Day 8: KP

88.50 mi 43.0 max 6:45.39 13.0 avg

This was one of the tougher days. Not many services along the way (the last 50 miles of the southern Oregon coastline are known as the "Fabulous Fifty." They're much more rugged, and more desolate. I stopped at a coffee shop for some white hot chocolate, with Chris & Marie, but those were basically the only services all day. Oh, and there were the Trees of Mystery. With dinosaurs. I didn't stop.

I don’t know how I’ll have the energy to finish this entry, much less make any sense. I got in from my ride, completely exhausted. Of course, it is my turn for kitchen duty, so I immediately started helping out, postponing my shower, my unpacking....there’s even laundry at this campground, which I planned to use since the drying time around here is...forever.

Once things were set in the kitchen, I had enough time to throw my dirty laundry in a plastic bag, so that Marie could toss my stuff in with hers - since she wasn't on KP, she had a little bit of extra time. However, when she returned, she reported that all the machines were filled, so my laundry was waiting for a machine to open. My heart sank - my shorts were all either dirty or wet...and I'll be the first to tell you that wet shorts do NOTHING to improve my attitude in the morning. The anticipation of clean AND dry bike shorts had definitely been on my mind for part of the ride today. When kitchen clean up was finished, at 7:35, I was near tears. Technically, the last load was supposed to be in the washer by 7:30. I hadn't showered until moments before dinnertime...my tent wasn't set up...if my laundry wasn't out of the dryer by nine, it would be locked up until morning...and the day had been extremely demanding - I was exhausted. Fortunately, I have had enough practice with my new tent so that I can set it up in the dark. And my fresh, clean clothes came out of the drier just as Ranger Rick was locking up the laundry room!

Although it was difficult, the scenery today was lovely. Took lots of pictures. Will have to load them onto my computer but probably not tonight.

There is quite a bit of tension on my cook crew, mostly between just two people (and thankfully I'm not involved) but it's really uncomfortable. In my opinion, the issue is somewhat petty...but it's been blown WAY out of proportion. Ah, well, I guess that's how things work in Real Families.

I'm sad that Julie and I didn't connect at all - not for my lack of trying, either. She obviously didn't make it down to Brookings - it would have been fun to see her on her side of the country.