At long last... Portland!!

After: 5,000 miles, 83 days, 15 states (and 1 Canadian province), 700 granola bars, 560 bananas, 450 nectarines, untold meals of rice and beans, veggie wraps, sandwiches, tuna wraps and random other things, 500 oatmeal packets, 205 pb&j, 30-40 McDonalds apple pies, too many ice cream cones to count, 3 months of facial hair growth (for me and bruce at least, though Evie didnt shave her face either I guess) a vast range of conversations with an incredibly diverse sea of faces, and many, many memories which we will carry with us the rest of our lives, we have finally arrived in Portland, Oregon.

What a journey! Today I was looking through old pictures on my camera and a couple things came to my mind. First of all I couldn't believe how long we had been on this trip, it seems like ages ago that we were in New York, or even Yellowstone. It even feels like ages ago that we've actually consistently rode 70 miles a day (the last 2 weeks or so we've been taking it pretty easy). But it also hit me that the trip I had been looking forward to and anticipating for over a year and a half is now over. When I think about this trip I don't think of it as a difficult physical task, really after the first month or so of getting in shape it really wasn't too bad and I really think almost anyone could physically do it. But more so I think of it as a great privilege to be able to have the time and be in the position to be able to go on an adventure like this. It really was an amazing summer, one that I'm sure I will always look back on as one of the best things I ever did.

Bicycle touring has definitely gotten into my blood and hopefully this won't be the last tour I do. Though I'm sure that it will be awhile before I come close to doing one of this magnitude again. And hopefully biking will always be a heavy part of my life. It's a great way to stay in shape, and another plus for me is that its practical. It gets you somewhere. Running for the sake of running always seemed pointless to me, but biking as a form of transportation makes sense to me - especially with the cost of gas. Thats one thing about Portland. Everyone here bikes. There's bike lanes everywhere, and even where there aren't bike lanes everyone gives you plenty of space and you don't feel threatened even when biking in the city. This pic was taken our first night in the city. This is about 12 bikers stopped at a traffic light.

We got to Portland Monday night and were planning on only spending Monday night in a hotel and then head out to a campground about 30 miles outside of town and just take the train in everyday. But we found a fairly nice and decently priced hotel and just decided to avoid the hassle and stay within the city. Since we've been here we've spent a lot of time just walking around the city and enjoying the things it has to offer. Last night we went to an outdoor symphony down by the waterfront, which was really enjoyable. The first night we were riding into the city with our bikes fully loaded and a lady with a bike on top of her car pulled up beside us at an intersection and asked us about our trip. She was really excited about our trip and gave us her number and asked us to give her a call if we wanted to do something while we were in the area. So Wednesday night we went out to dinner with her and her husband and Saturday night we'll be staying with them at their house. They were a really great couple and gave us a lot of ideas about stuff to do in the city. Sunday we'll be leaving the city and spend the next couple days, until we leave on Tuesday, with some of our relatives in Salem.

Portland has been great and has been a fitting end for our trip seeings as how it is known as the biker friendly city. And more importantly, its the end!