Early morning, Biggs Junction OR

Biggs OR, as seen from the Washington side of the Columbia River

On Wednesday we all headed out of Biggs in the car to cross the Columbia River Bridge back into Washington. The weather was again sunny and high temperatures were expected. Fortunately the westerly winds were not too strong during the morning. And the traffic remained calm during the first 15 miles. The scenery was absolutely great. 

Riding into the Columbia River Gorge

....and biking Washington Scenic Hwy 14

 

The road in general descended mildly for many miles with a few short climbs. After four milkshakes, it was my turn to drive the car. We came to a nice little park high above the river where we stopped shortly.

Espresso stand stop

Overlooking the Columbia River

Maren, a strong rider after 4,000 miles 

The group made it into Bingen (Yes, by the Columbia river, not by the river Rhine in Germany) where I waited with the car. Because the next 10 miles had 5 tunnels for us and the traffic had picked up, we decided to drive this section of the road in the car. Later we wanted to cycle into Stevenson for the last remaining 14 miles. But unfortunately we not only encountered strong traffic but the shoulder became uncomfortably narrow. For a few miles Mike drove the car behind us to give us protection from the traffic. But this was no fun riding, so we all climbed into the car and drove to Stevenson. 

Traffic presented a hazard further west

The only motel in town was too expensive, so after a short break in a little cafe in the old part of town, we drove the car across the river and made it into Troutdale, a suburb of Portland, OR. From our motel room I called British Airways to ask for a flight home next week. We were booked on Tuesday July 26th. 

Then we all went into downtown Portland in the car. First we visited REI. And there we ran into John and Yvonne from England, a couple whom Maren and I had met on the South Island of New Zealand in 2004! They had just finished the TransAm on a tandem.  The world is small sometimes! Maren and I inquired about new Windstopper fleece jackets to replace our old ones but were not successful. After REI we all went for dinner in a nice restaurant nearby. Maren and I had pasta, which we had missed for days.

In the night we had a thunderstorm and rain and the temperatures dropped considerably. It was no longer hot and dry but the influence of the Pacific Ocean was already to see (plants) and to smell (fresh cool wind). During breakfast on Friday morning in the lobby of the motel, M&M had contact with another woman cyclist, who new about a local bike path leading from close to where we were right into downtown Portland. We chose to ride a portion of the trail. During those 10 miles we had to take shelter from a rain shower. 

Springwater Trail from Gresham to Portland OR

From another trailhead we all took the car across town and the Willamette River, until we arrived on the Western side of town on Highway 30. This was a very busy route, but we had a big shoulder. The Highway had 4 lanes and the noise from the traffic was bad.  In Scappoose we all stopped at a Pizza-Shop and had lunch. Maren (who was mad from the irritating traffic noise) and Marilyn drove the car to St. Helens, and later into Columbia City, where Mike and I joined the girls in the car. 

After a few more miles we crossed the Columbia River over a bridge from Rainier, OR to Longview, WA. That evening we had dinner out of the cooler box in our motel room. 

 

Longview WA from Rainier OR

 

On Saturday it was the final stage of our trip across the US 'From the Deep South to the Northwest'. The weather was fine and the headwind not too strong and fresh.

After crossing back over the river to Rainer, Mike dropped us off on Hwy 30. Again, in the morning, the traffic was not too bad and the shoulder was still wide and clean. First we had to climb a few miles but then we were rewarded with a long downhill. It was flat until Westport. Out of Westport was the last noticeable hill of the entire trip. Fortunately after the hill at Knappa Junction was another cafe where we all cooled down with cold shakes and ice cream. 

From there Maren, me, and Marilyn rode the last 12 miles into Astoria, where Mike had parked the car. Our road was hilly and curvy and had much traffic (OK, no surprise, it was high season and weekend and sunshine) and the shoulder became narrow. We had a few nice views down to the mouth of the Columbia River and at 2 PM we arrived in Astoria, the end of our trip!

 

Arriving in Astoria!

We decided to look for accommodation at Fort Stevens State Park right by the Pacific Ocean. The campground was full so we had to take a cabin at the KOA right opposite the State Park.

KOA cabin, our last accommodations.

After check-in we made ourselves at home. Everybody went to the shower. After that Maren and I invited our dear friends for a nice and stylish dinner at an Italian Place in Astoria. The wine, the meal and the service were excellent. Later, when we had returned to our cabin, we took a bottle of champagne and walked a mile down to the shore, where we celebrated the end of our latest trip.

Celebrating the completion of our second trip across America

Later we sat in the swing on the front porch of our cabin and dug deep into our memories of the TransAm in 2001-02

.

On sunny Sunday morning, after a visit to a great pancake place in Astoria, we decided to put some appropriate history to the end of our Lewis&Clark Trail. We visited 'Fort Clatsop National Memorial' by car. This was the place where the expedition of the Corps of Discovery stayed in the winter of 1805/06 for several months. People have rebuilt a little fort to give us some idea of how the accommodations during that time might have looked. Not too comfortable!

           

Fort Clatsop, reconstructed fort representing Lewis and Clark's accommodations in the winter of 1805-06

Later in the day we drove the car back to Seattle to visit with Marilyn's parents who live very close to the Seattle Airport. We were greeted very warmly after 3 years (we stayed with them also at the end of our TransAm in 2002). On Monday the girls did some shopping while Mike and I went to the Airport to inquire about bike boxes, which we finally got (after a long search). In the afternoon we prepared the bikes and our baggage for the trip home.

On Tuesday, July 26th by noon Mike and Marilyn finally dropped us off at the airport.

 

           

Peter and Maren, Marilyn and Mike at the airport

We were sad to say 'good bye' but are optimistically looking forward to another meeting next year somewhere in Europe or in the US. Our flight home was on schedule and we arrived on Wednesday, July 27th at 5 PM at our home airport of Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel. We reassembled our bikes, gave the boxes away, settled all of our gear into the panniers and rode the last remaining 10 miles home to our apartment, where we arrived at 8:20 PM.

Thank you for your interest in our adventure.