small business for myself and keeping an eye of the solar shower we had sitting in the sun to heat up. I walked down to the creek for a bit and noticed several people cleaning off from their trail run, hike, or bike ride. The sand here is extremely different than we’re used to. Lev from Cogwild described it as moon dust. You take a step and it goes poof. A big cloud forms under your feet. Needless to say, your feet get dirty very quickly. As I watched these folks clean off, I decided I might as well shave while I’m here. Yes, you read that right – I shaved my legs in the creek. Don’t judge me. There are certain things that drive me crazy in relation to hygiene. One is greasy hair and the other, hairy legs. I can go several days without a full shower and not complain, but if I get an opportunity to take care of those two things, I am taking it.

Andrew made it back in about the same time as yesterday’s ride. He changed out of his biking gear and we headed out to find a place for him to shower and cook lunch. We found a dirt road to pull off on and found a place to back in to. Andrew worked on setting up an outdoor shower between two trees and I focused on cooking left over spaghetti. I had this view while heating up the food.

Once we finished up there, we headed back to Cogwild to drop off the map. We thanked Lev for being so kind to us and picked out a shirt for the rec room at Mulberry Gap. He wouldn’t allow us to purchase one and on top of that, he gave us a sticker, trucker hat and pint glass! Good stuff.

We headed to Safeway to grab a few more items then drove into downtown to walk around and explore a bit. We walked into a few stores and admired local artists’ designs, crafts and art. It was hot outside and we knew there were several breweries in the downtown vicinity. We came upon Deschutes Brewery first, the older brew pub in Bend. Andrew ordered the Inversion IPA and I ordered the Nitro Obsidian Stout. We had to get the sweet potato fries too!

Our waitress came over a few minutes later and asked us if we were going to see Ben Harper tonight. Being the unaware tourists that we are, I said no, probing for more information. She grabbed a map and showed us where he would be playing tonight and a lawn area we could sit at outside the amphitheater to hear the music for free. Sounded like a pretty good idea to me. We had intended to hit the road after we finished here, but figured we might as well stay for a few more hours and experience a free concert and relaxing night.

We found a parking spot and started walking toward the concert area. We walked by Deschutes main brewing building. Eventually, we found a spot near the Old Mill shopping district and took a seat. It was dark by now and we had worked up an appetite. Andrew ran back to the car to grab some food and a blanket to sit on. We had a nice little picnic while listening to the music. Garlic & herb goat cheese, crackers, fresh picked blueberries and blackberries and cibatta bread. Yum! Right before the concert ended, we packed up and made our way to the car, not wanting to get caught in traffic.

Some wild flowers growing next to the road.

We stopped at a gas station to fill up, and then started the 16 hour drive to Moab, Utah. Andrew drove until 4:00am because we couldn’t find a place to pull over. We didn’t even pass a gas station for about 100 miles. Somewhere along the way, I fell asleep. Eventually, Andrew found an exit with hotels, and we pulled into a gravel lot begin it and fell asleep.

Day 23: Bend, Oregon & North Fork Trail Ride

We woke up to car doors slamming and a large group of people making a run to the toilets this morning. We made our way out of the back of the truck and got back on the road, looking for a quieter place to make breakfast. We found another pull off on the highway next to a creek that looked suitable. We made coffee, sausage and eggs again. The final stretch of road between us and Bend went by quickly. I sat in the car catching up on blog posts while Andrew stayed focused on the road listening to music. We filled the truck with diesel and tried to get a game plan together. We thought we might as well hit up the Goodwill while we were here! Once we finished there, goodies in hand, we headed to Cogwild; a bike touring company a few good friends recommended us to. I had been in touch with one of the owners via Facebook for a few days, so it was nice to finally meet in person. Mel and Lev are the owners and a really nice, friendly and hospitable group of people. They were more than helpful on trail recommendations and openly talked with us about ideas for Mulberry Gap. They lent us a map to use and we headed to the North Fork Trail in the Deschutes National Forest. Andrew went out on the bike to ride the 10 mile loop, I couldn’t join him because of the bent chain rings, so I hiked up to one of the 8 waterfalls on the trail. It wasn’t a far hike, but I had a few things I wanted to work on with my free time. Andrew made it back in just over an hour. He said the trail reminded him a lot of Pinhoti 3 in our back yard are Mulberry Gap. There’s about 3 miles of pretty intense climbing in the beginning, it levels out towards the top, and then you have a sick downhill with lots of switchbacks.

