We’d settled on a route that went south from Portland inland and then cut West to join the coast following the 36 road. People kept telling us how big the hills were and how dangerous the road was via this route. I had started to dread the 2 day, 120km stretch we had ahead of us. Our biggest concern were the logging trucks as this is a popular road for the industry. I hate them – they are huge and noisy and like a hearse for trees. (Stop cutting down trees!!)

Despite my dread, it turned out to be a great 2 days. The trucks were fairly infrequent and their loudness meant that we could hear them coming and check they were giving us enough space which they usually did.

The views were nice and I enjoyed the winding road through the Forrest. Even the hills didn’t seem so big! In fact, the only thing that wasn’t great was the lack of food options. We don’t really have enough space for carrying more than 2 meals worth of food…so we went a little hungry.

Our first tunnel….we pushed the button and all the speed limit changes. Such power!

Scene from a horror movie

With no campsites or warm shower hosts en route, we opted to ask to camp in someones garden. We picked a house and started going up the drive. As we nearer the house I could hear creepy music playing and there was scrap cars and metal everywhere. Horror movie!!! ‘Too creepy’ I said to Gil and we turned to leave just as a car pulled in to the driveway and a drunk scruffy looking man asked what we were doing.

We told him we were looking for a place to camp (what else could we say?!). He got his mum who was also a bit drunk and who grilled us but said we could camp there. I didn’t want to but also felt like we couldn’t then leave so we pitched up right on the edge as far from the house as we could!! It wasn’t the best nights sleep but we were up at the crack of dawn and scooting away happy that we hadn’t been chainsawed in the night.

Where’s the ocean?

Reaching the ocean and our first town, Florence, was a bit of an anticlimax. Although our campsite had a nice view you couldn’t really see the sea. I’d picture ice creams, sunshine and orcas – none of which cane true.

Ok….so it wasn’t totally bad!

From Florence we planned to reach Reedsport where we had booked to stay at Fir Grove Motel. We got up at 5.30am as we knew it was planning to rain all afternoon. We hammered out the distance in just 5.5 hours (which felt more like 8 because I was feeling bored with scooting that day) and arrived just as the heavens opened up. My les are definitely getting stronger, although for some reason it doesn’t feel like it’s getting any easier.

It was so nice to hide out from the rain and we binged watched a lot of Netflix!

Our room after 5 minutes of arriving!

I so didn’t want to head out in the morning. It was raining and cold. My body was stiff and I felt tired. Who’s stupid idea was it to scoot across a ginormous country??!

Once I got going though it was fine and the rain eased and died away. It’s never as bad as I expect it to be.

Yes….this is the man I chose to marry…

We had 2 big days ahead and some long gentle ups which are the hardest because they really slow us down. It’s hard work pushing a heavy scooter uphill. There were some great views to stop at along the way though. And we had an exciting morning in Coos Bay as we made it on local TV again.

Thanks Jay for letting us gatecrash your home!

As we reached our end goal for the day….the ‘green alien’ in Bandon….we were blessed with the most incredible 3.8km of my life. It was a downhill of perfection – no scooting needed, no breaks needed and on a wide hard shoulder away from the traffic.

It was the stuff scooter dreams are made of. (This 3.8km will remain in my daydreams for weeks to come)

Needing to see a doctor

Since the morning I had an incline that I might have a UTI. I’ve suffered from them lots before so know the signs although it’s pretty easy really – you just feel like you are bursting to pee ALL THE TIME!!

When we got to Suzanne and Ed who were Warm Showers hosts that night we went for a swim and marvelled at their incredible home.

Afterwards though I started to feel really uncomfortable so I laid down to rest.

It sucks having a UTI especially on an expedition but I was trying to look at the positives. I was happy that Gil was here to help and that I had a warm comfy bed for the night.

Gil called our insurance company and arranged for me to see a doctor the next day as we reached Port Orford. What a star! We scooted the 38km to the doctor who confirmed that I did have an infection (no surprises!) and prescribed me some antibiotics which I would pick up the next day another 44km away. The staff at the Doctors were so sweet asking us questions about our scoot and wishing us luck. Although we did pay out $300 for the appointment so I suppose you would expect good customer service (or rather Virgin Travel Insurance did!)

Good job Facebook

Not wanting to camp that night I posted on a local Facebook group asking if anyone would be willing to host us. Not only did we get the kind offer to use a private cabin but we also were offered a delicious meal and drink at the Salty Dawg as we scooted past. After our huge meal we had 13km to scoot until we reached the cabin.

Knowing that I would soon have antibiotics I felt much more relaxed so was enjoying the scoot. Suddenly the most amazing view hit us….at last we saw the ocean!!!!

We keep bumping in to this guy…I think we might actually be faster than his bike/motorbike thing!

The road was amazing and even once we’d left the ocean and turned into the Forrest it remained stunning. It was the first time in ages that I was really enjoying the scooting and not just the rest parts in between. Even if I did constantly feel like I needed to pee!

Our cabin in the woods was so luxurious – thank you Jennifer and Steve. We made full use of the hot tub and I watched Jurassic World (the Jurassic Park films are my favourite) and it was bliss just switching off and resting my body. I know the antibiotics is going to take it out of me so in between the scooting I need to take it as easy…and yes, I’m totally milking it and getting Gil to do all the chores.

Cannabis is legal here and you can grow up to 8 plants in your home.

More rain

We woke up to drizzly rain and thick fog which is a shame as we missed all the spectacular sea views that the Highway 101 would have offered us that day. Within 30minutes I was drenched through. Every large vehicle that passed us would spray us with water. Even though I couldn’t get any wetter it felt horrible. I was wary with the fog and lack of visibility so put our safety light on blinker mode and walked some of the tighter stretches of road.

We picked up the scooting pace to help stay warm but that also made my muscles burn and took more effort.

Basically it was miserable as!!!

More dinosaurs and a gun

We stopped for shelter under a life size T-Rex (lol). The lady in the prehistoric gardens gift shop invited us to come inside. Her name was Kiki and her grandfather had built these life size dinosaurs as part of this garden attraction. So cool! After finding out what we were doing she handed over $200 as a donation, just like that! I was blown away. She also insisted that we not pay for a magnet which we had picked up for our collection back home. Such a super star.

After 3 hours, finally the drizzle stoped. We pulled over for a break as we were now really tired. A couple in their 40s started chatting to us and asking all the usual – where are you heading? Are those motorised? Do you scoot with both legs? They looked so normal. But as Gil was talking to the guy he opens the boot of his car, loaded 2 pistols with a magazine and bullet down the barrel, put one in his pocket and one in his car!!!!!

‘Well you folks have a good day’ he said getting in his car and driving off. They both smiled and waved at us as they left. What the….???! America….this is NOT NORMAL!

We got in to Port Orford where we picked up my antibiotics and stopped in a book shop cafe for a toasted bagel with cream cheese and a muffin – yum! A guy cane in and started talking loudly about these ‘2 people on scooters’ and how he’s never seen anything like it ‘I saw them 10km back and they travelled all that way!!!’. We laughed and corrected him that actually we’ve travelled 1000km from Canada. The shop owner then wanted a picture and people kept coming up and talking to us. I tell you, kick scooting brings you instant fame!

We are doing this expedition to raise money for Africa’s Children in Education. Please help us build a school in East Africa by donating here. Thank you…..your support means a lot!!! Make sure you are following our journey on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This expedition is being supported by Vivo Life!