WOAH! I can't believe it has been a whole week since I rolled into the park in Portland, Oregon and I was greeted by my parents. I decided to do a blog of the last 5 days of the bike trip, my families little vacation, and then back into the real life.
So backing up to day 65. I will always remember this day. It was a pretty memorable one in my opinion. I was in a group fo all girls. I had a blast riding with them that day. We rode from Astoria, Oregon to Tilamook. On our way to Tilamook we stopped at the famous Cannon Beach. This was a pretty powerful moment for me since it was the first time I saw the ocean. I remember that the girls in my riding group that day let me take the lead so I could see the ocean first. I saw the exit sign for Cannon Beach and in that instant, I could smell the salty water and hear all the segals calling my name. I had some tears of joy in that moment rolling into this cute little touristy town of Cannon Beach. I threw my down in the sand and ran straight for the water. I ran in it and it was so cold, like incredibly cold, but it didn't matter. My adrenaline was running and in that moment I knew I did it. I had completed my journey. However, I wasn't quite to Portland, but I was so close. My teammates and I sprayed champaine for excitement and hugged one another for a while. I didn't want to leave. I felt like I was in a dream and there was no reason to escape it. After having lunch at Cannon and enjoying a few hours there, we were back in the saddle to journey on to Tilamook. We had a few big climbs. We were riding on the famous Highway 101. It ran all the way down the coast. We had the ocean to the right of us the whole time. It was so cool. I felt famous on that road. Nice cars were traveling on it and we just felt so great to know that we had traveled from coast to coast.
Day 66 was spent as a rest day in Tilamook. I got to stay with my teammate Jo at an amazing lady's house. Her name was Carole. She lived about 15 miles outside of Tilamook and it was about 2 blocks from the ocean. We were able to watch the sunset one evening. I love Nebraska's sunsets, but that one was pretty dang great. Carole was giving us the inside scoop on so much there in Tilamook and Portland. It was great staying in her amazing home. She even let us use her steam shower. It felt amazing!!! That day we also had our official dipping ceremony in the Pacific Ocean. It was like at Cannon Beach, but just like round 2. So many pictures were taken. Another moment that I don't think I will ever forget.
Day 67 was spent riding to another city along the ocean. We stayed at a nice church and we had a great potluck dinner that had baked potatoes. So great! That evening the team spent the night on the beach. We set up a campfire and we went around and just talked about one another and reviewing memories.
Day 69 was spent biking to Beaverton. Beaverton is a suburb of Portland. It was starting to become very real because I was seeing signs for Portland. I knew I was getting really close. We only had to bike 35 miles that day. My group was Rhani, Sarah G., and Lindsey. We decided to go and visit a vineyard and winery at the top of this hill. We were off roading a lot that day because we knew we didn't have to go very far. In order to go to the vineyard/winery we had to climb this giant hill. However the view at the top was so worth it. We ended getting a little tour of the vineyard and also some wine testings. It was awesome to see and hear how the vineyards work on the east coast. Coming from back home in Nebraska where I used to work at one, made it very intriguing for me. Attached to the vineyard was an olive mill. I had never gone to one of them before, but it was very much worth the time. We got to try some different olive oils and vinegar. We went about 10 more miles down the road after our little adventure and we found a market that sold fruit and ice cream. We of course got ice cream and I decided to get a package of wine country jerky. I think I literally bought jerky in all the states I went in. It was different, but very delicious. We made it to Beaverton and we were able to go to a fitness center and take some showers. Afterwards we bought slushies. It really made me think of summer back home because I would always get them. That evening we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was a nice end of the day meal. We had a lot of fun reliving more memories and talking about our futures. The team ended up staying up until 12 that evening. That never happened on the trip. We had 4K confessions and we showed our plate that we decorated for a specific teammate. I had Brett and decided to make up a little poem for him. A great evening spent with great people.
