The last day! I didn't string it out, I just got on with it, with a bit of a lump in my throat.  The rest of the valley road was also just as gorgeous.  When I got back onto highway 30, I knew that I'd made the right choice to take the valley.  It was back to a boring highway and traffic (although there was a large shoulder so it was ok.)

​It was an awesome ride into Portland though.  There was a steep climb off the 30 to get to the St John's Bridge where I had to mix it with the traffic, but once on the bridge, Portlands infamous cycle friendly road planning kicked in.  There were 2 lanes across the bridge, one of which converts to a full cycle lane if there are any bikes, nice!  Going through the suburbs was also great with cycle routes marked through the quiet suburbs and cyclists encouraged to take most of the road rather than cower in the gutter.

Arrived at the Bike Friendly Hostel, which was great.  The owner has set up the hostel to cater for cyclist, although a lot of people staying didn't seem to cycle!  There was a fully kitted out workshop in the basement and the owner lend out gold standard Kryptonite locks.  This was great as I only had a small cable lock, which is fine for out in the sticks but not in the city so this was very much appreciated!

Headed through the nature reserve which was straight out of the campground.  Saw lots of birds, no idea what they were but there was lots of large pretty ones.  I realised that it was going to be touch and go whether or not I made the ferry which goes once per hour.  I pushed really hard for about 10 minutes, I thought I'd made it, but the ferry must have left absolutely bang on time as I arrived to see it about 1 metre off the jetty, damn!
Not a lot to do except to sit around, there weren't even any diners or coffee shops to grab a drink.  A lady in a car did arrive a couple of minutes after me and was surprised to have missed the ferry so we chatted for a while.
I had a short section of about 13 miles riding along highway 30.  I'm glad that the couple had told me about the alternative because it was very uninspiring! Very dull and open which made the headwind really annoying.  I was glad to head off the 30, eve though it was straight up the hill!.  Again, another steady climb which I boogied up with music playing full volume.  There was a sign telling me I'd made it to 1300ft, I assumed this was the summit so stopped and took the obligatory photos, only for the road to up and down for another few miles and to finally summit 20ft higher!  I was intending on heading to the camping at Scarponia Rec Site 10 miles further down the road, but by the time I got to Big Eddy campsite I realised that I really wasn't feeling on.  The reviews of Scarponia Rec site also said that the water there smelled quite sulphorous and recommended that campers bring in bottled water.  That's not something I can really do and would have to faff around filtering water, more hassle than it's worth to gain 10 miles.

Very pretty ride for most of the day today.  There was a 1000ft climb that I was a little bit nervous of, as I hadn't done any climbing for a while, but it was fine, just a bit of a plod.  Caught up with the couple that I chatted to yesterday who were heading towards the ferry, so they'd decided to change their plans and avoid the large bridge to Astoria!  I think that was a very sensible decision having been driven across it!
When I pulled in to the campsite it was a definite fist pump moment, there was hot showers and wifi, fantastic!

Today was the first time in a long time I went "off-piste", no maps, just the route on my phone and written on some bits of paper.  I'd chosen an easy route that I could mostly remember in my head, knowing that the "big roads" were ones that i'd been driven partly along and knew that they weren't that busy and generally had good wide shoulders.  When I was being driven in the car, I'd thought that the road was fairly flat, turned out it was rolling the whole way with fairly steepish sections.
I stopped in Raymond for some lunch and got chatting to a couple who were also cycle touring south to Portland.  Their plan was to head to Astoria across the big bridge and then take a valley road which they showed me on their maps.  This was on a reccomendation of a local cyclist from Portland.  I liked the look of the valley road and after a bit of research in the Rayond library, decided to take it.  I showed them my plan of taking the much smaller bridge and ferry.  

I was a little bit worried about the ride today, it's been quite a long time since I've done that sort of mileage, but it was fine. There were a couple of seriously steep hills though, thanks ACA!
The hostel for tonight was just out if town so took advantage and used the local library's computers to plan getting to Portland. Checked out the local restaurants and ended up eating a big Chinese. The beds in the hostel weren't great, ended up putting my thermarest on top of it! Still for $20 I can't really complain too much!
The owners main interest was the disc golf. The husband took me out to attempt the practice "holes". It's basically crazy golf with Frisbees, it can be as technical or as fun as you like. Not sure why this isn't bigger in the UK?!

Went to Walmart to get new plug and battery, other than that, not very exciting.

This was planned as a short day but I still felt slight guilty stopping after just 22 miles just to mooch around a park, particularly with such nice weather! Had a dinner of beer and ice cream because I didn't feel like cooking.
Downside of the day was someone stole my plug, USB cable and external battery which I left charging in the bathrooms. Booooo!

Nothing particularly interesting about the rude today. Got to Oak Bay Campground, paid for campsite, realised it came with a free Cockerel..... It didn't investigate anyone else's site, just mine. Sat at the picnic table, pecked my tent, crowed 5 or 6 times right next to my tent in the morning. Strange!

After being treated to a cooked breakfast by a lady also staying at the hostel (so sorry, I can't remember your name, and sorry I ate all your English muffins....) Riley and I headed off to the ferry port together 10 miles away. The San Juan Island ferries all have a few tables with jigsaws laid out, Riley suggested sitting at one. We chose one that was 2/3rds done. On the hour crossing we realised we might just be able to finish it. We went from being nice and chatty to super focused! Neither of us wanting to leave it nor quite finished! We made it though, putting the last peice in just as the ferry was docking, phew!

I went up Mt Constitution this morning, about 2000ft elevation, the biggest climb I've done in a while and at only 4 miles long, fairly steep. However, as the checkout for the campsite was 1pm and is right on the road to the top, I was able to leave everything there which made the ride seem easy. From the top is a stunning view with a observation tower. I probably got to see most of the view, just not all together because of the mist! Apparently that's not too bad, it's often musty up there but there's no way to see the top from any of the campsites so you just have to take your chances.
I was enjoying Orcas so decided to stay another day, but move to the hostel in town, the Golden Tree. Really nice place. I was chatting to the owner, Ian and mentioned I needed to do laundry. He said they don't have a guest laundry but he liked my story so let me use theirs!
I met Riley who was also cycle touring solo around the San Juan area. I mentioned I was heading out to the brew pub and asked if she wanted to join me. Oops! Was totally shocked when she said she wasn't 21 yet! I don't think I'd have been brave enough to head out on my bike on my own at that age. Awesome!
I got sat in the pub and was chatting to some of the regulars, unfortunately I gave no pics as I got steadily drunk on 5 pints of strong beer (6% was the weakest they had!) Had a great time!
Loved the system they had, the walls had racks of locally made pottery steins, each numbered with a name on it. The regulars pay $100 a year for their stein but get $1 off each pint when they use it. Wish I'd got photos!