Our final day was a rainy 79 mile ride from Eugene to Florence. The route out of downtown Eugene had us going in circles until we found a bike trail. After that we had no more routing issues.
The forest route to Florence provided great scenery. The leaves were changing colors. The air was forest scented. Our two passes were not long. We had great roads with a shoulder most of the way.
We had a bit of a food desert. At 50 miles in Deadwood we had to pull out the jetboil and make ramen noodles with tuna. The little store there provided Tim with ice ream and Eric and me with candy bars. Our last stop before Florence was the Mapleton Library/CityHall/Water District/Lion's Club building. We got wi-fi and bathrooms.
With 13 miles to go we got a break on the rain. I thought we were going to be dry coming into the finish. Instead the sky opened up with pelting rain for the last 3 miles. Our adventure ended on that note at the hotel in Florence where my brother Alan greeted us. Needless to say there are not many photos from today and not even a dip in the ocean. We were wet enough. One more carbo dinner at the oldest pub in Oregon and a stop for ice cream bars marked the end of a Trans Am 2022 adventure. This finale was like a mini-cross country trip as it gave us a very unique mix of scenery, varied weather, (including smoke) hills and mixed terrain. We camped, hoteled, warmshowered and bike hosteled. All were interesting. We cooked ramen in the jetboil; ate peanut butter and tortillas and got great meals along the way. We did it all.
The next big plan for Eric and me is a 5 month round trip west to DC and back across the Northern route in May of 2025 when he retires. Tim is leaving in January 2024 for a 4 month trip north to south through Africa.
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