Port Orford, OR to Brookings, OR - 51 miles
We got out early this morning because we knew it was going to be a long day. We had some up-hill at the beginning of our ride, followed by a long, gradual down hill. Nice! We made great time and had already covered 20ish miles before lunch. During lunch, we had to break out the first aid kit for the second time on this trip. Nothing major, just me a knife and an avocado.
We let the boys listen to audio books while they ride. They get to put in the right ear bud only so they can still hear us and the traffic. It helps break up the monotony of pedaling for them and gives them something to focus on other than how many miles we've gone and how many we have left. It's also one way we squeeze in school even though we're riding most of the day. They learn new vocabulary and give us book reports periodically. Once we get to camp, they have to turn off the books so we have family time and the boys' undivided attention.
After lunch, Tan was riding around the park and choosing to listen to his book rather than to instructions from us. Consequently, he lost the mp3 player for the next 5 miles. Shortly after resuming our ride, he started riding wild on purpose and nearly collided with Stephen. The bark that followed, plus the blow of loosing the book privilege plus the hill we were climbing all dampened his spirits significantly.
Right at that moment, a car drove past, and a woman said, "Annette," out the window. It took me just a minute to recognize Henry and Kathy, our sister-in-law's parents. They knew that we were somewhere in Oregon, but had no idea where or even our route. They were driving up the coast and turned around when they recognized us. We stopped and visited with them for a bit, took a few pictures (notice that Tan wouldn't even look at the camera) and they graciously offered to treat us to dinner that evening. It was so fun to see a little piece of home on this trip, even if it wasn't exactly our home.
In case you're wondering, the Tan story has a happy ending. As it always does, the uphill turned into a downhill and soon we were all sailing down the other side. When Tan intentionally skidded to an impressive stop at the bottom, he shouted (completely unprompted), "That was so worth it!" I wish I could had gotten his reaction on video so that I can show it to him the next time he complains about a hill.
