Day 1 John Day to Bates State Park

Ok first things first. It is 9:30 and I am whipped, tired, sore, etc. The day started @ 3:50 by taking a quick shower and then getting to the car as Dave waited in the driveway. We drove out of Angwin and headed north. After a few more hours, some Van Halen (for my beloved Cole) we made the right turn at Weed and I made the compulsory comment to myself and maybe outloud that I would love to climb Shasta. We made it Bend around noon and were able to give a quick greet,hug and take a picture with our friends the Thompsons who were heading to Walla Walla.

At Redmond we took another right turn and headed towards John Day. The  distance was 140 miles vs the 120 that I thought we had to travel. No matter we got there in time.  

We pulled into the town of John Day and found Kam Wah Chung. We didnt stay for the tour, even though the very friendly park personnel wanted us to stay for the 30 min tour. It wasn't like we had anywhere to go or anythjng!  After changing our clothes and loading, literally, our bikes with all of our necessities the nice park people, same ones, were kind enough to photograph our departure. 

Doesn't Barney look great with all the gear. I told y'all Barney is still a great bike. 

We were riding 30 miles and the first 12 miles (vs.10, Mora) were the usual "settling in" miles. The second 12 miles ranged from 4-6% climbs. Not usually a big deal but the extra weight didnt help. Finally, after 22.5 miles we descended reaching the 30's as we dropped. The extra weight continued to work hard at pulling us down the hill. This time we appreciated it. By this time it is nearly 7:00 and luckily I had put my vest (bright yellow) on prior to descending cuz it got chilllllly. We arrived at Bates State Park and found out we had the place to ourselves. The park is only 2 yrs old and is very well taken care of. In fact, the privies were not only spotless (honest) they didnt stink, at all. We made dinner ate and went to bed. I ate soup and PBT. You know what P and B stand for but the "T" stands for tortilla. They were either very delicious or I was famished. Probably both. Dave made a broccoli cheese soup for me in a ziploc that was good, too. 

Anyway, like I said at the beginning, I am tired. We dont have any cell service here so i will publish this when I can. 

Good night and talk manana. Love you family. Wish you were here with me to enjoy this lovely hard ground. I am getting tooooo old for this. 

Ciao