Nellie The Elelephant

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Long Beach WA is a little seaside town best known for having....err...a long beach. When I arrived yesterday the sun was out, it was Saturday and the annual Razor Clam Festival was in full swing.  If you don't know what a razor clam festival is you are in good company!    Anyway there was a quite a buzz in town with lots of shellfish frolics.

As I entered the town I was a bit surprised to find an organised protest on the outskirts, which requires me to address the elephant in the room... King Trump the Orange.  Citizens of the coastal states are generally less likely to be Trump supporters, but you can never be sure and I had wondered what the political mood might be.  For a county in the hands of a narcissistic psychopath everything seems surprisingly 'normal' but I think the general lack of pro-Trump/MAGA posters says a lot.  The good people of Long Beach are clearly not fans...they stood at an intersection holding placards that could best be described as 'uncomplimentary'.  I didn't feel like they were creating appropriate distance between themselves and Tump's 'make it up and pass it off as fact' approach.   'Trump Rapes Children' doesn't feel a million miles apart from 'Haitian Immigrants Eat Pets'.

Anyway, back to the ride.  An exciting one today as we crossed our first state line.  I grew up with The Dukes of Hazzard on TV and  whenever I cross a county or state line I always picture Sheriff Boss Hoggs standing impotently on the border, as Bo and Luke escape in the General Lee, shouting 'darn those boys' and throwing his hat in the dirt.  If you have no idea what I am talking about find an old episode on YouTube.

To double the excitement, crossing into Astoria, Oregon is facilitated by a 3.8 mile bridge.  No, that is not a typo...3.8 miles.  For good measure is has little shoulder and a sodding great hill in the middle.  Everyone survived but I could tell in their eyes that they wouldn't want to ride it again.

We then had a very nice ride through a short section of the Lewis & Clarke Trail* before re-joining the side of the sea in...err...Seaside.

Mid-afternoon we had our next encounter with local PD supporters.  Betsy has handed the baton to Marlene who organised a roadside snack station at a scenic viewpoint on US101, about 20 miles from the finish.  These meetings provide physical and spiritual strength, fuelling the legs but also the determination to do the miles and make everyone proud.

Marlene is going even further and will meet us at our hotel tomorrow morning bringing breakfast.  We like Marlene!  

I must go now as I have some crabs in the microwave.

*Lewis and Ckarke were government appointed agents who, between 1804 and 1806, surveyed the first land route to the west coast following the Louisiana Purchase**

**If you just read that and thought 'strewth, he's started writing a proper blog' don't worry....I'll try not to let it happen again!


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