Where to begin?

Dear Blog,

I am ashamed for leaving you for so long, but you must understand, I have been so busy. You know how it is, once you hit a city and meet up with friends, life just takes off. So now, one whole month later, I have come back to you; but only for a moment.
Gosh, I have so much to tell you that I can hardly start. Well, Casey and I are in California. Fort Bragg, CA, to be exact. We have biked here from Portland. And guess what? I have done the whole distance without the bike motor!! Yeah, I took that old thing off in Portland after a short overnight bike trip with Casey and Gabe made me realize that I can bike again. My knee has healed, and Casey and I have been careful to ease into the tour.
So here I am with over 1000 miles on my bicycle computer and going strong.
I can't begin to describe how good it feels to be in a well-functioning body. I feel redeemed; feel a new confidence in my ability to go adventuring.
The views have been stunning. From the lands of craggy coast line in southern Oregon to the towering ancient trees of the California Redwood forests, I have been reveling in the landscapes of this part of the country. One of the coolest parts is being so intimate with the changing land. You really know when you have gone through a mountain pass because you pedaled your way to the top and then coasted to the bottom. You passed the through the timberline and panoramic views of the land below, and then leveled along the lush ferny and mossy river valley. I am constantly stopping to document natural scenes I find myself a part of, but feel frustrated by my camera's inability to capture their magnificent wholeness.
Casey and I have managed to live very inexpensively, only really spending money on snickers and lentils from the Grocery Outlets. We have racked up a significant amount of karmic debt to local food banks along the coast as well. Our ecological/ economic footprint seems nearly microscopic with this lifestyle and that feels awesome. It is especially interesting for us to think about the major events and impending changes in our nation and world regarding the global financial crisis. We have chosen a lifestyle that is probably the most directly unaffected we can think of. We are trying to keep as updated on it as possible, downloading The News Hour podcasts and listening to them on our mp3 players.
Oh boy... we've got some rain coming our way. It's looking like it might be heavy and cold. We're a little under 200 miles from San Fransisco. Once we get there we will try to update the website with content and stay with housing cooperatives if they will let us. Then we will fly to Washington DC using the buddy passes Jeff the pilot gave us. From there Casey and I will go our separate ways for a few days and then reunite to bike our way back to Atlanta. That's the plan for now.
I guess I will end this and try to post some pictures, but I wanted to make sure the Blog readers hadn't given up on us. We're working hard, taking all kinds of pictures and audio recordings, and definitely having fun.

Until next time!