Day 70!! Last day spent with the 4K! :( It was very bittersweet. The 4K Portland Alumni met us at the church and were in charge of the chalk van that day so all of us could ride. Portland was crazy hilly all through town. We were in granny gear for most of our 10 miles. To start the ride we rode in our ride groups that we had on the first day in Baltimore. They were Sarah L., Vadim, Kellie, and Amanda. At 1 miles until the park where we ended we met the whole group and all rode together. I met my family there in the park and of course there was some tears of joy. I was very excited to see them. We had a few group pictures and had our last 4K ceremony. Our ride directors, Kendra and Zach went around and talked about everyone on the team. Everything was becoming more and more real that I did it. I made it across the United States on my bike. Really crazy. Really really crazy!! haha I received a 4K flag, a paper saying I finished and a bracelet that says 4K For Cancer Alum. I was officially an Alum. The team asked me if we could sing my songs all together one last time. I said absolutely. I feel famous when they do that. I have the biggest fans in the world and they were all right there singing it with me. I will miss them all more than they will ever know. I don't think I will get the opportunity to meet unique brave individuals like themselves. I feel very blessed.
My parents had some mix ups with arranging hotels and so forth and didn't get a hotel in Portland, so we decided to go back to Seaside, Oregon. I rode through there. It was a little touristy town about 10 miles from the beautiful Cannon Beach. I was so tired that evening. I fell asleep while they went and got supper. They brought me back an amazing burger. We got to stay on a beach side hotel. We could hear the seagulls chirping away the whole night. I loved that sound though. Much better than stinky cows.
Day 71 was spent sleeping in and waking up and having breakfast at the hotel. We walked downtown to the shops and also to the beach. It was so cool because they were having a giant sand volleyball tournament there. There was probably close to 80 nets set up on the beach. People even brought there coaches and sat them up on sand. We then went to Cannon Beach for lunch. I got to relive that moment of biking into the ocean for the first time. We saw so many dogs and people that day walking around Cannon. It was pretty relaxing walking around the shops and also laying in the sand. We couldn't of had a more beautiful day on the beach. We may not have gone to Tilamook, but we were still able to get some of the famous Tilamook ice cream and cheese. It was so good! I wanted my family to experience the deliciousness. When we got back to the hotel we watched a movie in our hotel room. Great relaxing day.
Day 72 was spent mostly in a car going to the famous Seattle, Washington. It took us 3 and half hours to get there. We got some Starbucks to wake up for on the way there. We took some pretty windy roads that made me feel pretty car sick. Once we got to Seattle, the traffic was very heavy. We walked downtown to the market. It was very fun walking around and seeing all the fresh foods and people. We even walked by the original Starbucks. It was cool seeing the original logo as well. The line for the place went almost down the block. We even watched some guys throw a giant fish back and forth for entertainment and advertising purposes. It was pretty funny. On our way back to Seaside, we got caught in a very bad traffic jam. We finally got back around 9:30 p.m. Needless to say we were all exhausted and had a very long day.
Day 73. Got up at 2:30 a.m. to leave Seaside and get to Portland's airport. We got a little lost on the way to the airport. We were slightly behind. I got very car sick on the ride there. It was very dark and super winy roads. I really was missing the plains at that point. So turns out the flight had overbooked their flight and my Dad, Mom, and sister were the last 3 people to purchase a ticket. However, ironically everyone showed up for their flight leaving my Dad, Mom, and sister to not have a seat on the plane. There was a seat for me, but not for them. We tried waiting it out to see if anybody was going to back out and nobody every did. We were lucky though because we got on the 10:15 flight to Denver. We spent some time there in the airport messing around. I even saw a teammate, Kyle and we hung out for a bit to make the time go a little faster. We arrived in Denver and was back on the road. We arrived to good ol Arapahoe that evening. It was great seeing my dogs and my house again. It had felt so long.
Now here I am in Hays, Kansas getting ready for school to start on Monday. Am I ready to go to class? NO WAY! However, I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. I loved not thinking about real life on the 4K. It was a great break from all the crazy stressful things in my life. It made me realize how much I love and appreciate doing music everyday though. I did two day of band camp and had a blast getting to know the new members and catching up with some of my closest friends.
I don't know how to really thank everyone who supported me throughout my cross country bike trip. I couldn't of done it without each and everyone of you. The love and support that I received was beyond what anybody could of ever asked for. Summer 2015 will forever go down as the best time in my life. I am super excited about my crazy adventures in the future. Thanks for following my blog and my journey.
