Monday, August 24, 2009 Corvallis, OR

Because of such a short, flat ride (40 mi) and really cool morning, we slept in a little today, had breakfast in the motel and left about 8:40. The terrain was strictly farmland through several small Mennonite communities. It seemed as though all the homes were extremely neat and had beautiful flower and vegetable gardens. We saw lots of peach and pear orchards, as well as filbert orchards. At some point we picked up the Willamette River adn followed that to Corvallis. In Corvallis several of us immediately spotted McMenamins (chain where we ate back in Troutdate). We were able to sit at an outside table and enjoyed the best clam chowder! Later, we rode thru downtown, a college town with 3 bike shops and lots of expresso shops. We also discovered the lovely river walk. I must admit that I don't explore our stopover towns as I probably should. Once I get cleaned up, I sort of poop out. .. .The roads on this trip have had great shoulders. The NW really supports cycling, not only in the towns, but also on the highways. . . . It's been good this afternoon to have a chance to talk with Judy and catch up on her life. We rode together last summer. In fact, we met at the San Diego Airport. Another 'slow news' day.