And I wanted to say by to Jason who was watching phones as they charged in the washroom. I was thrilled with my solar panel. I know it's not fun watching things charge. He was reading a book which Game of Thrones is based on.
The ride to Hoquim wasn't bad. Moderate up and down. I managed a shortcut after getting out of camp, which of course, involved some very steep hills.
When I got to Lavogue Terry was busy but pointed me to a rack of loose tires which were all 20". About 9 pegs stacked with about 15 tires each. They all looked like standard BMX tires. One was 100 psi but I knew the tread would slow me down. I went back to my trike and Terry asked, as he passed by, if I had found the Schwable tires. I had not!
I found some thin racing tires and a Big Apple 2", which was bigger than my 1.75 Marathon Plus tires. No matter, Terry said I could test them. I did, and before I got going I met a guy out on the road, Gary and we talked recumbents. We also talked about waving at cars. He said there's the three finger wave and the four finger wave. The three finger wave is "read between the lines" which is basically the finger. The four finger wave represents four words... Thanks for your service, and is meant for police or the men and women who serve the country. When I saw him in the store after I got back from my test ride I said, "Hey Gary!" And when he figured out who I was, he said, "Oh you were just test riding!"
After I paid for the tire, Terry directed me to the post office, which I wanted to get to do I could send some things home.
It was a very nice post office, and the doors were open so I went inside. But it was closed. Neither Terry nor the people who helped me find it mentioned this important fact, but they likely didn't know.
I rode my bike back to Aberdeen to catch a bus to Raymond do I could get ahead and make up the day I had lost when I lost my wallet and money. But of course, the buses to Raymond don't run on Saturday. There was a bus to the camp where the Key West Crew was headed. I thought maybe I would just do that. I thought I would take the 45 minutes I had before the bus left to return the tire I got at Walmart. When I got there, the lineup was huge. I wouldn't make it back to the bus in time. I offered the guy in front of me the tire for $10 even though I had paid $18. He was unwilling. The first sourpuss of the trip. On my way bsnk to the bus station, I saw the Key West Crew. They seemed like they were on a mission to get to the campground when I told them I was taking the bus. I took a picture of them from the bus when I passed them.
And just like my previous buds ride, this bus was a community as well. The topic was stuff on sale. One girl complained that she couldn't carry the 15 lbs of potatoes for $3 so she got 3 lbs for $1. The lady replied that she bought lots of jars of olives because they were on sale at this other place. Potato girl said she loved the sales at that other place. Before potato girl left, she got olive girl's number. I helped her out with her baby carried stocked with groceries. I looked out at some of the scenery when olive girl started asking me about my trike, and how she wants one.
When we passed by Westport, it wasn't thd ritzy glitzy place I expected. It was rather ho-hum. But there was a really cool climbing tower do you could get a better look at not much.
I decided to get off at the last possible stop and try to ride the 50 miles to the next campground do I'd make up the day. Until then I didn't feel like riding anymore, but I had a renewed energy. Not even the gold fish races could keep me from pushing on!
Contrary to what Randy had told me on the bus the day before, the scenery to Raymond was really nice! And I was treated to one of the best Welcome-To signs when I arrived.
In fact, the entire city was littered with the same themed iron figures.
I pulled into a place that claimed to have fish and chips and the smell of the area proved there was a cannery around. But even at 6:30pm, the place was closed. But pulling in led to meeting Rod and Jaime. Rod had lived and worked in the fishing village all his life. Jaime didn't talk much except to repeat what I said. "Where you heading?" I'd reply, "San Diego" and Jaime would repeat, "San Diego." But with more inflection and upspeak to make it sound like a question.
As I left Raymond, I was greeted yet again with a stunning welcome-to sign, facing the opposite way I was going.
The scenery continued to awe me and I delayed my arrival at camp by stplopping to take many pictures.
I finally managed to get to camp, and asked a guy where to pay. He told me but it seemed he was busy trying to talk to an extremely drink guy, and protecting a woman from getting involved. I moved on after asking if everything was ok.
As I set up my tent, he drove by and asked if I was camping here. He mentioned that the guys at the camp he was at were obnoxious and that there was a KOA campground down the road. I moved to a site a bit farther away. Ony way to go self-pay for the site, this guy was stumbling out of the camp. He started talking to me and told me he was going to go get the girl. His breath was 100 proof. He asked me if I thought he would make it 3 blocks. I told him I was confident he could, bit to take his time. He asked me my name and said his name was Neil. He shook my hand and kept asking to bet if he could make it 3 blocks. I said he could. He got a boy angry and asked if I didn't think he could make it and I made it clear by saying, "I am sure you can do it." His response was, "I love you too man!" And he shook my hand again, popped me a good on on the shoulder, and shoved me a little. We kept jousting and he kept lovingly, although provokingly, shoving and hitting me. I finally walked away, and urged him on. He said he'd come find me at 4am. I told him to leave me alone as I had to get up early. OK Adam. He wouldn't be able to find me in his condition anyway.
I slippedy money in the supplied ziplock, and into the slot. It was a 70 mile day, and I managed to make up the day I lost. Things were looking up!!!
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