Much love.
Cancer changes lives and so do we!
Cycle, Inspire, and Unite
~Halle Stephens
So backing up to day 65. I will always remember this day. It was a pretty memorable one in my opinion. I was in a group fo all girls. I had a blast riding with them that day. We rode from Astoria, Oregon to Tilamook. On our way to Tilamook we stopped at the famous Cannon Beach. This was a pretty powerful moment for me since it was the first time I saw the ocean. I remember that the girls in my riding group that day let me take the lead so I could see the ocean first. I saw the exit sign for Cannon Beach and in that instant, I could smell the salty water and hear all the segals calling my name. I had some tears of joy in that moment rolling into this cute little touristy town of Cannon Beach. I threw my down in the sand and ran straight for the water. I ran in it and it was so cold, like incredibly cold, but it didn't matter. My adrenaline was running and in that moment I knew I did it. I had completed my journey. However, I wasn't quite to Portland, but I was so close. My teammates and I sprayed champaine for excitement and hugged one another for a while. I didn't want to leave. I felt like I was in a dream and there was no reason to escape it. After having lunch at Cannon and enjoying a few hours there, we were back in the saddle to journey on to Tilamook. We had a few big climbs. We were riding on the famous Highway 101. It ran all the way down the coast. We had the ocean to the right of us the whole time. It was so cool. I felt famous on that road. Nice cars were traveling on it and we just felt so great to know that we had traveled from coast to coast.
Day 66 was spent as a rest day in Tilamook. I got to stay with my teammate Jo at an amazing lady's house. Her name was Carole. She lived about 15 miles outside of Tilamook and it was about 2 blocks from the ocean. We were able to watch the sunset one evening. I love Nebraska's sunsets, but that one was pretty dang great. Carole was giving us the inside scoop on so much there in Tilamook and Portland. It was great staying in her amazing home. She even let us use her steam shower. It felt amazing!!! That day we also had our official dipping ceremony in the Pacific Ocean. It was like at Cannon Beach, but just like round 2. So many pictures were taken. Another moment that I don't think I will ever forget.
Day 67 was spent riding to another city along the ocean. We stayed at a nice church and we had a great potluck dinner that had baked potatoes. So great! That evening the team spent the night on the beach. We set up a campfire and we went around and just talked about one another and reviewing memories.
Day 69 was spent biking to Beaverton. Beaverton is a suburb of Portland. It was starting to become very real because I was seeing signs for Portland. I knew I was getting really close. We only had to bike 35 miles that day. My group was Rhani, Sarah G., and Lindsey. We decided to go and visit a vineyard and winery at the top of this hill. We were off roading a lot that day because we knew we didn't have to go very far. In order to go to the vineyard/winery we had to climb this giant hill. However the view at the top was so worth it. We ended getting a little tour of the vineyard and also some wine testings. It was awesome to see and hear how the vineyards work on the east coast. Coming from back home in Nebraska where I used to work at one, made it very intriguing for me. Attached to the vineyard was an olive mill. I had never gone to one of them before, but it was very much worth the time. We got to try some different olive oils and vinegar. We went about 10 more miles down the road after our little adventure and we found a market that sold fruit and ice cream. We of course got ice cream and I decided to get a package of wine country jerky. I think I literally bought jerky in all the states I went in. It was different, but very delicious. We made it to Beaverton and we were able to go to a fitness center and take some showers. Afterwards we bought slushies. It really made me think of summer back home because I would always get them. That evening we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was a nice end of the day meal. We had a lot of fun reliving more memories and talking about our futures. The team ended up staying up until 12 that evening. That never happened on the trip. We had 4K confessions and we showed our plate that we decorated for a specific teammate. I had Brett and decided to make up a little poem for him. A great evening spent with great people.