We drove back to Cogwild after to give back the map. Lev recommended an area for us to camp in the national forest and another trail to hit up close to where we were today. So we ended up keeping the map and staying for a bit to talk further. Once we were back in the car, we headed to Trader Joe’s to buy some grub and cheap beer for Andrew. We bought some garlic & herb goat cheese, cibatta bread, Simpler Times beer, crackers and coffee then set out to find our nomadic home for the night. We pulled down a dirt road and selected the perfect spot for us. Andrew worked on getting the fire started while I made an assortment of appetizers to munch on. We had our bread, cheese and crackers, and then moved onto a caesar salad. Andrew made potatoes and then cooked pork. We were stuffed, but happy!

Soon we were beginning to feel the effects and onset of food coma and the bed was calling our names. We both agreed it felt like a movie night, so we eenie-meenie-miney-moed until Hitch was all that was left. (Andrew and I are both very indecisive when it comes to food, movies, etc. so this is how we make up our minds). We watched the movie until his computer died and then crashed…hard.

Day 22: Canon Beach & the Oregon Coast Pt. 2

We stopped at a few places along the scenic highway to grab some photos and stopped at a roadside market to grab some fresh meat. Once we were hungry, we pulled into a picnic area to make dinner. Andrew began making spaghetti for us and the grounds host came over to make small talk with us. He was a very nice older man with an interesting story. He has retired at 53 and traveled the US with his wife. After 10 years, they ran out of money, so they went back to work for 5 years. They’ve been on the road ever since. They have a winter house in Arizona and in the summer they come out here (to Oregon) and live on different camping/picnic spots. He invited us to come by his RV before we left and pick out some sand dollars. He collects them every day at low tide and had plenty to spare. 

After we finished eating, I went in the bathroom and washed my hair in the sink…again. I was desperate after a day on the beach and being covered in salt and sand. While Andrew was cleaning up in the bathroom, I discovered there was a huge batch of wild blackberries right next to our picnic table. Once Andrew returned, we spent about 15 minutes collecting the best berries we could reach. What a treat; they were so sweet and delicious. Afterward, we walked onto the beach and watched the sun setting behind the thick clouds.

We decided to make a run for and try to catch the sun setting from an overlook or other cool vantage point. We stopped by the hosts’ RV on the way out, picked out a few sand dollars and he recommended a place to go. We drove down to Twin Rocks and walked on the beach until we found a suitable spot to watch the sun continue to set behind the Pacific Ocean.

Once we were back on the road, we traveled a small distance and found another opening that exposed us to a warm pink sky. 

We drove for a few more hours and finally pulled over at a rest area to sleep for the night, about 1 ½ hours outside of Bend. We were exhausted and fell asleep quickly.

Day 22: Canon Beach & the Oregon Coast Pt. 1

Note: There are two parts to this blog because I have too many pictures.

When we woke up this morning, it felt like everything that had happened last night was dream. But, I remembered it in too much detail for that to be the case. And we were both still ticked off. Andrew examined the bike, and it appeared to be fine, except for some scrapes on the pedals from it grinding on the road when the jeep ran over it. Shocked, but happy, we were grateful for what little damage the bike had. We got in the truck and drove over to the grocery store down the street to load up on some food and ice. We grabbed a quick snack to hold us over before we could stop and find a place to cook breakfast. 

We decided that we should head to the coast and take our minds off last night, it that was possible. We found a pull off on the side of the highway about 30 minutes later. We made coffee and cooked eggs and sausage, a nice treat from the regular cereal. We cleaned and packed up, then drove the  1 ½ hours to Cannon Beach. We stopped at the visitor center and got maps and brochures on what to do and see in the area. We found a parking spot, loaded up our bags with food and water, then pulled the bikes down, hoping to ride them around the beach town. Andrew realized while putting the Ellsworth together, that there was a little more damage than we had noticed before. The chain rings were bent and all three of them needed replacing. Crap. That scratched our plan to ride around the town, I guess we’re walking. 

We walked over to one of the piers and looked out of the ocean. Then walked over to another and decided we’d just walk the beach. We were told to make it down to Haystack Rock by 2:00pm as it would be low tide then and we’d be able to see starfish and other sea life. We were about 1 ½ miles from the rock, but we made our way down there while taking in the views and people watching.

Once we got to the rock, we were able to explore the sea life and learn about the history and ecosystem of the area. Volunteers and rangers were on the beach to answer questions and provide information. It was very interesting. After walking a bit farther down the beach, we eventually turned around and headed back towards the main city center.

We walked through a couple of the shops downtown, then headed back towards the car. We figured there wasn’t too much to do here without spending money, and things here were quite expensive. We headed south on highway 101, a scenic route along the cost of Oregon on our way to Bend.

Don't forget to read part two of this post!