Day 8: Longview - Astoria, 90km

Today we passed into the promised land of Oregon with the sun shining, although we experienced several seasons in one day.

The route took us along route 4 in Washington, where yet again it poured with rain (I'm sorry to always talk about the weather). The road was exposed and suddenly the logger trucks were ten a penny. I was cycling so close to Tim that by the time we hit Cathlamet I was covered in mud.

We stopped outside a cafe where the owner came out and gave me a towel to wash my face with. We pulled our wet shoes off to regain the feeling in our feet and settled down for soup and cakes.

To cross into Oregon we took a ferry from Puget Island over to Westport. As we came out of the cafe I noticed the ferry was one an hour. It was 12:47 and we had three miles to pedal. I hit almost 40km/hr on the flat. With the load of panniers I was pretty surprised with myself. With one minute to spare we made it onto the ferry and 12 minutes later we were in Oregon.

Turning a corner our first long climb came into view, perfectly timed with Tim getting another flat. We lazily fixed it and headed up the 2.5mile climb along route 30. The climb was actually quite enjoyable - I am now finding them a nice change to the monotony of straight roads. Four long climbs later we were pulling into Astoria. The views over the Columbia River were immense but our enjoyment was frequently stunted by the number of trucks flying past. All other vehicles are great to cyclists but the lumber trucks don't take any prisoners. It transpires that they are paid by the load which goes some way to explaining their questionable speeds and mentalities.

Finally in Astoria I sent Tim into the visitor's centre where 5 minutes later I found him getting a little frustrated (although of course not outwardly) by the worlds slowest guy who to boot wasn't really telling Tim anything of use. We looked at a brochure for a Bed and Breakfast on Franklin and 15th which looked beautiful and off we went. When we got there we had to phone a number and the kindest lady, Pam, came and showed us into the best room yet with a cast iron bed and bath. Minutes later we were sinking into a hot tub complete with bubbles - Chandler from Friends style, although I didn't have a battleship to keep Tim happy. That said he splashed around with delight.

The best thing - the place has 750 dvds and it transpires the Goonies was filmed here! How exciting. After beers from the local served in jam jars (!) we crawled into bed and watched Fargo - hilarious.

Today i had an epiphany with my saddle - it turns out I am now more comfortable on my saddle than I am sat on a normal seat. Stopping for a drink along the route today I had to lay down on the floor as I just couldn't find the seats comfortable. I hope this doesn't go on as i am not sure we would get many guests in London if we converted all our chairs to saddles...