Washing in Washougal, Washington

Wahoo! We're in Washougal, Washington, which is right along the Columbia River. And yes, for everyone who was wondering what happened to those bulging bags of dirty clothes that we schlepped around Portland, we finally did laundry here in Washougal. ;)

Today's ride was awesome: lots of sun (but not too hot), lots of greenery, and (this is key!) relatively flat. The only significant climb was the I-205 bridge that you see in the background of this picture. It spans the Columbia River and connects Oregon and Washington. It was a steady, manageable uphill climb that was made even better by the spiffy bike lane that went down the center of the bridge! This is no dinky bridge, either: it's an 8-lane highway with lots of traffic. And right there in the middle of it, where a median would normally be, there's a 2-lane bike path protected by a thick steel fence. It reminded me of riding across the Golden Gate bridge, only without all of the clueless tourists who insist on walking 3 or 4 abreast, and who don't know what "On your left" means. I love that the Pacific Northwest is so bike friendly! The rest of our ride was a meandering tour of tree-lined roads, fancy riverside houses (one of them had windows that must have been 2 stories high!), railroad tracks, and a few small riverside towns. Biking home from dinner, we also got to test out our night light situation, and I'm happy to say that we're blindingly visible in the evening as well as during the day.

By the way, as the days go on, you may start to notice that we're wearing the same few outfits in all of our photos. That's because, well, we don't have that many outfits! When I saw all of our clothes in tidy stacks at the laundromat, I was struck by how little we have with us, and how nice it feels to have so few belongings to handle. Even though we have a bunch of bags on our bikes, it still feels like we're traveling light in a more global sense. This may simply be an illusion made possible by the fact that our parents are now weighed down by all of the stuff we left behind! Nevertheless, it's also rather liberating.

Thank you so much for all of your posted comments, emails, and texts, too! I haven't had too much time to respond to individual emails yet, but please know that I LOVE hearing from you in all forms! It feels good to know that folks are reading and enjoying the stories. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Columbia River Gorge and sharing our adventures with you! Big hugs!