I was up again around the same time. And, Susanne made another fantastic espresso. I did a little bit of work including the transfer of some files. We had a nice lunch and she packed a sandwich for me.
Just to make sure that I could get a bus back toward Corvallis - since there were several different times listed by different sites online - I called the Coast to Valley Express shuttle and they confirmed that I could get a ride at the Newport City Hall at 3:15 pm.
We said our sweet goodbyes around 1:00 pm and I headed downtown to explore a bit more and wait for my shuttle. There wasn't a whole lot more to see in that part of town, and I ended up working at Starbuck's until about 3:00, when I left to walk the two blocks to the City Hall.
The shuttle was about 10 minutes late, but that didn't bother me. I was the only one on it, and that was kind of nice. The air conditioning mirrored the temperature of Newport when I left...
When we got to Toledo, about 20 minutes east, the driver saw a young man waiting for a ride...
We pulled in to the tiny parking lot (Toldeo is just a speck of a town). The guy got on and was noticeably agitated, complaining that the woman who was supposed to give him information at the Town Hall in Toledo didn't know anything about schedules, etc... She just told him to go oout and wait until a bus went by. He had been there for three hours.
He certainly did not take out his frustrations on the driver, but I could tell that the exchange that morning had ruined his day. I felt his pain. I knew what that was like...
He told the driver that he needed to go to Albany, which was only another 5 minutes east of Corvallis. she said it coast the same either way. So, I asked her if I would be able to go on the Albany too, without paying more. She said, "No problem. It's the same for me either way." She was pretty cool; no nonsense. What a nice ride. I was going to take a lot of pictures, but I just wanted to enjoy not having to walk, and being able to relax.
When we passed through Corvallis, and stopped at an intersection, I saw this bumper sticker...
I'd forgotten about the forecast of three digit temperatures in the valley region, until I touched the window. It was piping hot. I tried to prepare myself for the blast of hot air, but it just wasn't possible.
We arrived at the Amtrak station in Albany, and I walked out into the late afternoon oven. The temperatures around there, at least during this heat wave reached their peak height at about 4:00 pm each day. It was 103° F.
The Amtrak station was bearable inside, but I quickly discovered there was no Wi-Fi. So, I just sat for a while, killing time by reading all their brochures and promotions, until the shadows grew a little longer, behind the trees and buildings. Then I went in search on foot for a McDonald's or Burger King, where I might be able the work online and charge the tablet/laptop.
Perhaps is it amusing to note that I walked all the way to the other side of town, just to learn that McDonald's was actually quite near the Amtrak station. In fact, we had passed it on the shuttle. So I slogged back down to Pacific Blvd (good ole Route 99).
It was getting near sundown. I made it to the McDonald's just in time to check out possible sleeping locations on Google Satellite. I also researched and then bought an Amtrak Thruway bus ticket to Salem to save a couple days of walking and to get me closer to Portland. I was able to complete the day's post and stay ahead.
When I was relatively sure I knew where I wanted to go to find a nest spot, I left McDonald's and began walking south on 99. I'd planned on three miles, but within only one mile I saw a nice field, private and with good barriers around it. Heading in was easy, and no one saw me as I scoped out mowed and relatively flat area to put the tarp and sleeping bag down.
I often take audio notes during the day. But this time I tried to record what it was like at the sleep spot. I am going to try an experiment and post it here. I'd REALLY like to see what you guys think about having audio commentary. Please leave a comment here or at Facebook to let me know if you'd like to have more of this. If I could do it more often, then this could be a podcast as well, occasionally...
[Feel free to download the mp3, by right-clicking on the window that opens.]
I recorded more but it became a very rambling kind of thing. I went to sleep fairly late. The sleep was good, but not very long.
I thought it was cool to hear your voice and surroundings. Listened to it on my speaker in a park near traffic myself, so it was hard to tell what traffic was from your clip and what was from the road haha. If you make more audio I'll listen, I like listening to stuff like that as I hike.
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