Portland to Carlton

The ride to Carlton is only 40ish miles, so everyone spent most of the morning exploring Portland. My group rode excitedly into downtown yelling and such in excitement as we're so close and as we're in such a cool city. We went to Voodoo Donuts, where the entire team eventually ended up, and then went to explore Powell's books. 'Twas a fun time, but after 2 days off the bike I was really anxious to just ride. Eventually, Jay, Blythe, and Soko were ready to ride out of town. 

There were tons of rolling, deep hills and even more traffic. The change of scenery from riding on sleepy country roads to riding alongside tons of cars was refreshing. About a mile before lunch, I got a flat, but pumped it just enough to get to lunch before changing the tube out. Hung around at lunch for a while as Dan was lacking a phone and we were trying to figure out how to pick up Natalie from Portland to join us for the last few days. Then continued on to finish the ride and then kept going a bit. While I was riding back into Carlton from the opposite direction, I ran into my parents who were on their way to Cannon Beach for a few days before we arrive. They had told me they weren't coming through the same way as us, so it was a nice surprise to see them. They met some of the team and hung out for about a half an hour before heading on. 

After the parental a left, Dan showed up with Natalie. Much anticipated. Excited she's back with us. 

We went to the park to eat dinner and have our final townhall.  During townhall we were entertained by a nearby aqua aerobics class. Woot. 

Returned to host for warm clothes. Walked around/hung out in town. Layed in the host parking lot a bit chatting. End.