One of the things I most looked forward to is seeing friends and family while on this trip. Last Thursday I was picked up in Brookings, OR by my long-time friend and bicycling zen master Alfred Harrison. Alfred and his wife Barrie moved to Medford in 2005. He works in healthcare–lots of aging folks to care for in his town since it contains a sizable retirement community.
Medford is 2.5 hours from the Oregon coast, in fact the car trip requires travel through California due to the mountains.
It was wonderful getting reacquainted and also having a real recovery day. Barrie whipped some fine meals throughout the weekend. She also showed off Charm, who is her new horse.
Alfred drove me around the town on Friday–got to see where Harry and David is based. In addition, the tour included a number of vineyards, pear orchards, ranches and farms. The valley where Medford resides looks like northern Italy–somewhat arid as well as a bit rugged. It is also warmer–temps in the 80’s and low 90’s versus the 50’s and 60’s the coast.
Alfred and I first began riding together in the late 1990’s. One of our bonds is being Irish which has always translated into non-stop gabfests. Even though it had several years since we were together we quickly picked up where last finished.
On Saturday we went for short bike ride of 50 miles on what was a perfect day!
Alfred drove me back to Crescent City on today do I could return to my journey. So I special shout-out to Alfred and Barrie for their generosity and support–love you guys!
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