After a couple hours we had all our stuff packed and on the bikes outside and soon Randy came rolling up.
A fellow blizzard survivor
Our mapped route is headed to Bend but takes a side detour and two days to get there. Randy's friend lives off the highway south of Bend so we decided to ride the highway with him straight to Bend. This will get us there in one long day instead of almost two.
While not picturesque, the highway had the advantage of being fairly flat with a good road surface. With three of us we were moving along pretty well so the late start wasn't going to be a big deal.
It was great chatting with Randy again and hearing about his travels. It turns out that the blizzard from yesterday is why he is with us today. He had planned to stay a day or two at Crater Lake but when he got there the weather was terrible and expected to be so for a couple of days. He decided to just push on. Unfortunately for him, when he got to the rim the lake was completely covered in clouds and snow and he didn't get to see anything. He was about an hour and a half behind us in the blizzard and he declared it some of the worst riding conditions he has experienced.
He found our sign at the summit outside the park and was excited to see that he was only 90 minutes behind us.
We rode about 35 miles before stopping for lunch. We had a very nice cafe lunch courtesy of Randy's generosity. He decided we needed a celebratory lunch. Thanks Randy!
After about 20 more miles it was time to part ways as he headed for his friends place and we finished the ride to Bend. It was with mixed feelings that I said goodbye and pedaled away. I was excited to see him again and a bit sad to see him go again so soon. It would be nice to ride together again sometime.
Happy for the time together on the road
We passed one more small summit/pass on the way to Bend and took pictures but this time left no notes for Randy. He would be following a different route.
Lava Butte...does that come after a spicy dinner?
We arrived in Bend and had made pretty good time. Our plan was to stay at a state park just outside bend on the way to Sisters tonight. We had some time so we stopped at a McDonald's for Sarah to use the wifi. I made a very nice phone call home while I waited. We were there for about an hour and a half I eventually realized that the state park location I had mapped as three 3 away was the park office. The actual park with the campground was 7 miles away. Oops.
Oregon has happy bikers
We found the campground and were excited to be in Oregon. The state parks here are very nice (warm water and showers) and super biker friendly.
$5 camping with a shower...Go Oregon!
We quickly set up camp at the hiker/biker site and had dinner. We have both been noticing that our standard bean and tortilla dinner in not nearly as filling as it used to be. I am going to have to start having a bit more for dinner.
We were sharing the hiker/biker site with a couple who had hiked out from Bend. They were amazed that we had been riding from San Diego. It took a bit to convince them it was true.
With our late arrival at camp, it wasn't long before I was in the tent and reading myself to sleep. Being a Saturday night with music coming from a few campsites, I put in my ear plugs and before long was asleep in the silence.
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