As I left Portland I was pleased to find I had my first day with a tailwind since somewhere in Missouri. I made it 126 miles in good time with energy to spare, and was excited to be in Eugene, OR where my friend Katy Miller from the Peace Corp lives. My plan was to only visit with her and rest for a few days, but between South Carolina Gamecocks kicking off the college football season on ESPN on Thursday and "The Eugene Celebration" on Labor Day weekend, I decided to spend a full week.  I had three Rotary meetings set up during the week. After leaving the first meeting that was at the Hilton Hotel, I saw a tour bus in the parking lot. I introduced myself to a tattooed man standing near and asked him what the deal with the bus was. He said it was a band I'd never heard of (Band of Horses) and that he belonged to the opening band. He was impressed with what I was doing and told me he was putting my name +1 on the guest list. I told this to Katy and she was a bit more excited being a fan of that band. It turned out to be an excellent show and Katy and I had a great time. The week only got better when my Gamecocks defeated NC State in the season opener, unfortunately for all the citizens of Eugene, the University of Oregon lost in the following game. That weekend was the Labor Day holiday and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Eugene, OR loves to celebrate so much on this weekend, that they simply call it the Eugene Celebration with no mention to the actual national holiday. Basically, my time in Eugene was well spent and it was a relaxing, much needed pause before starting my last stretch down the coast to San Francisco.

From Eugene I rode out to the actual West coast to Florence, OR where I was hosted by a Rotarian and had the opportunity to not only speak to their club but actually do a live radio interview on a local station. My hosts took me up to this famous lighthouse North of Florence that sat on a cliff above an awesome cove with high rocks on both sides. This was my first walk on the Pacific beach and I was in disbelief as to the fact that I was actually standing on an Oregon beach after cycling across the US in order to actually be there.Never having seen the West coast, I was blown away by the huge rocks that jut out of the ocean. It was a beauty I had not experienced before and it reminded me of King Kong's island that was shrouded in fog.  I had been averaging over 100 miles a day from Jackson, WY to Eugene, OR and wanted to slow it down a tad on my way down coast enjoying my ride and appreciating the beauty. So, from Florence I cycled down Highway 101 to a state park about 68 miles South and camped for the night. On the way to the park I stopped in a gas station to refill water and whatnot, and as I checked out I shared my campaign and business cards with the cashiers. About five miles down the road I noticed a pick-up truck pulling off the road ahead of me with a man standing outside of it waving money in the air as I passed by. I hit the breaks and said, "Well, that's one way to get somebody to stop." Turned out he was at the gas station I was just at, spoke to the cashiers and found out about my cause. His name was Art, and he ran a grocery store in the town just beyond my next state park. He gave me the twenty he was waving, and told me to go to his store the next morning and load up on anything I needed. After setting up my camp, the park ranger actually came by and gave me back my four dollars I payed for my site telling me that Art had come by earlier and payed for me. I was yet again blown away by the kindness of strangers, and it only got better. That next morning I went to the store, met Art's store manager who proceeded to hook me up with food and drink as well as a $25 gift card for all the Ray's Food stores down the coast line. Later in that day around mile 56 out of 108 I came into Gold Beach, OR for lunch and felt cold on an extreme level. So much so that I could not stop my body from shivering quite violently. I had been in much colder climates on this trip, but something just didn't seem right. I didn't feel like pushing myself another 50 miles so I decided to get a motel and take a hot shower in order to get my core temperature back up. I was disappointed to pull up with only half a day's distance, but relieved to find myself feeling fine once I regulated my temperature. 

The next day I crossed into my last state, California. A Rotarian in Crescent City agreed to host me even though I missed their meeting. He and his family lived in an awesome house that overlooked a giant rock strewn beach and coast. It was Saturday and I was excited to be somewhere where I was able to watch my Gamecocks play again, this time against UGA, a long time early season rival. The game was supposed to be a defensive standoff, but it was anything but that. Carolina ended up losing by four, but it was a wild and entertaining game. The next day I had to make it 80+ miles down to Eureka, CA in order to attend a Rotary meeting on Monday. The first half of the day was gorgeous as it was my first day riding through the redwood forests. It rained on me the last 30 miles and only got stronger the closer I came to my goal. Four miles outside Eureka, I pulled up lame with a flat trailer tire. "Knowing" I had a spare tube in the trailer it was a mere frustration...until I looked in my spare parts bag and realized I had no such tube. Since you can't patch a tire in a downpour it quickly became clear that I had to walk my bike and trailer the last four miles into town on the side of the highway. After walking about a mile a pick-up truck with a bicycle on the back pulled onto the shoulder and offered to assist me. A local cyclist, he said he knew that anytime there's someone pushing a bike in the rain it's because they have no choice. I thankfully accepted his help, and got dropped off in Eureka. I was unable to establish contact with my Rotary liaison so I was forced to get a room at a cheap motel which was disappointing to say the least since my funds were running at a serious low. However, the next day I spoke at the meeting and was yet again amazed at the generosity of Rotarians. With a boost to my funds I was rejuvenated and ready for the last week of cycling in this long journey. I was also thankful for the hospitality shown by one of the Rotarians and his family who opened their home to me that evening and hosted me.

After Eureka, I had to go 90 miles through rough terrain to camp, then wake up super early and ride another 45 miles over more mountains in order to get to the Fort Bragg Rotary meeting by noon. That first 90 miles was beautiful through more redwood groves. I definitely had never seen trees like this before. The shear mass and girth of the trunks on these trees were indescribably impressive since it was thousands of years in the making. I was extremely disappointed when I found out the "Drive-Thru Tree" was closed when i came to it. I had been looking forward to that experience since I began planning this trip back in Niger, West Africa. I even told my villagers about I was going to ride my bicycle through a tree (they didn't believe me). In the 45 mile morning ride the next day I surpassed my original predicted distance for the trip of 6,000 miles. At this point I've gone 6,045 miles and have around 200 more to go. I was more than a little excited and proud of myself. I had to climb over two really steep mountains to get back out to the coast and down to Fort Bragg, but I made it with time to spare before the meeting. The club was very welcoming and gave me 20 minutes to talk about my campaign. The president, who owned a grocery store in town, gave me a big gift card to shop for food & supplies I'll need for the rest of my trip, while another Rotarian who owns a hotel on the beach gave me a free room for the night. He also took me on a tour of the city, to the bike shop for repairs, and to dinner. I've been treated really well in Fort Bragg and am very thankful to everyone for making it such a good experience.

Tomorrow, I begin the last three days of cycling into San Francisco. If everything goes smoothly I should be rolling over the Golden Gate Bridge and across the bay on Saturday. I want to thank everyone for following me on this amazing life experience, and reading along. If you've joined me in this fight against global hunger then I thank you for your support and I thank you on behalf of all the voiceless masses who are living in malnurishment around the developing world. If you haven't, I want to encourage you, again, to visit my donate page. See how little it takes and how easy it is to make a substantial difference. And to donate whatever you can toward those who are in great need of assistance. Thank you again, and the next time I write I'll have reached the end of my cycling journey that has taken me all over the country over the past six months. I can barely believe it.