Day #36: A Rest Day in Ashland

Today's Route: Rest Day in Ashland (0 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 1,543

Today is a rest day in Asland.

Alex woke up early in the morning, packed up his things, and headed to a hotel for his rest day. Ferit, Dilek, and I decided we'd spend another night at the campground.

We began the morning with a delicious breakfast.

Chef Ferit, preparing breakfast.

We then drove into downtown Ashland. Ashland is an adorable little town. It's best known for its popular Shakespeare Festival. As there were no going-ons at the festival today, we began our visit to town by hanging out a coffee shop for a bit.

Day #35: Oregon or Bust

Today's Route: Mt Shasta, CA to Ashland, OR (85 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 1,543

Ron joined us for the first 30 miles of our ride leaving Mt Shasta this morning. For a roadie to be able to pedal slowly enough to keep up with two heavily loaded touring cyclists gives credence to Ron's immense patience.

Alex & Ron.

Although Ron is a cyclist, he has never toured before. He very much wants to try self-contained touring. Ron has his eyes set on riding the Pacific Coast for his first tour. I can't think of a better route to ensure that Ron falls in love with the touring lifestyle.

Day #34: Mt Shasta Explodes

Today's Route: Burney Falls Trailer Resort (26.2 miles N of Old Station, CA) to Mt Shasta, CA (57 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 1,458

It's one of those rare one-photo blog days. Here it is, a photo of Mt Shasta, as we rode into the town bearing the same name:

Mt Shasta.

Today was a straight-forward riding day. We climbed a couple of summits, we passed through one (and only one) town, and then we arrived at Mt Shasta.

Day #33: Lassen Magnificence

Today's Route: Childs Meadow RV Resort (9 miles S of Lassen National Park) to Burney Falls Trailer Resort (26.2 miles N of Old Station, CA) (82 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 1,417

As a follow-up to yesterday's blog entry, self-dismemberment of body parts was not required on today's ride. All body parts dutifully cooperated. And that was most appreciated because...

Today's ride included a 29-mile tour through Lassen Volcanic National Park.

At the entrance to Lassen.

Mount Lassen erupted numerous times between 1914 and 1917. The largest eruption, which was in 1915, resulted in ash settling more than 200 miles to the east. Mt Lassen was the last volcano to erupt in the Cascades range, until Mt St Helen's blew its top on May 18, 1980.

Day #32: Body Parts in a Pannier

Today's Route: Quincy, CA to Childs Meadow RV Resort (9 miles S of Lassen National Park) (66 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 1,335

The day started out wonderfully. We rode two miles into Quincy, stocked up on groceries for the next few days, and then spent an hour or so at a coffee shop. I ordered a pot of Jasmine tea. Yum!

My pot of Jasmine tea.

We chatted with the coffee shop proprietor for awhile. As it turns out, he spent forty or so years in Seattle prior to moving out to Quincy just a year ago to open the coffee shop. His wife's family is from the Quincy area, and her wanting to be closer to her family was the main impetus for the move.

When the coffee shop owner was in Seattle, he worked in real estate. One of his jobs was to help Amazon employees relocate to Seattle. Alex and I mentioned that we both used to work at Amazon. It's a small world, I tell you.