Ashland, OR and beyond

Here I am in Ashland, OR. This place has been home for the last two weeks; and what a pleasant inspiring home it has been.

Rose and I arrived here spontaneously. Due to time restraints, and cold weather, we had taken the Amtrak train from Seattle, WA after doing a short tour around northern Washington. The train arrived in Klamath Falls, home of the E3 Live lake…well it was a late arrival. 10:30 at night to be exact, and I had to do some adjustments to our bicycles, after being boxed up, before we could go anywhere. Not that we knew where we would be going. Well, synchronicity has a pleasant way of working out. After the bicycles adjustments, a woman who overheard us earlier suggested that we put our bikes in the back of her friend’s truck and head off for Ashland, OR. So that sums up our arrival here in Ashland.

This place has been really rewarding; we were blessed with a free space at the Wellsprings Centre, a wonderful non-profit hotspring in Ashland. They put us up in a large tee-pee, out of the rain, and gave us an additional week of free services…ie. Hotspring, pool and sauna usage. Incredible!

At the centre, we became friends with a handful of people. Cranston is a traveling copper and silver jeweler who was staying in his RV. We met him in the Springs the first evening, and he has been teaching Rose his trade; lately he has gifted us a space to sleep in his van.

It’s been wet here as of late…even large hail has fallen. It’s actually colder here than Victoria…I hadn’t realized that. Being outside and cold at times sure strengthens the body and mind. Needless to say, we intend to travel further south. The roads are not ideal for cycling into California …IE. We are right beside the number 5 highway…oh just now out the window I see snow on the mountain. Yeeps…

We have three potential ride options that could get us from here to California. One guy is going to LA, another friend is going to Santa Cruz and Cranston will eventually be going to Sedona, Arizona. One ride will take us to Ukiah very soon; that is my plan. There are some WWOOF opportunities there, many permaculture institutes, as well as intentional communities. I am excited.

We will do another post as the adventure begins to unfold more.

Thanks everyone who may read this.

Lots of Love,

Ray