That tiny little tip of Oregon sticking out into the Pacific, that’s Fort Stevens. That’s the state park I’m staying in tonight. It’ll be my last night in Oregon. I really have to commend the state park system here. The past three nights the campground has been full but they’ve made room for the hiker/bikers in clearings (kind of a community area). Honestly, it’s refreshing to have a state that knows what it’s doing with the park system. Thank you Oregon.
I met an ex Marine, Patrick at the hiker/biker site. He’s here with his daughter on her first big bike experience. At the age of twelve I can already see she’s inherited her father’s adventure gene.
Patrick shared with me a shot of whiskey and some of the best stories I’ve heard the whole trip. When he was young, on a whim, he turned a $199 discounted plane ticket to Amsterdam into an epic around the globe journey that led him into some of the friendliest and unsafe countries in the world. He’s been hiking through Sudan where he encountered wild baboons and machine gun fire. Crossed paths with some Peruvians with a bad attitude. He’s boarded a plane into east Berlin before the Wall came down. He’s even come face to face with a mountain lion, but that was in Oregon!
Patrick was a great guy and has a great kid. He’s the Citizen of the Day and he may have planted the seed for a world wide adventure. Stay tuned.
I’m off to the state of Washington tomorrow. I really don’t have a plan but I’m more than willing to grab a motel if I can’t find a place to camp. Either way it’ll only be a few more days until I reach Seattle.
