Day 88 Returning to Portland

We were to return to Portland early this morning and explore that wonderful city further. However, we were surprised by a Seaside, Oregon reporter, Laura Newburn of the SEASIDE SIGNAL, a weekly newspaper, who wanted to do a story on Zac's journey for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She was notifed by Steve Hale, from Aiken, that Zac had arrived on his cross country journey and his purposes... Ms. Newburn did the interview on the phone and asked that we email her a photo of Zac's arrival. However, three hours later, three different computer connections at the hotel, and three different hotel employees, we were unsuccessful.. In retrospect, we could have walked the camera over to her...... however, the article was written and submitted by Ms. Newburn who writes to us, "My dad died of Lymphoma four years ago. Today would have been his 62nd birthday, so writing a story about someone like you who is trying to make a difference with the disease that took his life made the day that much more special for me." We left Seaside much later, and stopped in Astoria to ship his beloved bicycle. We were referred to lunch at the most incredible small Mexican restaurant around the corner... After we secured her from-scratch guacamole recipe, the owner and two of her patrons told stories of their loved ones afflicted by blood-related cancers, two of whom had perished.... And Leukemia and lymphoma continue to devastate lives everywhere....
We continued to Portland, with Zac watching my speed limit the entire trip despite being on the phone or reading. He had not ridden in a car for three months and the speed was surreal for the first part of this journey.I became more aware of what constant climbing and descending of 300' to 500' inclines for miles and was impressed with his efforts, multiplied by 80 days... My stationery lifestyle seems so wrong. Zac seems very happy to return to his home in Aiken and is overwhelmed with the goodness and kindness of everyone. He had only two stories of unpleasantness where his safety was challenged during all 4.000 miles but so many, many stories of kindness and generosity...... P.S. I counted 12 states but Zac cycled through corners of Illinois and Washington that I did not know of.. so 14 states!!@###...I so was trying to keep track...
*posted by a mom who at least can hit the stationery bicycle when she gets home. Obviously, this genetic trait came from his Dad*