Author: Nancy

An official SOTF outing this time in Oregon.

The park is named for this guy…

The real draw for me, besides being with some of our sister friends is the Banks-Vernonia bike trail.

You can see that the state park is right in the middle of the trail and is about 21 miles long connecting the towns of Vernonia (top of map) and Banks (bottom of map). We will be riding this trail — some or all depending.

We had arrived a day early and, with someone now camped in our reserved future spot, had to take a camp site directly across from where we would actually camp for the three nights. Easy enough to move the next morning as well as give us a chance to drive into town to pick up our pot luck items ;’-).

We walked around the town of Vernonia looking for the market, and of course Susan immediately spotted the pizza place! We did our marketing and bought lunch to bring back to camp, had some ice cream treats while waiting for our order, and then headed back to camp.

At 4:00, check in time for this campground is rather late so we had lots of time to eat our lunch, take a nap (me), set up screen tent (Susan) and relax before other sisters started to arrive.

Our host for the event, Lydia, got her site set up and a campfire going for our initial meeting to greet each other and see what the next two days had in store for us.

Belly Dancing should be interesting!

On the way back to our site, I spotted what I think is such a classic bicycle photo.

The following day, Wednesday, was bike ride day on the Banks-Vernonia Trail — that map above. Milling around getting ready.

“What are they doing?” The deer seem to be asking each other.

They are lining up for a photo!

The above is a better photo to show everyone’s face, but Susan did a fine job of getting us ALL in with a timer on her phone.

All eight of us were finally ready to roll, and so we did. Stopping along the way was a good chance to get a photo of Debbie and her tiny 10 week old Daschund “Louie”. Louie was asleep so I need a better photo. Debbie is training him right, taking him on bike rides in a very safe basket.

Once in town (Vernonia again for us) several chose to go to a cafe for lunch; Susan and I chose to get a sandwich elsewhere and take it to the lake for our lunch.

Susan and I got a very good Reuben sandwich from this place.

Does anyone remember these soda cooler/dispensers? Nostalgic for me.

For some reason this wagon wheel spoke to me and I needed to take a picture.

Sandwich packed on Susan’s bike, we continued on to join the “Z trail”. A roadside map shows the Z continuing later as an unpaved trail, but this section is paved to the lake. After having our lunch at a lakeside picnic table we rode on around to the ice cream shop across the lake.

Our ice cream server…

There was a very nice covered patio to sit and enjoy our caramel sundae.

Once seated we truly enjoyed our treat and a view of this little ‘Vernonia’ Lake.

Time to move on, and as we were readying our bikes for departure, I noticed the alligator.

After circumnavigating the lake, we rejoined the B-V trail for our return to camp…

This out building covered in ivy had caught my attention on the way out, but being with a group does not allow for an easy stop for picture taking. I knew we would return by the same route, so kept in my thoughts for then, and there it was.

Arriving at camp, we found that the other part of our group had not yet gotten back. They were still out there enjoying the day. Later we discovered that two of the five had missed the turn to camp and ended up putting at least 5 miles more than intended!

I noticed this butterfly as we neared our van.

Time for indoor stuff, we played “left, right, center”. A dice game where one person will win the pot after everyone else has lost their $3 they had started with.

Claudia is sure to show that she is not only NOT out of money yet, but has $4!

The pot grows…

As there were 11 people at our table, the winner (Adrienne) took $33 as the winner. But then — she wanted the game to continue so she returned everyone’s money so we could play on! We did play again, and the winner of the second hand (Jille) gave two thirds of the winnings back to Adrienne.

Susan had brought a puzzle of “dancing women” since Lydia would be teaching a Belly Dancing class! A few had started the puzzle and others would join periodically.

Not long after the game, we went back to the meeting hall for our potluck dinner. Full, and tired, I will take the rest of the day to read and think about bedtime ;’-). Another ride tomorrow if weather allows.

And oh boy! Did weather ever allow. It was bright sun and temps climbed to near 80 degrees for the day. And we took a ride – this time in the other direction on the trail to the “City of Banks”. I was a little surprised that it is called a city, seems more like a “town” to me.

Debbie and Louie were the only ones who would choose to ride with us today, at least part way said Debbie. I did get a much better photo of Louie. He is sooooo dang adorable.

Leaving the campground I spotted these little gnomes that I could not simply pass by.

Thomas Camaro had camped here last night, and several of the sisters, including Susan, had talked with him to find that he is 84 years old and biking the Trans America Bike Race route across the United States from Astoria Oregon to Yorktown Virginia — 4,211 miles. Over the years, he has completed the route several times, and (I think) abandoned it once. He is aiming to be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records at the end of his tour.

As we started our ride, we came across Thomas stopped to fix a piece of his mirror that had broken when he fell off his bike near this picnic table. He was not hurt, and seemed able to make the repair.

Best of luck to you Thomas.

Crossing the Trestle Bridge is always a highlight on this trail, and was again today. The photo includes Thomas catching up to Susan, Debbie and Louie in the middle of the bridge.

Susan got a picture of him riding at the other end of the bridge.

Debbie and Louie turned back for camp at the end of the bridge, and Susan and I continued on into Banks. Not long after the bridge, after riding the trail in the shade of trees all around, with the only sun dappling through the trees, we come to wide open, sun drenched fields of hay being harvested, and wheat growing.

There were several “Bike Hubs” along the way. I seem to think from some past trips here that these stops had bike repair tools as well as the restrooms. No tools here now, but convenient necessary stops ;’-).

Before the town of Banks, we stopped at this bike shop, kinda just because, but also to see if there was a mirror we could buy for Thomas as he would be coming up behind us and we could replace his broken one.

Alas, a bike shop with no mirror. But that turned out ok as Thomas rode by and we learned that he has the kind of mirror that attaches to his handle bar, not onto his helmet which is the one we would have purchased. Carry on Thomas.

By now I was just beginning to get a little hangry.

This looked like the place to stop, but it turned out to be way too busy with a line reaching to the door. So we went about a block further and found the place where we purchased lunch to go and would eat somewhere along the trail.

The fields look just different enough on the return, with farm buildings visible, to snap another shot.

Susan thought this scarecrow looked like a mummy, I thought it looked like it was wearing a space suit. Either way, I guess it deters something.

Here is a perfect place to sit. Too bad we had stopped earlier to enjoy our lunch – sandwiches were good and Susan said the poppy seed muffin was the best she has ever had — in her life!

Ever obedient, doing what the sign says…

Back at camp we found that Debbie and Louie had returned safely, and now the belly dancing class was in progress. I did join in for a few wiggles and steps, then continue on “home” to our site.

After our showers it was time to join this night’s potluck and bingo game! And to see the finished puzzle!

And so ends yet another wonderful SOTF event. A huge thanks to Lydia for hosting us, and to everyone else for making this a fun and inclusive gathering.