And off we go again…–by Schylie

It’s Monday evening and time for another update. I’ll work chronologically from Friday to today. Friday was a tough day for the guys. They left Tilamook and rode 45 miles to Rose Lodge, including a 3000 ft climb. The weather was poor, and along with  the increased elevation, they were exhausted. At one point of their climb up a long, steep hill, a car stopped to speak to Daddy on a switchback and as he tried to come to a stop on the narrow shoulder, he fell over into the guardrail. It hurt badly but Daddy was never more thankful for a guardrail. The drop beyond it was several hundred feet to the coast. On another occasion, during a nice easy section of the ride, one of the boys (no names to protect the guilty) yelled for Daddy to check out something cool on the other side of the road. He turned, lost control of his bike, slid off the raised shoulder and crashed–and slid on the pavement–trying to get back on. The slide tore a hole in one of his front panniers and ripped a hole in the knee of his base layer. Next time he’ll check the safety of his own footing before looking away 🙂

They went to an RV campground in Rose Lodge that night and settled down. What an eventful day.

Saturday was a nice break from the day before. The weather was better and they just kept going. They covered 55 miles total. The plan was for them to arrive in Monmouth, OR, and we would pick them up in the afternoon. After fighting some traffic, we arrived to pick them up and bring them to our friends’ house in Salem. Daddy slept in the car on the way there. Earlier that day, we joined our friends in decorating the house and making a cake for an early birthday party for Forrest. After dinner, we brought out the ice cream and cake, completely surprising Forrest. After some showers (for which the guys were very grateful) and learning new games, we all retired for the night.

On Sunday, we attended our friends’ church, Sonnyslope Christian Reformed Church in Salem. We attended both the morning and evening services and greatly profited from the sermons, both of which were centered on missions and the way the Lord uses us to further his Kingdom. Between services, we ate together and enjoyed relaxing conversation. In the evening, the children played games and the adults chatted on the porch.

This morning, we left the Prys’ house just after 8am. It felt like our visit just flew by and it was now time to say goodbye. We took the guys back to the point on their trail where we had picked them up on Saturday. Then we said goodbye again. Us girls began our trip up north, back to my Mama’s dad’s place in Keyport, WA. On our way up, we stopped by an antique shop which looked intriguing. We had no clue what we were getting in to. This shop was 16,000 square feet–it was huge! There was such an amazing variety of items. It took maybe 45 minutes to simply walk through the whole place. Mama and I got a few things, wishing we could buy much more. On the opposite side of the street was a cafe. We stepped in and got some gelato, a welcome treat to a warm day. Then we were on our way again, making a few stops before arriving at Mama’s dad’s house around 8pm tonight.

Meanwhile, the guys traveled 62 miles today and arrived tonight at a campground in Coburg, OR, completing the first section of the Transamerica Bike Trail. Yay! They made a stop at a bike shop in Corvallis to check the air pressure of their tires and a few other things, all for no cost to them.

Completion Video!

Thank you all once again for your prayers. 🙂

Signing off…