Day 70!! Last day spent with the 4K! :( It was very bittersweet. The 4K Portland Alumni met us at the church and were in charge of the chalk van that day so all of us could ride. Portland was crazy hilly all through town. We were in granny gear for most of our 10 miles. To start the ride we rode in our ride groups that we had on the first day in Baltimore. They were Sarah L., Vadim, Kellie, and Amanda. At 1 miles until the park where we ended we met the whole group and all rode together. I met my family there in the park and of course there was some tears of joy. I was very excited to see them. We had a few group pictures and had our last 4K ceremony. Our ride directors, Kendra and Zach went around and talked about everyone on the team. Everything was becoming more and more real that I did it. I made it across the United States on my bike. Really crazy. Really really crazy!! haha I received a 4K flag, a paper saying I finished and a bracelet that says 4K For Cancer Alum. I was officially an Alum. The team asked me if we could sing my songs all together one last time. I said absolutely. I feel famous when they do that. I have the biggest fans in the world and they were all right there singing it with me. I will miss them all more than they will ever know. I don't think I will get the opportunity to meet unique brave individuals like themselves. I feel very blessed.
My parents had some mix ups with arranging hotels and so forth and didn't get a hotel in Portland, so we decided to go back to Seaside, Oregon. I rode through there. It was a little touristy town about 10 miles from the beautiful Cannon Beach. I was so tired that evening. I fell asleep while they went and got supper. They brought me back an amazing burger. We got to stay on a beach side hotel. We could hear the seagulls chirping away the whole night. I loved that sound though. Much better than stinky cows.
Day 71 was spent sleeping in and waking up and having breakfast at the hotel. We walked downtown to the shops and also to the beach. It was so cool because they were having a giant sand volleyball tournament there. There was probably close to 80 nets set up on the beach. People even brought there coaches and sat them up on sand. We then went to Cannon Beach for lunch. I got to relive that moment of biking into the ocean for the first time. We saw so many dogs and people that day walking around Cannon. It was pretty relaxing walking around the shops and also laying in the sand. We couldn't of had a more beautiful day on the beach. We may not have gone to Tilamook, but we were still able to get some of the famous Tilamook ice cream and cheese. It was so good! I wanted my family to experience the deliciousness. When we got back to the hotel we watched a movie in our hotel room. Great relaxing day.
Day 72 was spent mostly in a car going to the famous Seattle, Washington. It took us 3 and half hours to get there. We got some Starbucks to wake up for on the way there. We took some pretty windy roads that made me feel pretty car sick. Once we got to Seattle, the traffic was very heavy. We walked downtown to the market. It was very fun walking around and seeing all the fresh foods and people. We even walked by the original Starbucks. It was cool seeing the original logo as well. The line for the place went almost down the block. We even watched some guys throw a giant fish back and forth for entertainment and advertising purposes. It was pretty funny. On our way back to Seaside, we got caught in a very bad traffic jam. We finally got back around 9:30 p.m. Needless to say we were all exhausted and had a very long day.
Day 73. Got up at 2:30 a.m. to leave Seaside and get to Portland's airport. We got a little lost on the way to the airport. We were slightly behind. I got very car sick on the ride there. It was very dark and super winy roads. I really was missing the plains at that point. So turns out the flight had overbooked their flight and my Dad, Mom, and sister were the last 3 people to purchase a ticket. However, ironically everyone showed up for their flight leaving my Dad, Mom, and sister to not have a seat on the plane. There was a seat for me, but not for them. We tried waiting it out to see if anybody was going to back out and nobody every did. We were lucky though because we got on the 10:15 flight to Denver. We spent some time there in the airport messing around. I even saw a teammate, Kyle and we hung out for a bit to make the time go a little faster. We arrived in Denver and was back on the road. We arrived to good ol Arapahoe that evening. It was great seeing my dogs and my house again. It had felt so long.
Now here I am in Hays, Kansas getting ready for school to start on Monday. Am I ready to go to class? NO WAY! However, I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. I loved not thinking about real life on the 4K. It was a great break from all the crazy stressful things in my life. It made me realize how much I love and appreciate doing music everyday though. I did two day of band camp and had a blast getting to know the new members and catching up with some of my closest friends.
I don't know how to really thank everyone who supported me throughout my cross country bike trip. I couldn't of done it without each and everyone of you. The love and support that I received was beyond what anybody could of ever asked for. Summer 2015 will forever go down as the best time in my life. I am super excited about my crazy adventures in the future. Thanks for following my blog and my journey.
Much love.
Cancer changes lives and so do we!
Cycle, Inspire, and Unite
~Halle Stephens