Day 65 and 66: Castle Rock, WA to Portland, OR to Salem OR-- Busy Bees

Yesterday we had an enormous hill at mile 25 that pushed us to our limits, but we all made it safely and with strength to the top. After 50 more miles, we crossed a bridge into Oregon and arrived at U of I alum Malinda’s home, where we were spoiled with great food and company. We also celebrated our I4k Christmas in July, and gave each other roadside gifts and various snacks/trinkets :) Today we rode through Portland, stopped at the famous Voodoo Donuts and Powell’s bookstore, and headed south to Salem! Though quite hilly for most of the day, things flattened out near the end and we got to ride some pretty sick tailwinds. That really helped us push to the end of the long and hot day. Blog posts have been lacking recently but will continually be updated! Tomorrow we’re headed to Eugene and have a long and slow climb for the majority of the ride.

— Marielle

Day 64: Mt. Rainer, WA to Castle Rock, WA--

Many people bike the STP (Seattle to Portland) route

Hello! Been a while— we didn’t have internet for a few days, so day 62 recap will be uploaded soon. For now, just the basics; today was 90 miles, with a decent portion of it downhill, through the gorgeous Washington that we were all looking forward to. It was a long day but didn’t feel too bad, and the weather was phenomenal. Castle Rock is a nice town surrounded by hills and we enjoyed some live music and short hikes. Tomorrow we cross state lines into Oregon and head near Portland!!! Woohoo!!

— Marielle

Found a license plate!

Town actually named after Sofie’s cat

Friendly dog

Friendly dog 2