Summer 1997 - Yukon to California
Journals - 2 September 1997
Day 54
2 September 1997 (cloudy, nice morn; sunny, nice midday; good tail wind;
mileage = 31.3; Butano State Park) -- X - Last night, I experienced a
serious illness (my worst in a few years). I felt like I was going to puke
which made me nervous since I didn't want to do that in the tent. When I
finally (carefully) got out of the tent to puke, I didn't have to. And
without the fear of puking in the tent, I started feeling better. April
came outside with me and we worked on strategies for puking in the tent. It
was nice outside and the wind had died down quite a bit. We all got up
before 7:30 and we had a textbook take down. Dennis is doing pretty well
with it, too. We were rolling at about 9:22. At about (after) 9:30, April
got a flat in her front tire (glass). I fixed/patched it and we were
rolling by 9:45. Soon, and inevitably, we came to a small hill which was
quite a struggle. I thought it would be good for April and I to stop at an
overlook and let the Richters work on their climb. Well, they saw us
stopped there and came back down the hill to join us, which cost us a lot
of time, but it was indeed very scenic. After some more similar riding, we
got to our lunch site. It was very nice with a picnic table on a low bluff
looking out over a big rock island with heaps and heaps of pelicans. As I
was getting out the food, a couple of German tourists took an interest. He
was so impressed with all four of us riding 10,000 km that he gave me a
Soligen knife and Dennis a flashlight (didn't Chris Columbus use this
trick?). He was VERY cool to do that. He also had a cycling magazine in
German. When he realized I was very interested in it and learning German,
he gave it to me. Danke. Dennis was really enjoying the fruits of our labor
with photos and everything. Then, strangely, another couple was interested
in us. There were from Pennsylvania. Dennis really seemed to enjoy the
attention. I had to laugh when he answered the (very common) question "How
many miles do you do a day?" (about 30). So we ate lunch. There were seals
there. That's always fun. Then we (April and I) reorganized Nancy's cargo
onto our bikes. This made a significant difference for her and a small one
for us. We turned inland for a mercifully gentle climb to the state park.
Wait! Before that, we went down to the hostel/lighthouse. I think they
wanted $40 + a "chore" for a shitty stripped-down hotel room where we
could worry about our stuff getting stolen. No thanks. After April and the
Richters took the self-guided tour, we left and headed for our state park
destination. There were some hills that made Nancy struggle, but it could
have been a LOT worse. Anyway, this campsite is gorgeous. VERY nice!
Redwoods with walk-in sites neatly placed. Very nice. So we set up and we
all washed off (no shower, though) and we ate and here we are.
![[Bike]](./only2500b.gif)
